Shucked by Kate Canterbary
The Loew Brothers #1
Contemporary Romance
August 22, 2023- Vesper Press
ARC

Review by Angela

Set in the same world as In a Jam, Shucked is a grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract, age-gap, best friend’s little sister, small-town romance. Yes, that’s a lot of tropes, but y’all- IT WORKS.

When Sunny Du Jardin wins a dilapidated bait shop in a poker game, she’s distressed to find out it’s located in her hometown of Friendship, Rhode Island. But she quickly rallies the troops, who happen to be her three best friends and sets to work opening a vegan cafe. Naked Provisions is their labor of love and they are all set for a soft launch when Beckett Loew, her brother’s best friend and the bully from her childhood, shows up to rescue his parents from their legal troubles and rehabilitate the family oyster bar. Which happens to share a parking lot with her cafe.

These two are like oil and water from the start. He’s bossy, controlling, and used to getting his way. He doesn’t even recognize Sunny at first and is shocked when he realizes just who she is. Sunny has a childhood filled with being out of control- of her body and her freedom. Now as a 28-year-old woman, who has traveled the country and grabbed hold of her life, she’s not going to let Beckett Loew intimidate her or grouch her into doing what he wants. She gives as good as she gets.

There really is a lot going on in this book. Quirky characters, small-town festivals, an underlying plot of the Loew family’s legal troubles, and Naked Provisions’ many, many mysterious calamities. Yet, the building relationship between Beckett and Sunny shines through it all. The back-and-forth sniping at each other is the perfect foreplay for their sexy, open-door physical relationship. I loved the way Beckett basically gets more and more caught up in her thrall the pricklier she becomes. Their dialogue is pure gold.

It doesn’t take long for readers to realize that Beckett’s love language is taking care of problems and fixing all the things that are broken. He WANTS to care for the people he loves and believes that his ability to do so is the only thing that makes him valuable. I loved Sunny for making him see that he had more to give and letting him figure out what kind of life he wanted for himself with no pressure. There is also a touch of hurt/comfort as Sunny has a chronic illness and Beckett is achingly aware of it at all times. But he MUST let her live her life the way she needs and not be too overbearing.

Age-gap is usually a micro-trope I avoid, I’m just not a big fan, but it worked for me here. I think because it’s quite obvious that these two characters are both capable, mature people who have gone out in the world and had experiences. Plus their eight-year age difference didn’t really feel all that significant.

There are so many fun, laugh-out-loud moments that kept a smile on my face. The secondary characters are endearing and add so much to this story. I appreciated the diverse representation of sexual identities and the sex positivity. There are some Easter eggs from past books of this author, and yes, Noah and Shay do make an appearance.

But it’s really the small things that make this book shine- Naked jokes playing off the cafe’s name, Beckett’s obsession with Sunny’s knotted skirts, her attraction to his tree trunk thighs, rolled-up cuffs and eyeglasses, and two service dogs that provide support and love. There is so much to love about this world Kate Canterbary has created and I can’t wait until the next book.

Grade- B+

Content notes- Chronic illness, childhood bullying, dysfunctional families, drug and alcohol abuse