Yes, good! Onward to Lollipop! ( )

Bitter Taffy is the second story in the ‘Candy Man’ series. This book revolves around Rico Gonzalves-Macias, he’s Adam’s cousin from the first book, and Derek Huston. The story is told in third person from Rico’s pov, but the first and last chapters are told through Darrin’s eyes. He’s the person who runs Candy Heaven and who happens to be clairvoyant.


I read book one with Adam and Finn a while back, I liked it, but I found Bitter Taffy a bit more interesting. Maybe it was the way Rico and Derek, danced around each other. The ‘I want you, but I’ll wait for you,” theme that added tension.

The book begins with Rico getting left by his boyfriend, Ezra. He’s so heartbroken he returns to Sacramento and his apartment where Adam and Finn are staying. There Rico starts to build a new life by getting a job with Derek, who is also Adam’s part-time boss. Rico is still hurting and in love with Ezra, and Derek sees this so he tells Rico that it’s up to him when he wants to start their relationship, but he isn’t going away, he’s very interested in Rico. Derek and Rico also seemed realistic and suited for each other as characters.

I liked the theme in this book about family. That it’s about the family you make and those who accept you, and not always about the family a person is born into. It’s also about growing up and coming into yourself as a person without shame or guilt.

I liked the way the author described things, not too much, and not too little. And the sex was very hot! I did find something I didn’t like though. At one point, the author describes both Rico’s and Adam’s skin color as ‘Mexican Brown.’ That shocked me. There are many ways to describe skin color but she used that term. I’m not Hispanic, but I found those words rather insulting. There are many ways to describe brown. The way she described it brought to mind, the brown of the field workers, which of course leads to associations that aren’t complimentary. Why couldn’t she use words like, mocha, or tanned? Later the author used ‘caramel’ to describe the skin color. Why Mexican brown? The term is so out of place that it will be the one item I’ll remember from this book when I forget the plot and the character’s names. That’s not a very positive way to have a reader remember a story.

I’m still curious about Darrin and hope we get more information about him and his abilities in future books. He’s still a b*tchy Diva, though.

Anyway, even though I found that one description objectionable, I still enjoyed this story. There are a few instances of mind-reading going on, but the story is mostly error free. I already have the next book ready to read on my ereader. I give Bitter Taffy, 4 Stars.

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review to follow