Review on Unrivaled by Siri Mitchell

What happens when desperation meets desperation, with a little candy making thrown in? You get Unrivaled, Siri Mitchell’s latest offering; a story about two desperate people. Exhibit A- desperate person- #1-a lovely young woman named Lucy Kendall who has just returned from a tour in Europe where she was hoping to gain inspiration from the fine confectioneries there in order to come home and create a new Pièce de résistance for her Father’s Candy Company-. Regrettably, her Father’s business has been going downhill for a while and Lucy’s great love for her Father and his candy company closing weighs heavily on her heart. Exhibit B- desperate person #2- Charlie Clarke who is new in town and just happens to be the son of a rival Candy company who is systematically running Lucy’s Father’s company out of business. Charlie grew up with a huge burden on his shoulders as his father whom he is now trying to become reacquainted with left him and his mother and sister when he was a young boy. This has created much hurt and many high walls between his Father and him. But now his father is trying to make amends by having Charlie work for him in his Candy business. Charlie is also trying to put his past behind him as he didn’t make the best choices and even had a run in with the law in Chicago before coming to St Louis where this novel takes place.



As this novel progresses, of course we have Charlie meeting up with Lucy and there is an immediate attraction between the two. You might say sparks were flying. However once the pair discovered who their parents were, we go from sparks to full-fledged fireworks! As each person tries their hardest to a) not be attracted to the other and B) try and run the other out of business, things continue to heat up and the back and forth between the two as they try to outmaneuver the other gets pretty intense.


Overall, I would say that I liked this story; I do believe each character goes on their own personal journey and grows as a result which is always what we want our characters to do. Where I had a little trouble with this story is I felt that the hero of the story tended to be more likable than the heroine. That’s a little problematic for me as I always want to be rooting the girl on (sister power!). Honestly I felt that the business dealings with each other got a little too underhanded and their tactics a bit too much and went on a bit too long and as a result, I found it a little unbelievable that all of a sudden at the end Boom!, they magically reconcile. That being said, Charlie is a pretty charming “rogue turned good “character and I greatly enjoyed reading his portions. ( Note, the book alternated first person point of view between Charlie and Lucy, which I did find interesting.)


So again, overall a good Historical Fiction Romance filled with candy making, intense business dealings and a pretty lovable hero to round things out.



3 Stars.



I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange fro an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.