Although I first came to Sarina Bowen through her Ivy Years series, which I loved, the True North series made her my favorite romance author. She draws you into her characters’ hearts like nobody else.

Bittersweet is set in rural Vermont and features Audrey and Griff, who had a couple of college hookups that never went any further. Now they’re in their mid-twenties and have moved beyond college frivolity. Griff’s father recently died and now he’s effectively running the family farm. Fortunately, he has a great family and a couple employees who help keep the well-oiled machine going. Audrey is a college dropout who keeps screwing up, but she’s got herself together and is really, really trying this time—especially after successfully completing culinary school and even excelling there. Unsurprisingly, what she really wants is to be a chef, but it’s not the kind of job you just walk into. For the time being, she works for a Boston restaurant conglomerate, which sends her to the wilds of Vermont to get produce and other organic products.

So they’re both shocked when Audrey ends up on Griff’s farm trying to buy his apples and cider. They’re not exactly enthusiastic about the little reunion. Griff just wants Audrey to go away because he’s assumed she’s the same girl she was at eighteen. Audrey’s a little more generous with Griff, despite the fact that he’s become a grumpy bear, but she needs him to agree to sell his ciders to her. Griff mocks her job (and Audrey herself): “So his new plan is to send a hot sorority girl in a halter top and short skirt to dazzle the poor hicks who grow his food.”

Still, when things go a little haywire with her rental car, she ends up hanging around a bit and even making a moan-worthy barbecue sauce for Griff’s whole family. And despite the mild animosity between them, it isn’t long before the reminder of why exactly they’d hooked up five years earlier rears its head and they get it on in an outside shower. “Then she stopped, her chin tilting upward. Her expression was a dare. And I always took a dare.” It’s mighty hot.

After that the chemistry is off the charts. Audrey sticks around to continue her job and they manage to meet up regularly. Both Griff and Audrey are complicated and interesting characters. Audrey has a strained relationship with her difficult and unusual mother who’s constantly disappointed by Audrey’s life choices. And Griff has the weight of the world on his shoulders with his responsibilities. It’s a lot of fun to watch them grow—Audrey finally comes into her own, getting past her previous failures, and Griff remembers how to chill out and enjoy life a bit. The other characters are also wonderful, all different and incredibly well-drawn. It’s pretty obvious who will be featured in the next books in the series, because you already want their stories. Jude the recovering addict, Zach the recovering cult member, and Griff’s family are all great.

Now, not everyone might appreciate the detail that Bowen goes into with the cooking and farming, but if you like reading food porn, you’ll be getting off regularly with this book. Both meals and the organic produce feature heavily as they are Audrey and Griff’s passions (well, a couple of them). A lot of time is spent in the minutiae of farm life and cooking, much of it going right over my head (I never cook and don’t know crap about farms), but what I did grasp was actually quite interesting. You can’t fault the setting building. You also can’t help but effortlessly pick up some knowledge, if you are a city person and enjoy learning about things.

I highly recommended both the book itself and the audiobook from Downpour.