Cream and Punishment

King Family, Book 2

By: Susannah Nix

Narrated by: Chris Brinkley, Amanda Stribling

She’s not just my ex-girlfriend. She’s my new coworker.

I knew Lucy Dillard was "The One" the first time I met her. Yes, I’m enough of a sap to believe in love at first sight. When I fell for Lucy, I fell hard. Everything was great between us - until the moment she dumped me.

Now I just want to forget about her. Instead, I’m stuck staring at her face all day. But I need this job, so I’ll find a way to be civil and professional.

There’s just one small problem: I’m nowhere close to being over her.

First, we were lovers. Then enemies. Now we’re trying to work together.

I didn’t set out to break Tanner King’s heart, but you know what they say about the road to hell.

I’ve got too many responsibilities and no room in my life for love. I can deal with Tanner’s resentment until he starts working at the desk directly across from mine. Obviously, a truce of some kind is required. We’re both grownups. We can handle this situation like professionals.

There’s only one thing threatening this fragile peace we’ve negotiated: all these inconvenient feelings I apparently still have for him.

Cream and Punishment is book two in the King Family series set in the small town of Crowder, Texas, home of the King’s Creamery ice cream company. Each book is a stand-alone, full-length contemporary romance that follows one of the six King siblings as they find and fight for love.

©2021 Susannah Nix (P)2021 Susannah Nix

I love this series!

The King Family siblings saga continues with Cream and Punishment, book #2 in the series. Tanner thought he had found "the one" in Lucy, but she ran and broke his heart. Lucy was up for a casual relationship, but loving someone means more responsibility and obligations, which she doesn't need more of. She's already been taking care of her brother and mother since she was 12, when her father left. When Tanner gets moved to the Marketing department with the family business, he is working directly across from Lucy. I'm not going to lie, Tanner's enduring love for Lucy brought tears to my eyes. But then I'd start laughing with the sibling antics and get swept away with the steamy parts.

I just loved Chris Brinkley and Amanda Stribling's performance. They are fantastic narrators and two of my favorites.

Second Change to overcome family drama

This is the 2nd in the King Family Series, but it stands alone. You can tell there is a larger world outside this series and there is the story from book 1, but if you don't know anything you will still enjoy this book.

Tanner is a King, he works for his family run business but only because it's what he's always done. He's too old to try and find a new passion or live a different life. But when his sister takes pity on him after being demoted to wearing the mascot suit at the amusement park, he jumps at the chance to be doing anything else. Even if it means working with Lucy, the one that didn't just get away, she ran away... and he still hasn't gotten over her.

Lucy is doing everything she can to hold her family together. Her mother is "fragile", her brother isn't any kind of help, and she's burning out trying to do it all while working full time and dreaming of the day she can break out on her own. She ran from Tanner because his feelings were too much too soon, but as they work together she wonders if she could have handled the whole thing better.

Lucy and Tanner have a second chance at the love then never really stopped feeling, but they need to find a way through all the obstacles around them thanks to each of their family issues. Lucy helps Tanner find some options, new dreams and the courage to go after them. Tanner helps Lucy find the strength to put her foot down and stand up for what she wants/needs in life.

The audio on this was performed by Chris Brinkley and Amanda Stribling. They both did a great job bringing the characters to life. The back and forth inner turmoil was well played on both sides. The level of "put on a happy face" that Lucy was living through could be felt in her inner thoughts/narration. The anger, desperation, helplessness each of them feel at different times it perfectly balanced with the joyous and happy moments when they were together and feeling free to be just themselves.

I requested and was provided a copy of the audiobook. These are my honest opinions.

Cute Romance with deep characters

3.75⭐️(rounded up)
2.5 🌶

I enjoyed this book much more than the first one! Both characters felt more developed and lovable! I loved seeing the struggle from the male main character's perspective. He has worked jobs that he hated to try to make his dad happy, and realized that he needed to try to figure out what he actually wants to do with his life.
I also enjoyed the fact that the love interests worked together, and it was sort of an enemies to lovers.

This book was a cute romance that I would recommend for an enjoyable, easy read!

After finishing the book, and having time to think about it before writing this review... one of the things that really bothers me is the title. You might think that this is a play on words. Cream (because of the family business - ice cream) and punishment. Making you think it is akin to Crime and Punishment. Maybe they work together as detectives or something? No. It has nothing to do with crime.

Sweet Second Chance to Love!

This is the second book in the King Family Series, a Small Town Romance. Lucy and Tanner's second chance to love is sweet, funny, and heartwarming. I loved the family bond, and the friendship in the story. I liked the Epilogue, and the cliffhanger opening to Pint of Contention, the next book in the series. Looking forward to listening to Ryan and Maggie's story. Great narration from Chris Brinkley and Amanda Stribling. I enjoyed it. #HomeCookedBooks

3.5 ⭐️s - a sweet romance, but not without flaws…

Susannah Nix’s second story in the King Family series is good; I enjoyed Tanner and Lucy as a couple. He’s looking to build a family because his is a bit dysfunctional. Lucy also has family struggles, but this cause her to want to avoid attachment at first. Their first time around, she ran from his feelings. The second times, they’re more evenly matched because they actually come to know each other more meaningfully. Following their relationship through the growing pains was satisfying. I love that Tanner is literature guy (he has a cat named Radagast ❤️!) and that that love helped him find a meaningful career path. It was also sweet how he and Lucy shared a bibliophile connection.

One downside for for me was that I felt the story could have been shorter. I understand that the King family drama has to build to play out in other books, but it didn’t always work for me here. I was much more interested in the Lucy’s frustrations with her manipulative mother rather than Tanner’s with is blowhard of a father. The saving grace of the Kings is the connections between this siblings, which was something I did enjoy.

The narrator performances were a mixed bag. Chris Brinkley does his usual excellent work; I’ve adored him since Penny Reid’s Winston Bros series. He is perfectly cast as Tanner, not only in terms of his voice fitting the setting, but his delivery is always so thoughtful and he makes characters that much more genuine. I cannot say the same for Amanda Stribling. She is a new narrator to me and sadly,so far I am not a fan. While I suppose her voice fit the character in some ways, I found her cadence and tone grating. Maybe it’s a voice I have to adjust to, but I don’t know that I want to. Narrator preference is very much a matter of personal taste and she just isn’t to mine.

Overall, the story is enjoyable and I do recommend it, just maybe listen to Tanner’s chapters and read Lucy’s?

I received a review copy via Home Cooked Books. All opinions are my own.