**I received an ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review**
First, from a woman who literally needed rescuing and the man she rescued to a woman who went to be tested for an ulcer because of the stress in her life and ending up with an engagement ring on her finger. To a couple working very hard to get out of debt and spending very little time together and the wife being the one that put them into debt, yet still loving each other and helping others.
Some stories were really awesome and some were more on the good level. All of the stories were wroth reading. I highly recommend.

It hot. It use to be warm and lovely and today it was 97. Ew.  It was a day where the sun seems to hunt me down. 

No bueno.

The cure? Ice cream and other frozen yummies! 

Here are some wonderful Romance Novels where ice cream, ice cream trucks, ice cream parlors, frozen desserts, gelatos, itailain ices, sorbets, sherbets, frozen custards, hawaiian ices, shaved ices, sundaes, soft serve, dip cones, malts, milkshakes, sno cones, Frappes, floats, Frozen Yorgurt, Froyo, mochis are central the the plot. 

My lists are never in any particular order. Enjoy!

1. The Vintage Ice Cream Van Road Trip by Jenny Oliver

If you were to ask Holly Somers how life is going at the moment she wouldn’t have a clue how to answer you… On the one hand she’s embarking on a retro-fabulous road trip in her vintage ice cream van all the way from Cherry Pie Island to the South of France. Plus, she’s sharing the journey with Wilf Hunter-Brown (quite possibly the most attractive man she’s ever met!) 

On the other? Well, apart from being unsure as to whether the rickety old ice cream van will actually make it to the Riviera, she and Wilf had a one-night fling a few weeks ago. Even worse, it seems there’s an unexpected little consequence of their impromptu night together. Life on Cherry Pie Island definitely hasn’t equipped Holly with knowledge of the best way to tell a super-rich entrepreneur with a womanising reputation that he’s about to become a Dad!

Despite the heat of the Provencal sunshine you’d think you’d be able to keep cool inside an ice cream van – but the temperature is definitely rising. And with time running out to tell Wilf the truth, Holly’s dream roadtrip is fast becoming a nightmare on wheels! There’s no denying that this will be a journey to remember. When it comes to sundaes, Holly has always been partial to the more traditional flavours - but something’s telling her that this could be the time to take a chance and try something new…

2. Boys of Summer by Leslie Kelly, Kimberly Raye, Julie Elizabeth Leto 

Sliding Home by New York Times bestselling author Leslie Kelly
Plain Janie Nolan's been sitting on the bench so long, she doesn't even realize she's still in the game. That is, until a sexy pitcher tempts her to come up to the plate and take a swing…

The Sweet Spot by USA TODAY bestselling author Kimberly Raye
Babe Bannister discovers that striking out with a sexy shortstop isn't so bad—especially when it leads to hitting a home run with a delicious coach…

Fever Pitch by New York Times bestselling author Julie Elizabeth Leto
Callie Andrews has been dying to have one last chance at bat…with her ex-husband!

3. Come September by Jacquie D'Alessandro, Cathy Yardley, Stephanie Doyle

When summer ends, everything else begins for... Summer Breeze by Jacquie D'Alessandro ELISE: THE ONE WHO GAVE IT UP A new town, a new house and new start for the kids--everything widow Elise Stanford needed. But she doesn't quite recall ordering Seth McGuire, a green-eyed contractor ten years her junior. Sweeter Than Wine by Cathy Yardley CHAD: THE ONE WHO AVOIDED IT Hedonistic playboy Chad McFee was ready to sell the winery he inherited, until winemaker Leila Fairmont hands him a challenge he can't resist. And he'll show her--as soon as his muscles stop aching. Ice Cream Kisses by Stephanie Doyle AND GRACE: THE ONE WHO STOPPED LOOKING Ice-cream-shop owner Gracie McMullen lives for Labor Day. Goodbye tourists, hello winter! But writer and city-boy Dean Wright is about to add entirely new flavor to Gracie's off-season.

4. Anything but Vanilla... by Liz Fielding

Even more tempting than ice cream!

Sorrel Amery is determined to make her summer event the talk of the town, and she knows just the way into people's champagne sorbet! It's the perfect strategy; Until the ice cream parlor's owner runs off, leaving Sorrels plans melting faster than a sundae in the summer sun.

All Sorrel wants is to get back into her comfort zone, but when the gorgeous Alexander West arrives to help pick up the pieces her life gets shaken up more than ever before! Especially as this globe-trotting adventurer is determined that nothing in Sorrel's life should ever be boring old vanilla again.

5. Family Blessings by Anna Schmidt

Her four stepchildren are thrilled when they learn an ice cream shop will be opening in their small Amish community. But widow Pleasant Obermeier isn't so pleased. Spending time with handsome shop owner Jeremiah Troyer is too much for a woman who's only ever been wounded by love. And now he wants to use her baking skills in his shop? Out of the question!

A harsh childhood left Jeremiah convinced that family life wasn't for him. Yet something about the Obermeiers moves his heart. If he can win Pleasant's trust and learn to trust himself, then he may gain the ultimate blessing—a lifetime of love.

6. Hollywood Dreams and Buttercream by Sandra Sookoo

Gwynn Flannigan wants respect from her father and freedom from her big, loud family. The icing on her cake would be to win a decorating competition hosted by her favorite food magazine writer. Cole Marshall's one outlet from the stress of business life is writing his Cooking in the Buff feature. Who cares if he never has time for fun?

The answer for them both lies in the deep freeze at Sweet Endings, the struggling ice cream shop Gwynn manages and the one property Cole needs to secure a big promotion. He’s stuck in Madrigal, Indiana to unravel a knot of family drama that drives him crazy.

Things heat between Gwynn and Cole on the competition floor when Cole’s alter ego is revealed. Cake and accusations fly while dreams and goals are left crumbling. In order to balance family, business, and love, Gwynn and Cole will need to work together and become partners—in more ways than one.

7. On Any Given Sundae by Marilyn Brant

Nothing tops the sweetness of an unexpected love... 

When Elizabeth's uncle Siegfried and Rob's uncle Pauly rush off to Europe for a month, they temporarily relinquish the reins of their ice cream shop to their respective niece and nephew -- two people who may have grown up practically next door to each other but who have next to nothing in common. 

Elizabeth "Please Don't Call Me Lizzy" Daniels is a small-town Wisconsin girl at heart. Shy and inexperienced at love, the frizzy-haired dessert cookbook writer still resides in her quaint hometown of Wilmington Bay, stutters painfully when nervous and is only comfortable with her laptop and her tiny circle of cooking pals. She must come out of hiding over the summer to help her uncle, but she's convinced her childhood crush, Rob, barely knows she exists. 

Roberto "You'd Better Call Me Rob, or Else" Gabinarri is the town's golden boy and former football star who left home after high school, made a splash in the big city and never looked back. He has to return to Wilmington Bay to uphold a promise to his uncle, but he's counting the minutes until he can escape to the relative anonymity of his fast-paced, commitment-free city life and the sports-themed restaurant he owns in Chicago. Despite his chattiness and charm, Rob was always intimidated by quiet, brainy girls like "Frizzy Lizzy," and he isn't pleased to be back in the place where people like her still see him as that popular but dumb jock -- an image he worked for almost a decade to shed. 

The unlikely pair tries to make the best of being stuck together, but Elizabeth has a pressing publication deadline, and Rob has an Italian mother bent on lining up potential hometown brides for him. Rob comes up with an idea -- something that might help them both -- but it involves just a bit of family deception. With time running out to finish her cookbook and her friends already stretched to the max trying to assist them, Elizabeth reluctantly agrees. 

Neither Rob nor Elizabeth are used to playing games of pretense, but can love, hot summer nights and, maybe, some chocolate sauce, caramel and whipped cream...turn their farce into reality?

8. A Moment on the Lips by Kate Hardy

Dante Romano may be dark and delectable, but Carenza Tonielli will never sell him her family's ice cream empire. Only she needs him—to help her learn how to run it! And when Dante looks at her as if she's the next decadent sundae on the menu, even wary Carenza just can't resist mixing business with a bowlful of pleasure.…

Cue one red-hot fling that's blowing her mind! But, unlike Carenza, her ice-cool Italian is adept at keeping his emotions well under wraps, so she decides to turn the tables on Dante and prove that sometimes living in the moment is sinfully good for you!

9. At Last by Lisa G. Riley

African-American Caroline Singleton is the sole heiress to her family's ice cream business. She is beautiful, artistic and loves nice things. Brian Keenan is an Irish-American ex-cop, ex-lawyer and now part owner of a technology firm. Brian is down to earth, caring and extremely protective of those he loves.

When the two meet, sparks fly. Neither planned to find love at this juncture in their lives and certainly not with someone of another ethnicity. Brian does not have a problem with Caroline's brown skin; he sees her beauty inside and out and desperately wants a permanent relationship. However, Caroline sees Brian's Caucasian skin as a barrier that also challenges her general distrust of white men.

After succumbing to their overwhelming passion and working very hard to develop their relationship, Brian and Caroline face a treacherous situation when Caroline is stalked by a madman. The fear she experienced in college during an attempted kidnapping returns, and Brian vows to keep her safe.

10. Navy Husband by Debbie Macomber

Devastated by a breakup, Shana Berrie leaves her job, relocates and buys a combination pizza/ice cream parlor. Then her sister, a Navy nurse, is unexpectedly deployed at sea for six months and there's no one to care for her 9-year-old daughter, Jazmine—except Shana, who is unprepared and overwhelmed. When Jazmine's godfather, Lt. Cmdr. Adam Kennedy, enters the picture, Shana should be too busy to notice—but she isn't! Shana's not looking for a Navy Husband but it turns out that Adam's a persuasive guy. 

 Flowers make the perfect backdrop for Romance. 

Here are some wonderful Florists that know this best!

1. Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts 

Wedding florist Emma Grant gets to play with flowers every day and work with her three best friends in the process. She couldn’t ask for a better job. And her love life seems to be thriving. Though men swarm around her, she still hasn’t found Mr. Right. And the last place she’s looking is right under her nose. 

But that’s just where Jack Cooke is. He’s so close to the women of Vows that he’s practically family. Now though, the architect has begun to admit to himself that his feelings for Emma have developed into much more than friendship. And when Emma returns his passion—kiss for blistering kiss, they must trust in their history—and in their heart.

2. As You Wish by Elyssa Patrick 

Love doesn’t always follow the sheet music . . . 

This Christmas, Portia Jackson needs a miracle to save her family’s generations-old florist shop. What she gets instead is a car that breaks down during a blizzard. Help arrives unexpectedly when the infamous Aubry Riley pulls over. She only expects him to drive her to the gas station . . . she never expects that kiss. But Portia lives in the real world—she knows this is only a holiday fling for Aubry. Except it doesn’t feel so temporary, and the last thing she wants is a broken heart. 

Sometimes you have to sing some different notes . . . 

Rock star Aubry Riley has no secrets. Thanks to the media, everyone knows about his troubled past. Six years have gone by since his world crashed, and now he’s ready for a comeback. But first he needs to reconcile with his family—starting with his six-year-old daughter. A month-long vacation at a Vermont lake house affords him the perfect opportunity to take a step in the right direction. He doesn’t need any other emotional entanglements, especially not with the bright-eyed florist he can’t stop thinking about. But no matter how hard he tries to resist her, he can’t. Now all he has to do is to convince Portia that there is nothing temporary when it comes to love.

3. Fairytale of New York by Miranda Dickinson

Are happy-ever-afters made in Manhattan? Find out in this gorgeous debut, perfect for cold winter nights.

Once upon a time an English girl went to New York to live out her very own fairytale…
Florist Rosie Duncan's life couldn't be better, she has a flourishing business on New York's Upper West Side and fantastic friends. Moving to Manhattan feels like the best decision she ever made. Even though at the time, it was her escape route from heartbreak . . .

For the past six years Rosie has kept her heart under lock and key, despite the protests of her closest friends - charming, commitment-phobic Ed, unlucky in love Marnie and the one-woman tornado that is Celia.

Then a blossoming friendship with publishing hot-shot Nate begins to shake Rosie's resolve at the same time as her brother arrives in the Big Apple, hiding a secret.

But a chance meeting brings Rosie face to face with her past, unravelling the mystery behind her arrival in New York. Rosie is forced to confront questions she has long been trying to ignore, including will she ever get her very own happy-ever-after?

4. Kissing the Canvas by Billy London 

Russian boxer, Pasha Markovitch, has everything in his corner, looks, potential for Olympic greatness, and speed of powerful fists professionals only dream of. There’s just one small issue. If he can’t find a solution to his current visa situation, he’ll be out of the UK and ducking and weaving with government standard silver bracelets on his wrists. The pressures of his father’s greed and the anxiety of a past that continues to knock him down, steadily wear on him until chance leads him to green fingered, sarcastic mouthed, Liliana Asare who offers the light of a reprieve. Coming to an arrangement of mutual exchange, they both get what they want. Pasha gets to stay in the country and Liliana gets the financing for her florist shop. The whole scenario is perfect enough to list. Woman willing to marry him so he doesn’t end up deported and she doesn’t end up losing her livelihood? Check. Avaricious father satisfied? Check. Falling in love with his fake wife? Wait, that’s not on the list…

5. Sweetheart Lost and Found by Shirley Jump 

s the Wedding Belles' florist, Callie is surrounded by blushing brides. If only she still believed in love. Callie made a mistake many years ago. She let a good man go, and now keeps her heart safe. But what's she going to do now that the good man is back?

Jared Townsend knows he should have fought harder for Callie in the past. Now he's determined to bring her out of her shell and find the beautiful, vivacious woman he once knew. Can he show her how to laugh again, feel again...even love again?

6. Friends to Lovers by Christi Barth 

As florist and co-owner of a successful Chicago wedding planning business, Daphne Lovell has been there for the happiest days of other people's lives. As for her own life? Well, it's hard to be perfectly happy when you're carrying a torch for your sexy, womanizing and oblivious best friend. So when the lights go out on New Year's Eve, she seizes the opportunity to kiss him senseless.

British expat Gibson Moore has a lot on his plate. The hotel he manages is being bought out, his family is crazy and someone just kissed him in the dark. When the lights go on, he searches the room, trying to find the mystery pair of lips. Only, he never thinks to ask the woman standing by his side. He's shocked when he discovers that Daphne is the woman he's been searching for. But Gib's also eager to act upon the attraction for her he's always fought to ignore.

It takes trust to move from friends to lovers, and as Gib's work situation worsens, he is no longer sure he can risk the friendship he relies on most. It's up to Daphne to convince him that some things are worth fighting for…

7. Someone to Watch Over Me by Teresa Hill 

His mother's death left cop Jax Cassidy to settle her estate, watch over three younger sisters...and contend with one very spoiled dog. It all seemed to be working, too, until the aptly named Romeo began sniffing around Jax's love life. The dog had to go.

Jax found the perfect new owner--florist Gwen Moss, who was fighting to get over some soul-deep heartache of her own. Touched unexpectedly by Gwen's courage, faith and love, Jax embarked on a road to self-discovery where he might finally learn what's truly important in life.

8. Coming Up Daffy  by Sandra Sookoo 

Alice Attler has a green thumb in everything except cultivating relationships. Though she’s more comfortable encouraging green things to grow, she’s mystified that every relationship she’s had has withered. When a client’s daffodils won’t grow, she heads to the bait shop for earthworms where she meets Mark.

Mark Kincaide doesn’t know what to do with himself. His brother is on his honeymoon and he’s stuck with Grandma for company. Plus, he’s not a fan of the evil llamas. Just once he wants to do something heroic and be known as someone other than the bait guy. When the local plant spe-cialist/florist comes calling, he can’t take his eyes off her…and it’s for more than catching a glimpse of bird poop in her hair. 

An innocent trip to a river bank to dig up bulbs puts Alice in danger and Mark finally has his chance to play the hero. After things settle down, he hopes he and Alice will have more in com-mon than just worms and a penchant for taking tumbles into embarrassing moments.

9. Love Unleashed  by Jackie Braun

The last thing Mia wants is a relationshipyet the headstrong florist cant keep her hands off her sexy-as-sin ex-boyfriend. Will she open her heart before he leaves town for good?

10. Julie and Romeo: A Novel by Jeanne Ray

A deliciously funny and wickedly sexy novel of love found (finally!) and love threatened (inevitably) by the families who claim to love us best. Romeo Cacciamani and Julie Roseman are rival florists in Boston, whose families have hated each other for as long as anyone can remember (what they can't remember is why). When these two vital, lonely people see each other across a crowded lobby at a small business owners' seminar, an intense attraction blooms that neither tries to squelch. They're not sure what fate has in store for them, but they're not about to let something as silly as a generations-long feud stand in the way of finding out. That is, not until Romeo's octogenarian mother, Julie's meddling ex-husband, and a cast of grown Cacciamani and Roseman children begin to intervene with a passionate hatred that matches their newly found love, stroke for stroke

Let me know if I missed your favorite Florist in Romance! I would really like more heroes who are florists.

To vote for the best of the best, go to the Goodreads list: Flora: Florist Heroes and Heroines of Romance Novels

To get even more recs, see my Pinterest Boar: Flora. 

We’ve all heard the proverb, “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Sandra Sookoo proves that in MARRIAGE MINDED LORD. Felix Darrington, Earl of Swandon can’t stop thinking about Lady Olivia’s French companion, Clarice, who happens to have a talent for cooking. Clarice dreams of a man who could love her and when Felix shows interest she’s quick to explain she’s not looking to become his mistress. While most men would walk away, Felix is willing to take the time to show her he wants her as his wife. They can’t deny the attraction, but when Lady Olivia notices the attention Felix is bestowing on her companion she quickly works to tear them apart.

Character development is a bit weak. I really liked Felix. He’s just come back from the battlefield and inherited the title upon his father’s death. He’s also struggling to find his own identity. Although, most titled men grew up knowing their responsibilities, Felix comes off at times as if he’s doing his family a favor by being the Earl of Swandon. As for Clarice, we don’t get to know her very well. We spend a lot with Felix and his family and Clarice is sort of in the background. I wanted to know more about her own personal thoughts regarding her family’s past. We have several secondary characters that make an appearance. As for Felix’s family, we have his mother and his sister Charlotte. I really liked Charlotte! I loved how she embraced the idea of Clarice and was her champion. No romance is complete without someone to dislike. We’re in luck because we have Lady Olivia and oh boy is she going to make you angry!

MARRIAGE MINDED LORD is a fast paced read. The language is a bit too modern for its Regency setting. A few times, I found myself rereading sections thinking I missed information. Again, this is where I wish we had more insight to a character’s thoughts and their background. As for the romance, I liked that both Clarice and Felix took the time getting to know each other. I enjoyed their conversations and at times, I wanted to shake Clarice because I wanted her to tell Felix what was bothering her.

I had a few issues with how certain situations are presented. It’s rumored that Lady Olivia gets around and she has no care for her reputation. I’m a bit surprised Felix’s mother would push for a marriage considering the rumors. She would have heard about them and we aren’t told exactly why she’s pushing the match other than Lady Olivia is in search of a husband. I’m not going to go into detail regarding titles and inheritance, but we’re told the reason Clarice doesn’t take the title of Countess is because her grandfather’s death was never confirmed. Clarice, herself, refuses to acknowledge her bloodlines because she believes they no longer hold any prominence. A large group of French émigrés did reside in England during the revolution and in 1802 Napoleon Bonaparte granted them amnesty and many did return to France. Then in 1814 during the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, many émigrés became involved in politics so regardless, Clarice’s family title does hold some importance. Felix could have easily found out the fate of her grandfather by contacting someone in the Home Office to do some research.

Overall, Sandra Sookoo’s MARRIAGE MINDED LORD was a quick light read. If you like slow building romances, this is book you’ll need to read. The next book in the Darrington series is Charlotte’s story and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for her!