Hello, and welcome back! We’re still waiting for some real snow here, which makes me very sad. It seems a terrible shame to go through an entire winter without more than an inch or two of snow at a time. I’m going to hope we get something soon, something which will keep everyone housebound for at least a day or two. Long enough for me to get some serious reading done.

This time out, I have How Sweet It Is (Grand Central, received from publisher) by Sophie Gunn. This one has single mom Lizzie Bea Carpenter making a wish during a visit with her ‘Enemy Club’, a wish for the ‘perfect man’, who’ll show up weekly to fix things and then leave, never expecting that it’s a wish that could ever come true. Yet Dante, aka Tay, Giovanni can’t help acting on her wish. He’s come to Galton, New York on a personal mission: to give some money to the daughter of the woman who died in an accident that Tay feels responsible for. Only Candy wants no part of Tay or his money and she tosses it and won’t tell him where. So Tay has to stick around a lot longer than he’d intended, and fixing the things around Lizzie’s house that have been neglected gives him something to do besides wander ravines around the little town looking for his money. Lizzie’s teenage daughter is looking forward to a visit from the father she never sees, and Lizzie’s sister is suffering from post-partum depression, while Lizzie’s best friends/former high school enemies are all trying to encourage her to take a chance on what might be an interesting relationship with Tay. But Tay doesn’t intend to stay in town, and Lizzie has so much going on already, she doesn’t want to believe he might be The One. Sure, the man is gorgeous beyond all belief, and her brother-in-law encourages Tay in his quest to fix things at Lizzie’s. But trusting him not to break her heart when he leaves? Not so much. Tay has his own demons to get past, and they’re pretty serious. But the plucky single mom gets under his skin in spite of his best intentions. This one is filled with humor and strong emotion and will grab you and make you fall in love right along with Lizzie and Tay. I liked the secondary stories, with Lizzie’s sister Annie, and with her daughter Paige’s hopes regarding her father. But I really, truly enjoyed the romance between Tay and Lizzie, as this pair definitely has to work to get to their happy ending, and they share some serious chemistry. I’m borrowing four of Cupid’s five arrows for this one. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Until next time, happy reading!