Sharon’s review ~ On the Sweet Side by Audrey Carlan

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

On the Sweet Side by Audrey Carlan
Published by HQN Books on January 4, 2022
Genres: Contemporary, Family & Relationships / Love & Romance, Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction
Format: ARC, eBook, Paperback
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Baking is Isabeau Collins’s life. Back from studying under the finest chefs in France and Italy, and with a newly minted culinary degree in hand, Izzy is ready to pursue her dream: whipping up creative confections in her own custom cake shop. But her perfect plans are waylaid when two women claiming to be her half sisters show up with a stack of letters addressed to Izzy from their late mother. Torn between launching her career and the need to learn more about her family history, Izzy makes the decision to go to Colorado to connect with the sisters she’s never known.

Then Izzy stumbles across a run-down storefront in Pueblo’s funky downtown and instantly knows that with a bit of work it’s the perfect location for her dream bakery…which means her detour to Colorado will be a permanent reroute. And with an unexpected relationship growing between Izzy and her contractor, Kyson, she has yet another reason to stick around—even if there are secrets in Kyson’s past Izzy can’t quite figure out. Fighting homesickness and self-doubt, Izzy worries that she’s making a mistake. But with her sisters close and her dreams within reach, she can’t help but wonder if her riskiest move could be the most rewarding decision she’s ever made.

I was absolutely thrilled the three sisters found one another and were building a relationship and I’m always happy when two people find one another. ~ Sharon – Simply Love Book Reviews

 

The last book in Audrey Carlan’s Wish series is a doozy.  In the first two books we’ve watched sisters (technically half sisters) Suda Kaye and Evie, reunite after a decade, repair their relationship, fall in love, and find out they have another half sister they knew nothing about until Adam Ross the man they knew as their father, although only Evie’s bio father, passes away. In On the Sweet Side, we get to know Isabeau (Izzy) the daughter who their mother Catori selflessly bore for her former lover (and Suda Kaye’s bio dad) and his partner. Okay, I know this series sounds like some big soap opera, but it really isn’t. It’s a beautiful series about three sisters learning to live, love, take chances in their lives, and the bond between them.

With a sizeable inheritance from a man she didn’t know, Izzy and her best friend since they were 5 years old, Jasper, leave Chicago and head to Colorado so Izzy can get to know her sisters. Both Evie and Suda Kaye are ecstatic to have her near and encourage her and Jasper to follow their dreams of owning their own bakery.  To top it off Izzy is introduced to Kyson who owns a construction company and is not only willing to help her with the renovations but immediately asks her out. I truly liked both Izzy and Kyson and was glad they got together and it was perfect that Jasper hit it off with Lincoln, Kyson’s brother, but for me everything in this book moved way too easily and quickly.  Look, I’m not a huge lover of angst or drama, but I kind of kept waiting for a fairy godmother or little cleaning and singing animals and birds to appear because everything was fairy tale like.

I get what the author was trying to do in these books, that the wisdom of their mother helped them, to discover their strengths, to reach for the stars, to take chances, to believe in themselves, to believe in each other, to find their soul mate, and live their dreams. I appreciate that message, in fact I love that message, and while I understand this is fiction, I need it to feel real and Izzy’s life did not. I could absolutely see her moving to be closer to her sisters even if it was only for a little while, but everything in her life starting on the second day she’s in Colorado fell into place without any hiccups for her personally. Not one fight with her new sisters, a small bump with Kyson that she just seemed to accept with very little conflict, no real delays in renovating a completely run down space without equipment issues, building permits taking forever, nothing.  The whole story was like that even the big issue she and Kyson faced went down smoothly. Yes it would be great if life was like that, but sadly it is not and it made it hard for me to believe in this story. That being said, I liked this couple but I would have appreciated a much more complex relationship, I would have loved there to be a bit of conflict between her and her sisters especially Suda Kaye since she was the biological child of one of the men who raised Izzy.

I was absolutely thrilled the three sisters found one another and were building a relationship and I’m always happy when two people find one another. I liked On the Sweet Side, but the story moved at too rapid a pace and lacked story development leaving me a bit disappointed.