How Sweet It Is by Melissa Brayden

How Sweet It Is
by Melissa Brayden
Pages: 264
Date: November 16 2013
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Series: None

Review
Rating: 5.5 out of 5.0
Read: April 6 to 7 2016

This is my fifth book by Brayden. By this point I’ve become very familiar with the fact that Brayden seems to follow something like a template. I’m not actually going to say what the template is, for ‘reasons’ (mostly because I don’t actually recall every part of it). Simplistically: two people circle, there are reasons why hooking up ‘wouldn’t work’. They hook. Problems that have been heavily foreshadowed occur. More than likely the couple will split apart for a time or two.

Keeping them apart: Kiss the Girls – business rivals, own team (on Brooklyn’s side) see the other woman to be a huge bitch, age difference; Just Three Words - business partners – potentially disrupt the team (even if things ‘worked’ between the two, the team could get disrupted), player reputation; Ready or Not - class differences, Mallory can’t imagine getting involved with ‘just a bartender’ (though Hope isn’t just a bartender); Waiting in the Wings - age differences, different points of career (one is successfully established, other is just starting out in the business); How Sweet It Is - age difference (though that one came up differently than norm – Molly first met Jordan when Molly was ~17 and Jordan was 10 – Molly, at times, makes comments about how she, at times, still sees the 10 year old), family (both in that two of the people Molly sees in a parent-like role are believed, by Molly, to be anti-relationship between Molly and Jordan; and in that Jordan is the sister of Molly’s dead lover).

Characters
Molly O’Brien is something around 33 years of age and has spent her whole life (baring vacation and like) living in Applewood Illinois. Her mother died when Molly was young, and she doesn’t really recall her. Her father is still alive but in poor-ish health. The mother and father had started a bakery called Flour Child, and somewhere along the way, Molly took over the business. When Molly was around the age of 17, the love of her life moved in nearby when the Tuscana’s moved to town. Cassandra and Molly became instant friends, and eventually lovers. The parents were initially disappointed, but they came around. Then four years before the start of this book Cassandra’s plane went down. Molly hasn’t dated since. The bakery is in financial trouble. And her father appears to be on death’s door.
Of Importance to Molly: The Tuscana’s (each of them separately and together); father O’Brien; her three employees at Flour Child. Rover the fish. Jordan. Her ‘loyal’ customers.

Jordan Tuscana is around the age of 26 or 27 and has always had something of a bad relationship with her parents. More on their side than hers. In that they wanted her to be a doctor and work in their clinic, or, at the very least, meet the standards set by her older sister Cass (who, apparently, was super good in school, and on the soccer field). Jordan tried for a while, but nothing she ever did was ever good enough, nor anywhere close to Cass’s abilities, and it didn’t help matters that her parents didn’t think she was trying her best, but she had been. Eventually, though, she stopped trying to be Cass 2.0, and tried to be herself. This included not going to med school, in not becoming a doctor, and in moving away and joining the movie industry. Well, she’s a high paid producer now, but she got tired of a high priced actor constantly hitting on her, so she snapped at him. The film studio is not happy with Jordan at the moment, and have put her on leave (so to speak). So, the book starts with her wondering what to do next in her life.
Of Importance to Jordan: her parents, her brother Mikey, her brother’s kids (if Mikey has a wife/husband, I somehow missed her/him), George her almost flaming homosexual friend. Little Bobby, a bartender in Applewood. Molly. Francis Ford Coppola (Frankie, the cat).

Plot/Romance
As I sometimes accidentally do, I kind of put a good bit of the detail about the plot up above *points*. So, Jordan’s on the outs with her film studio, and is on forced vacation. She takes the opportunity to return home to Applewood. For the first time in four years. Four years is also how long ago that she lost her best friend, her sister Cass.

While in Applewood, Jordan doesn’t have any specific plans except to try to rebuild her relationship with her parents, which includes volunteering at their clinic. Though while there she also reconnects with her friends there, including Little Bobby the huge bartender, her friend Molly, and . . . um . . . her favorite spots in town.

Molly, meanwhile, is busy working on finding ‘things’ to add to her bakery rotation/menu. While also attempting to find some means to ‘save’ her bakery. Business took a nosedive when Starbucks moved in. At least during the work-week.

Molly and Jordan were, apparently, good friends. I’m not exactly sure how the dynamic worked; though just know that they were on a good relationship level – the kind where they would seek out the other for help with issues. Something of a newish dynamic occurs, though, when Jordan returns to town. Molly seems drawn to Jordan. Jordan isn’t exactly newly drawn to Molly; she’s always had a ‘connection’ to her. But she had to take a backseat to her sister Cass.

So. Molly and Jordan circle. Molly thinks its super super wrong to have anything to do with Jordan, since she’s Cass’s sister. Jordan wants Molly. They take things one day at a time.

Overall
As I noted early on – there’s something of a template that Brayden follows. Everything was a lot more smoothly handled, this time around, or, in other words, I was able to ‘absorb’ the stuff that occurred without wishing to toss my book reader across the room. I’d say that it helped that I generally rather liked both Jordan and Molly, but that would imply that I hadn’t liked the other characters I’ve run across put forth by Brayden. This would be wrong.

So, yes, very enjoyable book. Of the five books I’ve read by Brayden, this one is my favorite. Three of the previous books I’d given 5 stars to, though there was a certain vague reluctance. This one here I’d probably put on the 5.5 shelf to show how much more I liked this book.

April 8 2016