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Saturday, June 30, 2012

The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski

Title: The Sweetest Thing
Author: Christina Mandelski
ISBN: 9781606841297

Publisher: Egmont
Released: May 10, 2012
Series: Standalone
Page #: 330
Source: ebook from Netgalley

Summary:
"In the world of Sheridan Wells, life is perfect when she's decorating a cake. Unfortunately, everything else is a complete mess: her mom ran off years ago, her dad is more interested in his restaurant, and the idea of a boyfriend is laughable.

But Sheridan is convinced finding her mom will solve all her problems-only her dad's about to get a cooking show in New York, which means her dream of a perfect family will be dashed.
Using just the right amount of romance, family drama, and cute boys, The Sweetest Thing will entice fans with its perfect mixture of girl-friendly ingredients."
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First Lines:

"I make cakes. It's what I do. It's what I love.
But today, I'm standing over a mermaid, wondering what's wrong. She's as long as my arm, and beautiful - no doubt about that."
Page 1
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Review:

I am a total sucker for books that take place in bakeries or restaurants. There's something so sweet and innocent about that type of story (at least, that's the typical). Mix in a little family drama and this book fits perfectly in the genre - and I really enjoyed it.

Sheridan lives in a small town with her father and her grandmother close by. Her father is about to become a famous TV chef - and he's started to completely ignore her. Her grandmother owns the local bakery where Sheridan helps out when she can. But ultimately, she's an awesome cake decorator. Everyone in town knows to come to her. She's also looking for her mother who walked out on them years before. Then boys enter the picture and things get all confusing for her :).

I love that Sheridan decorates cakes. It's a really awesome artistic outlet that she sees as a connection to her mother. Not to mention that she's great at it. I think that addition to the story really gives this book a visual aspect that helps me picture everything else. You can also see how cake decorating has really shaped her life. From her childhood on... it's a great story element.

Then there's the boys... ah, the love triangle. When her life starts to get crazy - aka her dad talking about moving to NY - Ethan takes notice of her. He's the popular guy at school who had never spoken two words to her. But of course she's interested! Who wouldn't be?! Then you've got her best friend - Jack. Her dating Ethan has caused him to get hugely jealous and pretty much break off their friendship. Ohhhh the drama!

The fact that Sheridan is so family focused is very cool. She's worried about her mother returning to make them a whole family again. And she has her grandmother watching over her every move from her nearby apartment. But you can tell how much she loves them - and a lot of her worrying is about breaking up the family by her father's move for the TV show. It's all pretty endearing and I found myself really rooting for her to get the family she's always wanted.

All in all, I really enjoyed this story. It is a wonderful romance read - with some sugar thrown in. I read this book very quickly... mostly because I wanted to find out what would happen. It was such an easy and fun read - I'll be recommending this to anyone who is into romance and love triangles and, you know, cake decorating :). Really, it's worth a read and I look forward to more from this author!

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Other Blog Reviews:

Mrs. ReaderPants
Tumbling in Books
Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf
Anna Reads
Mandi Kaye Reads
Sophistikatied Reviews
The Sweet Bookshelf
The Garden of Books 

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