How Sweet It Is by Dylan Newton
Contemporary Romance/Romantic Comedy
July 13, 2021, by Forever
ARC

Review by Angela

My luck with cutesy covers and blurbs that have the words “romantic comedy” in them hasn’t been the best lately. So I was keeping my fingers crossed that this book would be the one that held true to its claims. AND IT DID. This is an opposites-attract romance, pairing a successful event planner who is known for her big happily-ever-after send-offs at weddings and the Knight of Nightmares, a horror writer with a big upcoming release.

When Kate Sweet gets a last-minute request from her BFF to fill in as a planner for the Knight of Nightmare’s upcoming book launch, she agrees simply because she has a last-minute opening and this just might be her chance to plan a big enough event to be in the running for her industry’s top award, the EVPLEX. But when the two finally meet, she doesn’t make the best impression and in fact, might end up fired on her first day on the job.

Drake Matthews is just a small-town guy who happens to love to scare the crap out of people with his writing while being able to financially support his family and his favorite veteran charities. He doesn’t care about a book launch, especially while in the middle of writer’s block. Then a woman practically launches herself into his arms and chaos ensues. Turns out this woman is his new event planner and may just be the inspiration he needs for his secret writing project.

This really was a fun read. I grinned, I laughed, and I shook my head at the shenanigans. Low-angst with just a bit of external conflict, I was happy to finally get a romance that I would consider a romantic comedy. Their relationship builds nicely from the moment they meet, even after their disastrous introduction. He’s not the scary King of horror that she expects and she’s a professional, detail-oriented, clever businesswoman that surprises him at every turn. They are sweet together and I even liked him using her for his inspiration for his book. The HEA was lovely.

The small-town setting was a nice backdrop and I enjoyed getting to know all the residents who have known Drake most of his life. There were some moments where I had the sense that this author was setting up Drake’s brothers for upcoming books. I would be interested to see if this is the case.

All in all, an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon with my Kindle. If you are looking for an easy read that will make you both laugh and sigh, you might want to check it out.

Final grade- B

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