How Sweet It Is by Sophie Gunn ~ review

Product Description

Single mom Lizzie Bea Carpenter learned long ago that no white knight was coming to save her. A hardworking waitress at the local diner, she's raising her daughter to be like the independent women in her "Enemy Club"--high school rivals turned best friends, promising to always tell each other the whole truth and nothing but!
Yet part of Lizzie wishes she did have a man's help, just for small stuff, like fixing up the house. Her fairy godmother must have been listening, because Dante "Tay" Giovanni soon appears. He's sexy, kind, and offering assistance--no strings attached.
Slowly, steadily, Lizzie's heart opens. But the grip of the past is fierce, and nothing in life is ever really free. Tay has his own tragedies to overcome, but if he can, he'll fix more than Lizzie's home. He'll show her just how sweet it is to be loved by him.

My take on this book:

Lizzie Carpenter and her fourteen year old daughter Paige, had what Lizzie thought was an okay life, living in Galton, New York, until the day in Sept when the realize they have a letter from someone in Geneva, turns out the letter is from Ethan Pool, Paige's dad, someone Lizzie hasn't seen since he got her pregnant in high school. Now he says he is coming to visit Paige on Christmas Day throwing their lives in a tailspin. Lizzie is afraid she will loose her daughter, and Paige thinks he will take one look at their run down house and think they are losers. Lizzie decides this needs to be discussed with the Enemy Club, a group of ladies who were high school enemies, and now are best friends that tell each other the truth no matter how brutal. When Lizzie makes a wish for the perfect man, someone who will come to her house once a week and fix things and then scram, she has no idea that fate just might be ready to intervene. Is there such a thing as the perfect man?

Tay Giovanni, finds himself in Galton, trying to make something right that was an accident. Traveling with a dog and cat, he sold everything he owned in New York and has come to deliver money to a college student in hopes of appeasing his conscience. When he overhears the wish Lizzie makes, he figures he will do what he can to help out, he doesn't sleep at night anyway. So when he shows up at Lizzie's house, at first she is suspicious, a good looking handyman, with no strings attached, to good to be true, right? Lizzie is soon drawn to Tay, and realizes they are helping each other. Feelings start to grow, can Tay find a way to forgive himself, and live again?

It was easy to relate with the character of Lizzie. The fear she felt about losing her daughter when Ethan showed up was understandable. I think until Ethan's letter arrived Lizzie's life had been in limbo. It seemed she had built her entire life around Paige. She was determined to be an independent person, hoping that Paige would become see that she didn't need to rely on anyone to take care of her. When Tay showed up, Lizzie was very sceptical at first, it was hard for her to allow someone in, but soon found herself missing him when he wasn't there.
Tay was a very memorable character. He was truly a good guy, he struggles with guilt over an accident that could have happened to anyone. It was interesting how he thought giving money to the victims daughter would ease his guilt.
 The cast of secondary characters were became an integral part of the story, Lizzie's sister Annie, was a character I couldn't like at all. With her jealousy and dishonesty, she was just weird. The nosy, elderly  neighbor next door also played an interesting part, not to mention the dog and cat that traveled with Tay.

This story grabs your attentions from the first page and provides enough humor, charm, and romance to keep your reading, I became anxious to see how it would turn out!. If your a fan of contemporary romance and like a few laughs while you read, then your going to love this story.

My rating 4/5
Book reviewed for Readers Favorite.