Book Review: SUGAR & SHADOWS

 

Rule #1: Never work with your enemy.

Rule #2: Definitely don’t sleep with him either

Rule #3: Never get emotionally invested in your quirky small hometown.

Unfortunately, I’ve broken all three rules…

When a career-ending scandal sends me back to Maplewood, Vermont, I need to lay low and figure out my next steps. Instead, I find my hometown in crisis. The local economy is struggling, the beloved Maple Festival has been stolen by a rival town, and I’m forced to work side by side with Mayor Gabriel Harding, my childhood rival and the town’s optimistic hometown hero.

Helping Gabe save Maplewood should be simple. I’m a political strategist. He’s a small-town mayor. Together, we’re supposed to save Maplewood.

The problem? Gabe refuses to see me as the villain I think I am. Every time I push him away, he fights harder for me, for this town, and for the future neither of us imagined. Somewhere between arguing over town budgets, getting snowed in together, and one ill-advised one-night-stand, our enemies-to-lovers rivalry turns into an unexpected pregnancy.

Apparently, saving a small town requires public humiliation, emotional vulnerability, forced proximity … and an alarming amount of maple syrup.

As I fight to bring the Maple Festival back to town, I uncover a dangerous corporate conspiracy, become the target of powerful enemies, and discover someone wants Maplewood to fail.

Now we’re fighting for our town, our future and the family we never saw coming.
Because falling for my enemy was never part of the plan.
Neither was becoming a family.

My Review

Talk about battle of the wills. That is what Sabrina and Gabe found themselves in with the future of Maple Festival. Gabe is like the grinch to the townsfolks. They will not have it, and neither will Sabrina. She arms herself with all the facts and knowledge she can to fight Gabe. What she did not expect was to fight with her heart. 

Another reader mentioned grumpy and grumpy and I got to agree. Both Gabe and Sabrina are grumps. Yet, as my dad would say, "You can get happy in the same pants you got mad in." 

If you want a true immersive experience, grab the ALC as well. Listen to Stella Hunter and Brandon Francis in duet. You will get a kick out of them voicing Sabrina and Gabe. This is a fun addition to this series.