Sandy M’s review of Something Sweeter (Sweet, Texas, Book 3) by Candis Terry
Contemporary Romance published by Avon 24 Jun 14
When I wrote my review for Sweetest Mistake just a week or so ago, knowing this book was already on the shelves, I wanted to revisit Sweet, Texas again right then. So I did. And am very glad I made it. I enjoy these Wilder brothers something fierce. Jesse has a special place in my heart, because his family has a special place in his. So much so he puts everyone before his own happiness. Which leads him to the greatest lesson of all…
Love waits on no man.
Jesse has been covertly making sure his brothers find love, after being the one to have the last conversation with his oldest sibling before he was killed in Afghanistan. Jared shared a few secrets with Jesse at the time, and that’s what has given him his wherewithal to make sure his family is happy. Then before he knows it, along comes the one woman who will test his belief in love and marriage. After being turned down at the local bar by a sexy brunette he just knows would have shown him a good time, Jesse is at his mother’s the next day for a couple of huge surprises, one of which is meeting his future stepfather’s daughter.
Seeing may be believing, but Allison is shocked when she comes face to face with the handsome guy she had to leave in the dust last night. She’s here to make sure her father’s fiance is worthy of him, especially after the ordeal he went through married to Allison’s mother. Allison knows she’s just like her mom, so she isn’t looking for anything as permanent as marriage, because she’s pretty sure true love doesn’t exist. She’s never seen it, never experienced it and just can’t believe in it.
Thus begins Jesse’s goal of showing Allison that marriage is something to be cherished, but that goal gets a little sideways now and again as he and Allison visit local townsfolk to convince her she should change her perspective. After getting to know the folks around Sweetwater in the first two books, I’m not sure what possessed Jesse to think they’d be the ones to talk to, but it’s sure fun to watch him squirm as things go a bit awry. And Allison can’t help but rub it all in. Their banter is fast and laced with innuendo that keeps their awareness of each other front and center.
In the midst of their journey through marriage, Jesse’s brother Reno and his fiance, Charlie, are having some bad luck with their upcoming wedding. Since Allison is an event planner, she offers to lend her expertise to make sure their happy day goes off without a hitch. That, of course, leads to more fun between Jesse and Allison, giving them extra time to learn more and more about each other, paving the way toward the very subject they currently disagree over. But it’s loads of good times as we go along for the ride. When the ladies get together to make further wedding preparations, I want to sit down with them and be part of the festivities.
As I’ve said in my reviews about this series before, I love the family aspect of these stories. Jesse finally tells his family of his last talk with Jared, and they all have a moment of happiness that Jared had found love, but that quickly turns to sadness because that love was cut short when Jared died, and they hope they discover some day who it was he wanted to share his life with. I like the mystery of that and hope it is all revealed in future books. This family is one everyone would want to be part of, just as Allison discovers and revels in when she finally finds that true love.
Grade: A
Summary:
The men in Texas are hard to resist . . .
Seattle event planner Allison Lane is an expert at delivering the perfect wedding—even if she might not exactly believe in the whole “’til death do us part” thing. When her father decides to tie the knot with a woman he barely knows, Allison heads to Sweet, Texas, to make sure his new honey is the real deal. What she didn’t expect to find at the local honky-tonk was a sexy Southern man as bent on charming her pants off as he is on blowing her “true love doesn’t exist” theory all to hell.
And they always promise . . .
Veterinarian, former Marine, and Sweet’s favorite playboy Jesse Wilder takes one look at Allison and knows she’s a handful of trouble he can’t deny. But even after a sizzling kiss and obvious mutual attraction, it seems Allison has no such problem. When Jesse uncovers her sweet side, can he crush his playboy image, melt her cynical heart, and change her mind about taking a trip down the aisle?
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
