Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Sweet to the Core

SERIES:  Lighthouse Bay

AUTHOR:  Amy Aislin

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  238 pages

RELEASE DATE:  May 17, 2022

BLURB:

Dev has pined for his cousin’s best friend for years, but no matter how hard he wishes, Clark sees him as nothing but a friend. And it’s as a friend that Clark comes to him for help.

Clark’s father is on the brink of losing his house and the fastest way to make a quick buck is to win the $10,000 prize in the inaugural Sweet to the Core apple baking contest. Only problem? He’s never baked anything that hasn’t come out of a box.

But Dev has. As a baker, he’s Clark’s best chance.

For the first time, Dev has something Clark wants. Only problem? Dev needs the prize for himself. The only thing he wants—besides Clark—is to buy the local lighthouse where he last spent time with his parents before they died.

Working together means opening a lot more than a barrel of apples, though. They may have found the recipe to love.

But will Dev have to give up the only connection he has left to his parents in order to have it? Or will Clark let his father down? They can’t both have everything.

Or can they?

REVIEW:

Note:  This is book three in the series, but can be read as a standalone.  However, there are major spoilers for the first two books here and I would recommend them all heartily 🙂

Dev is the owner of the Lighthouse Bay bakery.  Clark works for the forestry service.  They decide to enter a baking contest in order to win a $10,000 prize that they will split it 50/50.  Dev needs the money to buy the last tie he feels to his parents.  Clark needs the money to help his dad who has fallen behind and is in danger of losing his house.  So Dev handles the baking and Clark handles the social media aspect.  But behind the scenes, there is much more going on than apple picking and baking 😉  Their latent attraction comes to the fore and it’s only a matter of time before they give in to the burning chemistry.

I have to state up front that I LOVE this series.  Book two was one of my favorite holiday stories ever.  I was so happy to see this book was coming out and I was not disappointed at all.  It’s fairly low angst, even though both MCs have dealt with family tragedies/losses.  They have been friends forever – Clark being Dev’s cousin/psuedo-brother Holland’s best friend and Dev living with Holland’s family since he was five.  There is plenty of backstory setting the stage here without great info dumps.  If you’ve read the previous books, then these secondary characters form those books will be familiar and this story takes place after the events of those two books.  Dev is such a love.  I just wanted to hug him.  His long crush on Clark has not totally escaped Clark’s notice, but it’s taken a long time for Clark to finally notice Dev for real.  The unresolved sexual tension in this story is delicious.  Every time they are about to change thing, something get in the way.  I loved how Clark acted all jealous and couldn’t figure out why that was 😉  The baking contest as the impetus for them to spend time together so a great plot device.  The whole slow dance around each other was lovely.  Although they’ve known each other forever, this whole endeavor allows them the space to share so much more of themselves and realize just how much they do belong together.  Clark has to get past his abandonment issues and Dev needs to get closure on his parents deaths.  The resolutions to both were just perfect.  I love this town and this story and these people.  I’m happy to report that there will be at least one more book in these series, so that’s another gift to look forward to.  Highly recommended.  If you’re a fan of friends to lovers, slow burn romances, I think you’ll love this one.

RATING:

BUY LINK:

Amazon