Review: Sweet as Sin

John Murphy is tormented by nightmares. A bestselling young-adult author, he writes the ultimate fantasy: stories where good always triumphs. He knows better. His past has shown him the worst in people—and in himself. When he moves next door to the sexy, vibrant Livvy—a woman completely unlike his usual one-night stands—he's driven to explore every curve of her delicious body.

Pastry chef Livvy knows that giving in to the temptation that is John Murphy won't lead to anything permanent, but she deserves a passionate summer fling. John discovers she's as sweet as the confections she bakes while Livvy slowly unravels his secrets. But what will happen when she uncovers them all?

Making the Grade: A

For My Thoughts

Well that was quite an emotional roller coaster ride!

This is my first book ever by Inez Kelley and like many others, I decided to read this book based on a lot of good twitter buzz plus the cover is pretty provocative. I had no idea what the story was really about or what to expect and can I say how pleasantly surprised I was by this book. In the words of Jackie Gleason: "How Sweet it is!"

In Sweet as Sin you’ve got the quintessential, tortured hero for the ages author John Murphy, the woman who grows to love him pastry chef Livvy Andrews and their emotional journey as they fight the monsters real and imagined to make a go of their relationship. One of the most interesting parts of Sweet as Sin was the novel way Ms. Kelley incorporated John’s occupation as a famous, best-selling author to tell a story within a story that mirrored John’s life and personal struggles as he used his writing as a coping mechanism and at the same time gave us incite into the hero’s actions. Above all Sweet as Sin was a story that proves “That which doesn’t kill you - makes you stronger”.

I felt so strongly for the hero at one point that I tweeted the author calling her a cruel mistress for forcing poor John and his alter ego Jondi to face the Sophie’s choice dilemma. This was a book that had me thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it as I went through a gamut of emotions from caring so much and feeling so sorry for the hero for the torture he had endured as a child in one breath to calling him an a$$hole and f*&king moron in the next breath even though I knew why he was treating Livvy so terribly. John’s survival skills run deep and are well honed from years of having suffered unspeakable horrors at the hands of his preacher step-father. As the conditions build and become the perfect storm, John’s like a powder keg just waiting to explode and when he does Livvy tries to stand by her man but - a girl can only take so much from the man she loves. Thankfully Livvy believes in John and their love even if it takes him a little longer to come to the same conclusion.

This is great emotional love story and because of that it gets an A review from me.