REVIEW: On the Sweet Side by Audrey Carlan

On the Sweet Side by Audrey Carlan: Finally finishing her master course to become a pastry chef alongside her bestie Jasper, Isabeau is horrified to find that the life she has been living is based on a solid lie when two gorgeous women come to her home emotionally strained and with a story that rocks Izzy’s world completely. Discovering she is not in fact the child of an egg donor, but in fact a very legitimate daughter of one of her father’s and an estranged mother who has sadly passed, Izzy is benefited an inheritance that provides her space to find her place in the world. Thus, moving with Jasper to where her sisters are in Colorado with the purpose of understanding who she really is, seems like the right thing to do.

As one disturbingly quick moment moves to another, Izzy and Jasper build their dream business alongside (literally) her sister’s Gypsy Soul fashion boutique and she gets the real opportunity to understand who she is, why her mother abandoned her, and what it means to love with her whole being.

Throughout, there were many stand alone elements that added depth to the third novel in the Wish series. Isabeau fathers were brilliant and it was evident throughout she had had a solid upbringing in a home filled with love and support. Similarly, her friendship with Jasper was built on years of trust and shared empathy, and without doubt was one of the highlights and points of comic relief.

As Isabeau learns and comes to understand her Native American heritage, tribe and cultural history; the connection to country and acknowledgement of elders past and present was managed effectively. Yet, despite the many standalone outstanding elements, the real let down was the pace. Her steamy romance with Kyson, whilst relatively well defended in terms of its speed, appeared out of character and there was a pivotal shift in dialogue and inner monologue a third of the way that made everything seem quite disingenuous to the point where it seemed biker/baker meets First Nations people, meets Gypsy abandonment LGBTQI+ mishmash.

Ultimately therefore, it simply tried too hard and if if tapered back slightly the many brilliant elements would have worked. And whilst it delivered on a picture perfect happily every after, and it is certainly the kind of novel you can plow through easily in a solid sitting, the bizarre stereotypes and insta-family love was far too up the unbelievability scale. This definitely has its moments and shared some powerful themes; namely abandonment, loyalty, trust and empathy, yet sadly, there was just too much that didn’t blend to work perfectly despite the A+ romantic ending.

Book Info:

Publication: 4th January 2022 | HQN | Wish #3

Baking is Isabeau Collins’s life. Back from studying under the finest chefs in France and Italy, and with a newly minted culinary degree in hand, Izzy is ready to pursue her dream: whipping up creative confections in her own custom cake shop. But her perfect plans are waylaid when two women claiming to be her half sisters show up with a stack of letters addressed to Izzy from their late mother. Torn between launching her career and the need to learn more about her family history, Izzy makes the decision to go to Colorado to connect with the sisters she’s never known.

Then Izzy stumbles across a run-down storefront in Pueblo’s funky downtown and instantly knows that with a bit of work it’s the perfect location for her dream bakery…which means her detour to Colorado will be a permanent reroute. And with an unexpected relationship growing between Izzy and her contractor, Kyson, she has yet another reason to stick around—even if there are secrets in Kyson’s past Izzy can’t quite figure out. Fighting homesickness and self-doubt, Izzy worries that she’s making a mistake. But with her sisters close and her dreams within reach, she can’t help but wonder if her riskiest move could be the most rewarding decision she’s ever made