REVIEW: The Sweetheart Deal by Miranda Liasson

The Sweetheart Deal  has a gorgeous cover and is the first book in the Blossom Glen series by Miranda Liasson. This is the first time I have read one of her books, and I loved how smoothly it flowed. It was fun yet still a heartbreaking book as the main characters were dealing with grief. The book was like Romeo & Juliet with the feud between the Italian Castorinis and the French Montgomery families which had been going on for years. Combined with the enemy to lover troupe this was a book I had to read.

After the death of her father, Tessa Montgomery gave up her dreams of leaving Blossom Glen to stay and help with the family’s boulangerie. She dreams of becoming a pastry chef, but her mother insists on continuing the family’s tradition of only selling bread. She applied to the Chicago School of French Pastry, but with only baking experience of bread, she thought she did not have a chance. Leo’s suggestion of marriage to help both their family businesses would allow her to leave once the bakery was back on track.

Leo Castorinis left town after high school but has returned to help his struggling family’s restaurant. He has great ideas to improve the restaurant but his father refuses to listen to him. Leo’s father thinks the town will take Leo’s changes seriously if he settles down with a wife and shows he wants to be part of the community. With nothing to lose, Leo suggests he and Tessa marry, and together they can help each other.

This was a wonderful book and was filled with charming characters, family issues, humor, and romance. Leo protected his heart by not having any relationships and always looking at the bright side. That way he would never go through the pain again of losing someone. Over the years Tessa had started to settle for things and gave up on her dreams. I enjoyed watching her finally going after her dreams and Leo supporting her dreams. It was a heartbreaking story and I look forward to future books from the author.

Book Info:

Publication: January 25, 2022 | Entangled: Amara | Blossom Glen #1

Pastry chef Tessa Montgomery knows what everyone in the teeny town of Blossom Glen says about her. Spinster. Ice Queen. Such a shame. It’s enough to make a woman bake her troubles away, dreaming of Parisian delicacies while she makes bread at her mother’s struggling boulangerie. That is until Tessa’s mortal enemy—deliciously handsome (if arrogant) chef Leo Castorini, who owns the restaurant next door—proposes a business plan…to get married.

Leo knows that the Castorinis and the Montgomerys hate each other, but a marriage might just force these stubborn families to work together and blend their businesses for success. The deal is simple: Tessa and Leo marry, live together for six months, and then go their separate ways. Easy peasy.

It’s a sweetheart deal where everyone gets what they want—until feelings between the faux newlyweds start seriously complicating the mix. Have they discovered the perfect recipe for success…or is disaster on the way?