Sweet Like Sin: A Grumpy Cowboy Small Town Romance (Maplewood Series Book 1): She came to escape. He’s the one thing she can’t outrun.

by Holly Broome

She came to escape. He’s the one thing she can’t outrun.



After a brutal betrayal, traveling vet Sierra Holt lands in Maplewood, Texas—looking for a clean slate, not a man with a busted shoulder, a brooding stare, and a habit of leaving black coffee on her porch.



Beau Walker isn’t just any cowboy. He’s an ex-rodeo legend with a guarded past and a ticking clock on his second chance.



Thrown together by foaling season and stubborn mares, Sierra and Beau find themselves tangled in more than veterinary emergencies and barn brawls. Sparks fly, secrets surface, and healing takes root where neither expected it.



Sweet Like Sin is a slow-burn, grumpy/sunshine, small-town cowboy romance that will break your heart and piece it back together with every page. Expect sass, steam, and the kind of love story that kicks like a colt and lingers like a sunset.



Perfect for fans of Elsie Silver, Devney Perry, Paisley Hope, and cowboy romances with heart, heat, and a whole lot of hay.

525 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 30, 2025

Reviews

[Rebecca Bath · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very lucky to get an ARC for Holly's book.

This book really left me wanting to move to Texas and live amongst a chaotic and loving cowboy family. The Walker 'family' is truly something special.

I loved that Sierra was a Vet and following along with her on that journey. Her character is extremely raw and heartfelt and her POV you can just imagine her brain working through scenarios. I was jealous of her quick witted comebacks 🤣.

Beau, has tunnel vision as soon as he meets Sierra. He is so incredibly patient and understanding with her, giving her the opportunities to flourish. You certainly would want to be wearing his cowboy hat 🤠

I adored the found family aspect of this book and the difference a good friendship group can have.

This series has a lot of potential!

[Karen murnaghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had so much potential but I was left very disappointed by the errors from the beginning and throughout the book. Some scenes were repeated and there were contradictions throughout. I loved all the characters and the storyline was there but I felt the book ended suddenly and was rushed. I will definitely try the other books in the series as I love the authors style of writing but hopefully it won’t be as scrappy as this one!

[Kayleighsbookshelf_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all I’d like to thank Holly Broome for sending me an ARC copy of Sweet Like Sin.

I believe we all need a Beau Walker in our lives🤠🫶🏻

This book isn’t even released yet and I can’t wait for the second in the series, fingers crossed I’m lucky enough to get an early copy of that one too🤞🏻

If you love stories with cowboys on the ranch, heartbreak, chosen families, friends & laughter then this is the book for you🤠💕

[The Poisoned Pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

A massive shoutout to Holly Broome for sending me this ARC in exchange for my two cents! 📖❤️

I dove into this book and absolutely reveled in it! Sierra's development was raw, real, and written with such flair—my emotions were on a rollercoaster. The friendships she was forging? Cue the waterworks—so touching! Her sharp wit and calm demeanor had me totally smitten.

And Beau? Don't even get me started! Where's the line to snag one of him? The ultimate sweetheart—moody cowboy with a heart as soft as marshmallow under a steel exterior.

This book wrapped me in a warm hug, making me feel like an honorary Walker. I’m eagerly awaiting the sequel to keep up with Sierra and Beau’s escapades!

[Nic29 · Rating 1 out of 5]

500+ pages of choppy, un-edited and then totally re-written scenes that differed beyond belief. (It’s like a mash up of all the authors drafts) Don’t waste your time and money. It’s infuriating!! 😡

[Anah Grindrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book!

After a awful betrayal by her ex, Sierra who is a travelling vet land in Maplewood Texas working for the Walker family. Beau is currently at home on his family ranch due to a shoulder injury from a Rodeo, he is trying to recover but it also under alot of pressure to make his comeback return. Sierra and Beau are thrown together by foaling season, soon sparks fly between them and healing starts to take root and they both feel seen by each other even in silence. They support each other :-)

He falls first and after seeing her for the first time from a distance he leaves her every morning her preferred coffee order from 13 lattes outside her door (its so cute and swoon!)

I love how patient Beau is with Sierra, giving her time to breathe and space so she didn't do what she tends to do which is run!

Love the sisterhood of the friends she gets their with Oakley, Del and Tessa - always there when needed and supportive. Honestly some of the text convos in this book had me laughing in the best way.

Absolutely love the Walker family, all of them are amazing!

I can't wait for book 2!

[LollyReads97 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book!

This is the first book in the series and I'm already looking forward to the next.

This was a brilliant read from beginning to end.

It had everything a cowboy romance reader could want
- chemistry, passion, spice, a good plot, a fab country playlist and a few hot cowboys as well

After being cheated on by her ex, Sierra leaves her home and starts afresh at Maplewood Ranch where she meets Beau and his family. Sierra had no plans to commit to a long term stay but after spending time with the family and falling for Beau, she struggles to find a reason to leave.

I loved the chemistry between Beau and Sierra. He's taken back when she doesn't throw herself at him like women normally do and she's not used to speaking with someone who's so forward when it comes to his feelings - their flirty, sarcastic banter was 10/10

I liked the fact that Beau fell for her first - he didn't stray away from his feelings. He had his eye on her even before any formal introductions were made and he went into town to get a custom coffee order for her every morning and leave it on her porch so she had something nice to wake up to

All of Beau's siblings were really sweet and welcoming as well!

Loved the fact that Sierra found her own little girl squad after she befriended Beau's sister Oakley.

5 star read - would definitely recommend

[Olivia Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say I didnt enjoy it, but it was a bit repetitive. I read the book in 2 days and was hooked until about half way.

The instalust put me off, but I kept going. I feel like there was a lot in the book that could have been developed further into a great plot or the beginning of one to inspire another book, but because they were abandoned just as quickly as they appeared, they felt out of place. Sadie showing up had potential for a meaty plot, but when we got everybody else's reaction to it and not Cal's, I was put off a bit and then when it didnt come up again it did feel a bit out of place and a waste of words.
I felt similarly with Beau's riding storyline, we had this big build up of his recovery, his battle with leaving Sierra and then 50 pages later its abandoned. I feel like we could have had him retired from the start and again, saved some words.
Sierra running away after telling herself she wouldn't the entire book felt performative and almost out of character by the end.
Josie's name changing to Mae half way through solidified for me that the book had not been proofread correctly, and I know so many other readers feel the same. Texts messages and dialogue of the same event being completely different irked me as well, especially when I would read S's side of the story and then turn the page and B's said something completely different or a text message is different to what they had supposedly sent a second ago. Nothing major to the plot, but small things that really added up through the book and influenced my opinion on the book and the author.

The grammatical errors, the punctuation errors, the spelling errors and the plot errors did irritate me, I don't know if the book was proof read or not, but it needs to be done again.

I do however like Broome's style of writing and I think that's why I got through it so quickly. I will be reading the second book when it comes out, but I hope it is better and more thought out than this one.

[Lu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not sure why I finished this - whole duplicated scenes with inconsistencies, lots of other formatting and spelling mistakes along the way. I don’t expect much from cowboy small town romance books but this was just subpar

For anyone considering reading this, if you hate rhetorical questions followed by explicit repetitive sentences summarising the last page or two, then this book is not for you!

And me?
I can’t say the book was worth it for me.

As a positive I will say the story & plot isn’t bad, the characters have depth and some scenes are very well written, however not enough to carry the book

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably would of been a 4 star, but there was a lot of inconsistency on the kindle version with some repeated scenes, errors and contradictions. I’m not sure whether this was just a kindle file error or if it has missed editing.

If it was only a couple times I wouldn’t of knocked my rating down but it was throughout the book which did take the enjoyment out of reading some bits.


I did really enjoy the characters and the plot line, so I will probably continue on with the series.

[Mads🧸✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like the story had so much potential and I can see the talent that the author has, however this just wasn’t it for me unfortunately :(

There was so much repetition, plots left unfinished and I personally feel that the book could’ve been 200 pages instead of 500ish.

Not every book will be for me and that’s ok. I can still appreciate the time and effort the author has gone into and how brave they are for publishing a book! That’s incredible🫶🏽

[Hannah Winslade · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good

It has so many errors, the bar owners name kept changing and then the last mare to foals name changed from Josie to Mae and there was a lot of repetition. The MFC told Mama June she was pregnant twice? It was a good book and I enjoyed it but it got a bit annoying when everything was repeated.

[Kornelija Ar · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me a week to finish this and I’m not entirely sure why I did finish it 😂 the style of writing was different which I enjoyed but the grammar mistakes, spelling, mixed up names, repetition etc was definitely not it!!

[Eleanor Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book but the inconsistencies throughout the story is the reason behind the 3 stars. Honestly I loved the characters but the little mistakes in the writing just changed how I felt slightly

[Connor Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book! Even for a male which I didn’t expect it was a great read and really kept me wanting more! Look forward to see if there is more to come from this writer

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read Really inspiring writing. I was Hooked from page 1. Hoping for a sequel.

[Megan Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this read, devoured it in two days

[Abbigail Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would’ve been one of my favourite books so far but the mistakes and the repetitiveness just made it so difficult to read :(