Sweet

by Nene Adams

Candy is Ruby Fontaine’s life. Sure, she has friends, but her daily connection is to her shop—the Magic Bean—and all the ways she can make decadent and irresistible confections for her customers. She’s used to women lusting after her ganache and spun sugar delights. But lusting after her? Not so much.

The news that an exclusive island resort wants to feature her candies could be life-changing. But it’s marred by the news that her friend, reporter Bee Brooks, has dropped out of sight. Adding to her confusion is the surprising interest she’s feeling from the investigating detective on the case, Frances Orsini.

But it’s the delectable Delilah Kerrigan from the St. Clare Hotel and Resort who proves the greatest distraction of all. It seems that a request to spend time on the island might prove as delicious as any treat Ruby has ever imagined…

Genres: Romance, Lesbian, LGBT

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 13, 2015

About the author

The author of the classics The Sunne in Golde and Black by Gaslight and the critically acclaimed Flowers of Edo: A Ghost Story, Nene Adams left behind eleven years working in the newspaper and marketing industries in the U.S., to live and work in a small village in the Netherlands with her partner, Dutch artist Corrie Kuipers. Through her fascination with the nineteenth century and earlier times, she found inspiration in the modern world as well.
Nene Adams is the author of many published and online novels and stories. Her novels Barking at the Moon and The Consequence of Murder are Golden Crown Literary Society Award Winners. She is the Royal Academy of Bards 2006 Hall of Fame Author and the winner of 2012 Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award.
Nene Adams passed away from a heart attack on October 3, 2015, after a long illness. Her work brought, and will continue to bring, much pleasure to readers of lesbian fiction.

Remembering Nene Adams, 1966-2015 by KG MacGregor

Reviews

[Joc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic read and not at all what I expected from the cover and title. Ruby is a chocolatier who creates some strangely interesting sweets from her hired kitchen while running her business doing online orders only. When her best friend, Bee, fails to collect her six-year-old daughter from school Ruby knows something is wrong. She reports her disappearance to the police but has no choice but to let them do their job while Bee's daughter is carted off by social services. Tall, dark and gorgeous police officer Frances promises she do everything she can to find Bee. At the same time, Ruby receives an invitation to present six of her best creations to the city's most expensive hotel. The resident manager, Delilah, is as beautiful as she is cold but it's an opportunity which could give Ruby the shop she's always wanted.

The mystery of Bee's disappearance held my attention throughout and everybody seemed to be hiding something at some point. Not knowing who was trustworthy created a lot of interesting dynamics in the relationships. Lots of chemistry flowing in the pages. The only thing that occasionally bothered me was that there was so much going on that at times I felt like I was the only one worrying about Bee. This is both a good mystery and a good romance.

[Verónica Díaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si bien deja algunas puntas sueltas y no le da un cierre a ciertos personajes, es un buen libro, sin dudas superior a muchos de los que andan en la vuelta y que se dicen la octava maravilla. Me gusta mucho la manera de escribir de Nene y como plantea sus historias, como logra con algo simple atraparte.

[Julie Verne]

I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this.

I don't think I liked any of the characters, and I found the lack of concern about Bee by all but the detective disconcerting.

Lots of villains and red herrings but there were some major hints throughout that were very gratifying.