Sweetheart by Sarah Mayberry

Title: Sweetheart

Author: Sarah Mayberry

Narrator/s: Aiden Snow and Virginia Rose

Series: #1 in The Busy Bean series

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Tantor Audio (August 10, 2021) First published by The World of True North (February 26, 2021)

Source: Library Find vis Hoopla

Rating: ☕☕☕☕☕

Synopsis: I wanted to get my hands on his beans

Four years ago, I had a ridiculous crush on my sister's boyfriend. But when they moved away together, I put Beck out of my mind and my heart. But now he's back and roasting the best coffee in Vermont. I need to convince him to supply the Busy Bean. And i need more of those kisses we accidentally shared outside the coffee shop. He still makes my heart race faster than a triple shot of espresso.

She should be off limits, but instead she's pushing mine

Her sister burned my life to the ground, so Haley Elliot is the last woman I should bring into my bed. Although our business relationship is giving way to something more than a fine grind. Neither of us can help ourselves. And what's worse, I think I'm falling for her.

Content note: this fun and sexy romance contains a secondary character with mental health challenges. While that story is merely a small part of the book, we mention it out of an abundance of caution.

(synopsis courtesy of GoodReads)

My Thoughts: I abso-freakin-lutely loved this book!

The Good, The Bad, and Everything Else: It's been a hot minute that I completely identified with such a young (one closer to 20 than 30) heroine especially one that was working in a coffee shop and initially comes off as a bit flighty. But I totally did. Being the "good" daughter in a family with a sister that is super extra, whose moods change quicker than the weather in Iowa, I knew what Haley was going through. My family wasn't as extreme as the Elliots were, but I have always been placed in the role as peacemaker, whether self-imposed or by circumstance...I'm not sure. Someone who tried soothing and smoothing situations as to not escalate things. And someone who did their very best to not be the cause of the conflict often fading into the background to my sister's attention demanding personality. All of these things were Haley's cross, and she was my Soul sister.

Beck had his cross to bear as well. Having dated the unstable Elliot sister for over a year and coming away from all that was Jess with a battered soul and PTSD from, let's call it what it was, the abusive relationship it's no wonder when he encountered Haley for the first time his reaction was bad. Their second encounter wasn't any better and their third was when Haley let him have it. It stunned him. It pulled him out of his reactionary mode and made him think. It was a beginning and I loved what came next.

The spicy scenes were really good, and you can absolutely see the relationship unfolding as Beck and Haley spent time together dating and not just having sex. There is a fair amount of angst because when a woman starts dating her unstable sister's ex things can't be all rainbows and roses and at one point Beck really had to do some soul searching to decide if being with Haley was worth bringing Jess back into his life. Since this is a romance and as such comes with pretty much a 100% guarantee of a HEA you already know what his decision was but the path getting there was so worth the journey.

As far as the audio...Virginia Rose was a new to me narrator and I think she did a good job. I very much enjoy dual narration productions especially when the book has alternating POVs. As for Aiden Snow.....OMG Aiden Snow! I would listen to that man read the dictionary. I will hunt down more romances narrated by him just to hear him read the naughty bits. I'm kidding. 

But for real I will.

In a Nutshell: I loved this book. Will everyone love it as much as I did. Nope. Will someone else find the characters not easy to identify with? Probably. But that's ok as every reader takes away something different when reading a book. Also, I will read more in the Busy Bean series but won't expect the same reaction as the books are all written by different authors and Sarah Mayberry doesn't write any more of them. But for reals I'll pick up another Mayberry book in a heartbeat.