A read with a lot of light-hearted warm and fuzzy moments
I did not read the first book in this Swizzle Stick Romance series but didn’t feel like I was that far behind understanding cousin Vanessa’s story without reading Julia’s story first. The three Martini cousins act as a support system for each other and have Julia’s bar to celebrate and commiserate together as needs arise. Grace Chapman is not so fortunate. A newly divorced single parent, Grace has to juggle an inflexible boss at work, a son who is acting out at school and a mother who blames her for “not trying hard enough” to keep her marriage together. You can feel the pressure Grace lives with on the day-to-day. When Oliver’s school calls Grace at work to say he has been in a fight and will be expelled your heart goes out to Grace. Her first meeting with his judgy teacher Vanessa doesn’t improve Grace’s mood.
I loved this setup for the romance to come and Georgia Beers succeeds once again in turning sour grapes into sweet wine. Several meet-cutes later along with a clear attraction for one another we get to watch Vanessa and Grace fall in love and yes, there is lots of steam in this book so enjoy the ride. When I read the blurb for the book I assumed Grace was straight so was pleased to see her bisexuality not being a factor at all in their budding relationship. I did worry about the parent/teacher relationship and this was a complicating factor in their HEA. I went in thinking this would be Vanessa’s story but found I was team Grace, cheering for her happiness and not happy with Vanessa’s behaviour when trouble began brewing in romancelandia.
This is a fairly low angst read where the romance overshadows the dark times and like many Beers books we’ve enjoyed, a lot of light-hearted warm and fuzzy moments. A nice December read to get you in the holiday spirit. Time for me to read the first book in the series, Shaken or Stirred before the third book is released. I’m looking forward to Amelia’s book not just for her new business but as an older lesbian, I’m excited to see who she will meet and (hopefully) fall in love.
4.5 stars
An ecopy of this book was received with thanks from the publisher via NetGalley for review.
