Read in 2016 - 31: Sweet Nothings

"Sweet Nothings" by Tracie Puckett started a little boring - it was clear from the first time the main female and male characters set eyes on each other that they were going to end up together.

But a kind of detective story emerged after a while, and so I stuck with it, and although my guess as to "whodunnit" was close to the truth, the solution came as a bit of a surprise.

The outline is quickly told: Young woman runs small-town bakery, handed down to her by her late mother, plus a successful party planning business. Young man appears on the scene, woman goes weak in the knees at first sight. Young man has hidden agenda but against his will falls in love with young woman. (And of course both of them are utterly gorgeous and flawless in their appearance, just like real people… erm…)

How will she react when she finds out his secret?

And who really set fire to the bakery in order to get their hands on the most desirable plot of land for miles around?

Admittedly, it is all somewhat improbable - for instance, why the best friends couples are actually best friends (and remain it) was a mystery to me. But the book was short, the writing style was OK (much better than "Stilettos and Scoundrels", the waste of time I reviewed here the other day!), and clearly some editing has been done before publication (not too many typos etc.).

My overall verdict? This was alright for an unchallenging train-ride read (and a free ebook), but I won't start looking for more books by Tracie Puckett and definitely do not recommend it as a "must read".