A HUGE thank you to NetGalley, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and of course, Dylan Newton for providing me with an eARC of this book. I am voluntarily leaving a review, all opinions are my own.

This book was absolutely adorable. It had me grinning from ear to ear so often, it was ridiculous. I loved the MC, Kate from the get-go and just absolutely had to find out how her story progressed. She's an event planner whose weddings are planned so meticulously, always include an "aww factor" as she calls it, and has earned her the title of the Queen of Happily Ever After. Then her publicist best friend reaches out asking her to help her with a book launch for the infamous Drake Matthews- AKA the Knight of Nightmares.

From their super awkward meeting to every moment in between, I was so on board for this journey. Both Drake and Kate had such reservations when it came to relationships because of who they were and watching their own romance unfold was beautiful.

This book was so cute and honestly felt so real at times- all of the side characters were fantastic and the romance never felt forced or awkward. Definitely recommend this one and I will be checking out more of Newton's books going forward.

When the Knight of Nightmares meets the Queen of Happily Ever Afters what could possibly go wrong? Well, it turns out...lots of things! I very much enjoyed this sweet romance between event planner Kate Sweet and horror writer Drake Matthews as they navigated planning his spooky book launch together. This book has one of my absolute favorite "meet-cutes" of all time and some of the hijinks the two of them get into are laugh-out-loud funny. This book surprised me and delighted me and was a great summer read even if the book takes place during the fall - complete with Harvest festivals and pumpkin carving competitions.

There was something a little off for me in the middle, pacing-wise, but once I saw where the story was going I was along for the ride. I enjoyed how everything came together and ultimately how cute Kate and Drake were together.

Definitely pick this up if you are in the mood for a light-hearted spooky romance.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute romcom! It was fast-paced and witty and I just loved our two MCs.

Kate, with her big dreams and all of the chaos that ensued upon meeting Drake. She was so funny and tried to make the best of every situation. I loved her sarcasm and her style!

Drake is the misunderstood author. A little rough around the edges but with a sweet, gooey center. And his abs are NOT photoshopped!

This book is available now and you definitely want to get your hands on it!

Kate Sweet is known as the Queen of Happily Ever Afters because of the perfect weddings she puts together as an event planner. She’s looking to launch into different types of events, so when her friend asks her to help with a client’s book launch, she is in. That client is Drake Matthews, horror author who is known as the Knight of Nightmares. The pair go on some interesting adventures and get to know each other well as they prepare for the book launch.

I loved this opposites attract romance! It was a low-angst slow-burn and it was such a fun read! This is the most unlikely couple with the best chemistry, plus add a puppy in there (and a Shih Tzu at that!!!) and this book was everything I didn’t know I wanted. If you love Fall like I do, grab this one, this is the perfect Halloween season read! I loved it so much, I went out and bought a copy immediately.

Thanks to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review. How Sweet It Is is available now!

What a fun book! Who would have thought that a book about a horror writer could be so light and happy? I loved Kate and Drake and the contrast between their lives. I always love a sunshine heroine and a grumpy hero. Super fun summer read.

How Sweet It Is, indeed! This book was positively brimming with sweetness. The romance portion was adorable and I loved the Halloween aspect. The plot moves along at a nice pace and I enjoyed the characters. The setting was fun, and I loved the author aspect. 3.5 stars. My thanks to the publisher for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Forever Publishing for the free book.
This book came out last week, and I just absolutely adored it. It would be a perfect read for fall/around Halloween, too, which is coming up, so I would recommend this one for then if you like to match the weather with your books. What I loved about this story was how the author challenged notions about what event planners, do and what horror authors are like. Kate and Drake have so much more to them than their career, and I enjoyed getting to know them throughout this book. Kate was such a fun character. I loved all of the chaos that followed her around. I even laughed so hard I woke my sleeping child that I was holding while reading. Oops. 😂
I also enjoyed Drake and his antics in the story. I don't want to share much because it'd be a spoiler, but I will say that all of his books sounded like fun reads. I also enjoyed getting a glimpse at his whole family, and hope maybe there may be books for his brothers? A reader can dream, right?

What a cute romance novel! I loved the opposites attract, misunderstood hero storyline - especially with a little spooky thrown in there for good measure!

I thought the storyline was believable and the conflict wasn't too out of the box, while their resolution was sweet and wrapped up the story nicely. I think the cast of characters, from the hero's family to the heroine's coworkers all added a lot to the story. (And maybe I'm hopeful we'll get stories for the brothers?)

Again, this was definitely a cute read that romance readers are sure to enjoy!

As a former event planner - not party planner-, I have a soft spot for any book starring an event-planning MC. Kate, a wedding planner who focuses on the “aww” moments, agrees to help out her bestie by planning the book launch party for a horror writer, Drake. Starting with one of the best meet-cutes I’ve ever seen, we follow the story of Kate and Drake as they both strive to reach their professional goals while they begin to fall for each other along the way.

I recommend if you love
-Halloween/spooky vibes
-dogs
-small towns
-funny moments
-banter
-great side characters
-swoon-worthy romance


Thanks to Netgalley and Forever for the ARC. “How Sweet It Is” is out now!

Seasonal readers, get your lists out and mark this one down for Halloween!

Let’s pretend it’s October. You’ve just come back from a pumpkin patch, poured a cup of apple cider, settled into your favorite chair, and are looking for a light rom-com to read as a palate cleanser from all the horror you’ve been bingeing. How Sweet It Is, Dylan Newton’s debut novel, is a forced proximity romance that fits that bill.

34-year-old event planner Kate Sweet (get it, her name is Sweet so the book is called How Sweet It Is 🙄) lands a gig organizing a book launch party for a famous writer named Drake Matthews. (Side note: Drake has two brothers names Zander and Ryker. So yes, this is the type of contemporary romance where the characters are called Drake, Zander and Ryker. 😬)

Anyway, the plot is essentially “The Queen of Happily Ever Afters” meets “The Knight of Nightmares.” Their meet cute walks the line between funny and silly, Drake’s character is pretty charming, and the ending is satisfying. (Speaking of satisfaction, there’s one fairly spicy chapter that was a little too much for my taste but may be tame for others. 🙈)

How Sweet It Is isn’t groundbreaking literature, but I don’t think anyone expects it to be. While I thought many of the plot elements were ridiculously unrealistic, I’d still recommend this to rom-com readers who love all those Hallmark-type holiday movies and will get a kick out of a Halloween setting instead of Christmas.

3.5 stars

This is the perfect setup. What if the world’s master of horror storytelling was secretive writing a historical romance?

HOW SWEET IT IS is magic and romance. It’s the perfect summer slow burn just like your next family’s BBQ complete with all the trimmings:

Grumpy Hero
Creative/ Independent Heroine
Cute & Adorable Shih Tzu
Small Town Charm
Big City Aspirations
Add in some delicious sexy times and you have the perfect beach read. Ms Newton delivered way more than this reader expected. It’s an easy read you won’t put down.

You are going to love Drake Matthews and Kate Sweet and their perfect chaos together!!! Buy it now!!!

5 star read b/c I may or may not have shed some tears. It’s the pollen yeah that’s it!!!!. . wink wink

"He needed to take his mind off the gorgeous woman standing before him in real life and focus more on the fictional woman in his book. The former was off-limits - the latter was, in theory, more accessible. He could write a romance. Living it? That was a completely different story. And not one where he was a bestseller."

In HOW SWEET IT IS, Kate has mastered the Happily Ever After as an established event planner. Therefore, she's shocked when her best friend asks her to plan a massive book launch for famous horror writer, Drake Matthews. As the two work together leading up to the launch, shenanigans ensue (picture: a Tin Man costume debacle resulting in old ladies catcalling and precarious positions while trying to cover the costume up). Could the “Knight of Nightmares" turn out to be Katie’s knight in shining armor?

While I knew that I would enjoy this book, I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did. Kate and Drake's chemistry was off the charts, and I was pleasantly surprised by the level of steam. It was hard to believe that this is Newton's debut novel while turning the pages, as I felt that there was such natural flow that led to the relationship being entirely believable. I laughed several times while reading, and I can only hope that the Matthews brothers show up in Newton’s future work.

My only issue with the novel was the pacing near the end, as it felt a bit rushed (probably because I didn't want the book to end). This one gave me all of the fall vibes, and I definitely want to reread it when there is a chill in the air. Spooky season friends, this one’s for you. THANK YOU to Forever and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This one is available now!

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

This was unfortunately not to my taste and I didn't enoy it. It felt juvenile and not well written. Hopefully next book will be better.

This is one debut book that I was really looking forward to reading.
The meet-cute is one of the wackiest ones I have read in a while, so definitely points for that.

I really loved both protagonists, a sweet, albeit grumpy writer, and a sunshiny, capable heroine. I loved the small town versus city aspect of it and I loved the secondary characters. There was a LOT and I mean, a LOT that I loved about this book.

However, there were story inconsistencies regarding the heroine's behavior that made me roll my eyes a bit. So that pulled me out of the story a bit. It happens, what can I say?

All in all, a great debut book, and I definitely want to read more from this author.!

This book is adorable and hilarious, full of over-the-top rom-com hijinx and basically cute as heck. It’s set during the fall in a small town in western NY and has a delightfully cozy (and a little bit spooky) vibe. Definitely perfect to go with a pumpkin spice candle and some warm apple cider!

“Throwing parties is like blowing a soap bubble—fun, but quickly over and forgotten. But event planning is like crafting a sphere out of iridescent glass and gifting it to someone forever. Events are momentous.”


Kate Sweet may be known as the Queen of Happily Ever Afters, but she’s looking at branching out from weddings into more events in hopes of winning a coveted award. When she gets the chance to help out with a famous horror author’s Halloween book launch party, she hightails it off to his small hometown in western NY with visions of coffins and skeletons in her eyes. Until an epic meet-disaster derails her chances of ever working on anything but weddings ever again. While Drake is known as the Knight of Nightmares, he’s found himself stuck with writer’s block on his latest horror novel, so instead he’s secretly been working on a romance novel loosely based on his grandparents’ own romance. And strangely enough, Kate seems to be his muse – for the romance novel, that is. Drake agrees to let her continue planning the party as long as she’ll also help with his book research, just completely normal things like getting locked into a crypt with him. But as the event planning – and the romance novel writing – proceed, both find themselves drawn to the other. Can nightmares and happily ever afters fit together?

“Things always go according to my plans. Normally.”
Drake shrugged, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught a smile blooming on his lightly whiskered face. “If you say so. From what I’ve seen chaos seems to follow you around like a lap dog.”


Between having basically no social life (all her weekends are swamped with events) and still feeling the pressure from her parents to change careers, Kate’s having some angst over her life. She loves event planning and she’s amazing at it, but at times she wonders if it’s compatible with, well, having her own life. So she sees the opportunity to get away from NYC and slow down – even if it’s while planning another event – as a good time to reevaluate. While Kate initially goes over-the-top (Drake emerging from a coffin wreathed in fog! Gallons of fake blood!), it doesn’t take long before she realizes that Drake’s not the stereotypical creepy horror writer. He’s actually a regular person and not really into big to-dos (or blood). Kate’s able to walk the line between promoting his new book while respecting who he is. Drake, like his brothers, went into the military and fell into horror writing after he got out, especially once he realized he could support his family with his writing. And in many ways, Drake’s house is just like him – an imposing facade with cinnamon roll insides. Most people think his Victorian is gothic and creepy, but once Kate gets inside she realizes it’s cozy and full of his grandma’s furniture. As for their relationship, it’s pretty slow-burn, and part of that is that Drake is wary of betrayal after a previous girlfriend’s actions.

As for cons, I didn’t feel like there was a lot of character growth for either character beyond the obvious bleak moment. I also felt a little squicky about how Drake initially mined some of his interactions with Kate for writing material. He did eventually get her agreement for using her as his writing muse, but it felt a bit transactional at first. I also was confused that the bleak moment didn’t involve the characters who, up until that point, had been the big villains of the story, and thought their come-uppance was out of nowhere and lackluster.

Overall, 3.5 stars from me. Delightfully fun fluff, and I’ll be keeping an eye on what the author writes next (I’m guessing it will involve the other Matthews brothers!).

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Just in time for summer, this adorable rom com is the perfect addition to your vacation bag! When a wedding planner gets roped into organizing a book launch, for a horror writer of all people, she vows to turn her happy ever afters into serious scares.

However, a DISASTROUS first meeting leaves her off kilter and fighting to even keep the job. As the two spend more time together, though, they're both starting to hope the event will never arrive so they continue to have excuses to meet.

I loved every bit of this story! It was fun going behind the scenes of event planning and book marketing. Plus, the chemistry between these two was a delight to read!

I had high hopes for this one after seeing stellar early reviews from a bunch of people I trust, but this one fell pretty flat for me and I am hella bummed about it. This is a romance between an event planner (my dream job tbh) and a young, hot, Stephen King-esque horror author and everything about that sounds like it would be PERFECT for me. Unfortunately, if I'm being honest, the romance in this felt really undercooked and hindered what little enjoyment I may have felt in the first few chapters of the story. I never felt much chemistry between the two main characters and the rest of the story as whole was never really able to pull me in after that and I am so, so sad about it. The biggest womp :(

CW: mentions of suicide and domestic abuse

Kate Sweet is an event planner brought in by her BFF to work on horror author Drake Matthews' upcoming book launch. But nothing goes quite as planned once these two meet! Seriously, it is less a meet-cute and more a meet-horrible. I was cringing for both of them! Will the Queen of Happily Ever Afters and the Knight of Nightmares be able to turn the page and start fresh?

How Sweet It Is by Dylan Newton is just that! A super sweet, fun, light read with a moment of real steam and passion when Kate and Drake get together. And it was exactly the breath of fresh air I didn't realize I needed right now!

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and hope that we get to see books for the rest of the Matthews brothers.

Thanks to Forever for an advanced copy of How Sweet It Is by Dylan Newton.

This was such a fun opposites attract romance. I love opposites attracting and witty characters so this was so much fun to read!

Kate Sweet has built an amazing wedding planning/events business, but it's not enough for her surgeon family. When Kate is asked by her best friend to help plan a book launch for one of her authors, the Knight of Nightmares she's a little nervous, but once Kate starts working with Drake, she's questioning how complicated her well thought out plans were.

Their meeting had me laughing so hard! I loved that they quickly realized their attraction to each other and just went for it. Drake's siblings and mom were the best -- the Fall Harvest festival scenes! I honestly loved everything about this book from their relationship, the book-ish theme and the wonderful writing. This was Dylan Newton's debut rom-com and I'm hoping there is a second book about Imani!

Kate Sweet and Drake Matthews are my new favorite couple! I loved everything about this book and highly recommend it!

Kate Sweet is an even planner known as the Queen of Happy Ever Afters. Drake Matthews is horror novelist known as the Knight of Nightmares. Kate had a wedding cancel and now has an opening in her schedule. Drake's got a new book coming out with a movie adaptation and his publisher (Kate's best friend Imani is on the team) is in immediate need of an event planner for the book launch party. Imani asks Kate for help, and, of course, as best friends do, she agrees.

This book gave me lots of warm fuzzy feels. From their meet-cute to the epilogue, I had a smile on my face and was invested in Kate and Drake's happiness and relationship. The story takes place in a smaller town in Upstate New York in the fall. It all felt so real; I wish I could meet everyone, attend the Harvest Festival, and be there for the book launch party. Kate and Drake are both accomplished in their fields and are both real people with continued aspirations and some self-doubts. Watching them get to know and be open to each other was wonderful. It's a cliche, but I really did laugh and cry during this book because IW as so connected to the characters. It's one I will be happy to reread!

I am extremely hopeful that this is the beginning of a series and we will get to see Drake's brothers and Kate's best friend in future books (with cameos by Kate and Drake, please!),

Thanks to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for a digital copy in exchange for an honest opinion.