Member Reviews
Tessa is the glue that holds her family together. She's always the strong one, but after a terrible breakup, she needs time to mend herself, so she dives into the family business to get her mind off of her life. Leo returns home to help his family save his family business, but continues to find roadblocks at every turn. Will Tessa and Leo jump in and take the extreme measures necessary to save their businesses or will they walk away and lose everything?
This was a fun book to read. Like so many others said, it had Romeo and Juliet vibes. I did feel like the beginning took some time to get into and I also felt like the ending was a little bland, but really enjoyed the journey in the middle. It was a fun and quick feel good book to read.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my review and honest opinions.
The Sweetheart Deal by Miranda Liasson is her first book in her Blossom Glen series and was everything I love in a women’s fiction/romance novel. This sweet romance was emotional, with realistic characters, and just so comforting to read. All this with a twist on Romeo and Juliet.
Tessa Montgomery works hard in her family’s struggling boulangerie, making bread every day, but she dreams of opening a french patisserie with delicate, scrumptious French pastries. Chef Leo Castorini has returned home to help his family’s struggling Italian restaurant. His father is stubborn, and won’t allow Leo to make any changes, and Leo is afraid the restaurant won’t last much longer without any major changes.
The Montgomeries and the Castorini have been feuding for years and the two families have been bitter enemies. Leo’s father refuses to allow Leo to make any changes to the restaurant until he shows he’s responsible and willing to make a permanent home in the small town of Blossom Glen. Leo knows the only way he can prove to his father he’s responsible, is to get married. Leo then proposes a marriage of convenience to Tessa, she’s very surprised and reluctant to agree. But, in order to help her family and the bakery, she reluctantly agrees to a fake marriage.
This sweet romance has everything I want in a romance. The characters are realistic and charming. The romance was adorable and I was rooting for Tessa and Leo throughout the book. It’s an enemies to lovers, with a Romeo and Juliet twist along with a fake marriage trope! Both Tessa and Leo are working to save their families and their family’s businesses, and I liked that they both were so invested in the families as well as their own career aspirations.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a sweet romance. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
It's a page-turner. I absolutely loved the story and couldn't put it down once started reading. It's such a sweet, heartwarming kind of story that will put a smile on your face. A must-read for all romance fans, especially if you like character-driven stories.
Two families, a family feud, and a marriage of convenience; what could go wrong, right? Except, everything. When hearts get involved and business takes the back seat, anything is possible. Tessa and Leo are about to find out that some promises you really can't keep no matter how sincere your feelings are. They both promised not to fall in love and keep things strictly professional, but they both broke the promise. Yet, a happily ever after might not be in their future because now, they want different things. Leo want to come home and settle down. And Tessa wants to leave and experience life. She doesn't want to settle down or she would regret it for the rest of her life. Can there be a compromise between them or is their story doomed from the start? Lies have a way of catching up with you. And things definitely get worse before they can get any better. How the story will unfold is anybody's guess.
This is a beautifully written story with enough family drama and romance to keep the readers entertained. I hope we haven't see the last of these characters. They have kind of grown on me.
This is a fun read! Removed from reality, but fun! The two main characters have their notions about each other, mainly based on faulty information from their high school years. In order to help their feuding families they are going to have to overlook each other's faults. It is a wonderful mish-mash of Pride and Prejudice and Romeo and Juliet. Nobody dies!
The Sweetheart Deal by Miranda Liasson asks you to suspend reality for a moment as you read about two families, who haven't talked for generations for some slight, long forgotten. When Tessa Montgomery attempts to bring pastries to her family bread bakery, her mother won't allow her. Nearby, Leo Castorini wants to bring change to his family's Italian restaurant, but his father won't change anything, or update the restaurant. Leo comes up with a plan to bring both families back together and to make the changes he and Tessa would like, but it's unconventional, he thinks they should get married. But will that really be the spark for change that they think it will?
Although the concept is a bit far fetched, the story is great fun. Watching Leo and Tessa work to make their dreams come true, while finding each other in the process is a wonderful story which I thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you to the author, Entangled Publishing, LLC and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
If you in need of a book that gives you a little bit of everything and a whole lot of everything then this is the book for you to put into your hands and be swept into a story that gives you all of this.
Tessa and Leo are both set on saving their family businesses and they come up with just the way to do that.
This is the first book in the Blossom Glen series. I am looking forward to what the next in the series will bring.
Thank you NetGalley, Miranda Liasson and Entangled Publishing, LLC, for the copy of The Sweetheart Deal. This is my personal review.
This is such a fun, lighthearted read that will give you all the warm and fuzzies!
The basis is a bit farfetched in that two individuals get married in a strictly business agreement to bridge the longstanding feud between families, but I think that's also what makes it unique. It's a wonderful blend of hometown history, banter with tension (yum!), and food talk that will make you hungry even if you just ate...!
Not going to lie, I may have loved the food component - pastries and Italian - just as much as the main plot line. As soon as I finished the book, I made myself some homemade lasagna because I was craving it throughout the story!
I hope Miranda Liasson continues in this "world" for future ones. Would love to hear the stories of the sisters!
Remember the Montagues and the Capulets? Well, this time it’s the Montgomerys and the Castorinis. These two families have had a century old fugue.
In this first book of the series pastry chef Tessa Montgomery let go of her dream when her father died. Leaving a overwhelmed wife and two younger siblings . Tessa doesn’t regret her decision, but she’s ready to finally go to pastry school. If only she could do somethings about her family’s struggling boulangerie.
Meanwhile, Leo Castorini left town with the scholarship Tessa was competing with, but now is back to convince her father to let him help with the family’s struggling Italian restaurant.
Old rivalries are put aside when Tessa and Leo make a deal. Get married to save both business.
But best laid plans never seem to go as expected when feelings, old hurts, and confessions get in the way.
In the end , will the “sweet deal” blossom into a wonderful future, or will it all come crumbling down leaving them and their families in a worse situation?
I am a huge fan of this author. That said, it took me a while to get into the story and like the main characters. Maybe because at first I thought Sam, the ex, was going to sweep Tessa away.
Regardless, it was a great start for the new series. One that I am definitely going to be following.
I was entrusted a copy of this book by Netgalley and Entangled. The opinions expressed are solely my own.
I didn't expect too much about this book because it is your typical rivals story but I am in love with this book. I really enjoyed everything this book has to offer.
The premise is like most other books with the trope but how the author build up this book was great. I love seeing the back story of both characters. I love how Tessa always find Leo as mean and selfish since then. I enjoyed how she was all wrong and how well loved Leo was because of how kind and generous he is.
Leo was such a sweet guy and I really appreciate how he gave up his life in a big city and return to his home town to save their family's business. I love how dedicated he is with his family.
The conflict of this book came about when Leo kept the proposal to sell their restaurant to Leo's father. I understand how Tessa reacted but she should have calm herself and talked to Leo. She failed to listen and caused so much more tension between them.
Oh my goodness... I just loved this book! It was beautiful and well written...
Tessa and Leo's chemistry captured me from the get go, I loved that inspite of the deal, he was all in from the get go... maybe not in his head, but absolutely in his heart! There were just so many swoony moments in this book - when Leo puts Tessa's ex in her place, the kitchen island, Tessa standing up for herself and what she wants, the way even though this is an act Leo cant help but touch and kiss his woman! The family feud and struggles, just endeared them to me even more, the grumpy dad and the stuck in one place mom, but I throughly enjoyed how it all played out!
I was new to Miranda Liaison books - but this one pulled me in and sent me down the rabbit hole of her back list, and I am so very grateful!
This will be a reread for me for sure (in fact I have already recommended this book to several people) and I am so excited for the rest of this series!
Romeo and Juliet gets a modern twist in The Sweetheart Deal!
The book follows pastry chef Tessa *yum* who everyone refers to as a spinster or ice queen thus she bakes her sadness and sorrow away * I kid* but we all need someone to love right? Cupid comes through partially when her nemesis and restaurateur neighbor Leo proposes a marriage of convenience. What happens when two people that can't stand each get married? Oh mayn, I loved the book and the fact that we had a bakery and restaurant in the mix was enough to win me over. If you like the marriage of convenience trope but contemporary then get this book . I absolutely enjoyed it and recommend it,
A huge thanks to Entangled and NetGalley for my complimentary copy and thus all opinions expressed are entirely my own.
This is a sweetheart of a book. While the premise of marrying as a business contract as a means to achieve a common goal seems far fetch, you know that for this to happen, there had to be some attraction to make it even something to be considered. This is a story about how far would you go to save those you love and protect your family. This is about the love of family. This is about second chances and forgiveness.
In a very small town, where everyone knows everything about you, Tessa Montgomery runs the struggling family 100-year-old French bread bakery and is fiercely protective of her family. Tessa was jilted by her fiancée and is now looked upon with sympathy by the townspeople. Her secret dream is to be a pastry chef. Next door, are the Castorinis, owners of an Italian family restaurant who have been feuding for generations with the Montgomery’s . Leo Castorinis has recently returned to help his father save the family restaurant. Leo comes up with the idea that he and Tessa should enter into a temporary and fake marriage to save both businesses. They never thought how it would affect their families nor themselves. Both are dealing with the pain of losing someone they loved so they protect their hearts. A secret here and there, and second-guessing what you thought you knew about someone leads to surprises.
This story has all the right ingredients for a delightful rom-com: Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, boy hates girl, girl hates boy, but they are in the same place with the same goal. Hate is so close to love, that they soon discover they do love each other. Is this a predictable recipe for a romance novel? Sure, but it makes you feel good and care about the characters that you want them to fall in love and be happy. If you love reading a book and then when you close it, sigh, it was a fun read, then you would enjoy this book. Just a great feel-good story, worthy of curling up to enjoy.
Many thanks to #netgalley #the sweetheartdeal #mirandaliasson for the opportunity to read and review this book.
This book is an easy, quick read. Very much what I would call chic lit. You know exactly what is going to happen and how it is going to end. But it is a fun, beach read. Definitely is a book that will put a smile on your face after reading it.
I just finished reading an advanced copy of the book "Sweetheart Deal" by Miranda Liasson and all I can say is MORE PLEASE! The book caught my attention with the first page, so much so that I couldn’t put it down. The main characters, Leo and Tessa, are so lifelike and easy to relate to. Dealing with family feuds, failing businesses, with unrealized attractions mixed in, Sweetheart Deal will leave you smiling and eager to see what happens next. Check this book out – you will not be sorry.
On a personal note: this is also my first-time reading author Miranda Liasson and I will definitely be reading more of her books at my earliest opportunity.
I loved my first Book by this author and it certainly will not be my last. It was a sweet romance that you wo y want to miss out on.
A sweet and charming second chance romance. The story put a smile on my face and an occasional tear in my eye. Engaging and entertaining family interactions.
3.5 Everything Added Up Stars
* * * 1/2 Spoiler Free- A Quick Review
When I have a chance to read all the troupes I seem to be jamming on, I dive right in. What are the things I have been craving lately, you may ask...
Well, I love anything to do with baking, bakeries, and restaurants-Check
I seem to be reading a lot of Marriages of Conveniences Check
Throw in a Romeo and Juliet Type of Family Feud, sign me up-Check
And then promise me a HEA and you have me Hook, Line, And Sinker.
This tale had all of the above and more. A very easy cute read.
The Sweetheart Deal is a first by Miranda Liasson, new author to this reader. A sweetheart of a story that was a little predictable for me. It had likeable characters and “friends/enemies to lovers…fake marriage’ trope that I like in stories. A nicely written story between two people who are believable with believable problems to overcome. The ending became a bit slow for me but welcomed the sweet ending. A good storyline and as a new author to this reader, I look forward to reading more
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Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for this ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
"The Sweetheart Deal" by Miranda Liasson
A Sweet Clean Adventure in Life (Love)
Yup, what the title says is true. This is a 'sweetheart deal' and we all can read the hand-writing on the wall. But it is such a great journey from the opening lines to the very last word. There are a few things I really want to say, but I will leave you to find the cute and the swoony parts for yourself. Happy Reading ! !
Note: I received an ARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley.
This review expresses my honest opinion.
This is a sweet, small-town romance - easy to read - likeable characters - somewhat predictable - friends to lovers and a fake wedding scheme
A culinary twist on Romeo & Juliet, the main characters are rivals in their small town - one family runs an Italian restaurant and the other family runs the French bakery next door. A feud has kept them fighting for generations. Both businesses are struggling and the main characters, Tessa and Leo, have great ideas to help their families, if only someone would listen.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.