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A review by khylabevibin
Sweet Surprise by Jenny Frame
4.0
This book follows the story of retired gang banger, Mack Sharkey, from the notorious Sharkey clan and Flora Buchanan, the owner of a sweetshop. After taking the fall for her Cousin (leader of Sharkey gang) Mack is looking forward to a simple life running her own small barbershop which happens to be right next to Flora's shop. Immediately infatuated with the shy Flora, Mack yearns to get closer to her except Flora may just be more than she bargained for. Dealing with her own problems of OCD, PTSD and anxiety Flora is instantly flustered by the charming Mack.
I absolutely loved all the characters in this book. Flora is adorable and deserves the world and I liked how Mack was willing to give her that. They had amazing chemistry that I genuinely think Frame did a good job at writing. However, I do have a small problem with it but I'll get to that in a bit. Mack was a nice enough character but does seemingly have a bit of a saviour complex which did get a bit annoying but I still liked her character. That saviour complex definitely wasn't intentional, most likely an exaggerated attempt to make her a caring character.
I think this genre definitely works with Frame's writing and I'd love to see more crime filled stories by her. But a big problem that I've always had with her books, is her pacing. Specifically with the relationship portion of her books. The characters get together and are immediately ready for everlasting commitment and they're exchanging "I love yous". This type of insta-love type story doesn't really work for her and it kind of ruined the tension between Mack and Flora. Also would've liked the conflict to have last a bit longer and see a bit more fallout from it. I will say this book does have significant improvement from the last book I read by her! It's amazing to see her continue growing.
That being said, I do recommend this book. Likable characters, interesting storyline and good writing.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest review
I absolutely loved all the characters in this book. Flora is adorable and deserves the world and I liked how Mack was willing to give her that. They had amazing chemistry that I genuinely think Frame did a good job at writing. However, I do have a small problem with it but I'll get to that in a bit. Mack was a nice enough character but does seemingly have a bit of a saviour complex which did get a bit annoying but I still liked her character. That saviour complex definitely wasn't intentional, most likely an exaggerated attempt to make her a caring character.
I think this genre definitely works with Frame's writing and I'd love to see more crime filled stories by her. But a big problem that I've always had with her books, is her pacing. Specifically with the relationship portion of her books. The characters get together and are immediately ready for everlasting commitment and they're exchanging "I love yous". This type of insta-love type story doesn't really work for her and it kind of ruined the tension between Mack and Flora. Also would've liked the conflict to have last a bit longer and see a bit more fallout from it. I will say this book does have significant improvement from the last book I read by her! It's amazing to see her continue growing.
That being said, I do recommend this book. Likable characters, interesting storyline and good writing.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest review