Sweet Haven by Shirlee McCoy- 4 *

Title: Sweet Haven
Series: Home Sweet Home
Author: Shirlee McCoy
Genre: Clean Romance

Rating: * * * *

Publishers: Zebra  

(Mar 4, 2016)

Paperback: 336  pages

ISBN: 978-1420139273

FTC Disclosure: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

In Benevolence, Washington, the Lamont family's irresistible handmade chocolates are a cherished tradition--and always a reason to celebrate. And now they're giving the three Lamont sisters, one by one, delicious chances to start again, make a change, and have their sweetest dreams come true...

Neighbors who care, a peaceful routine--accountant Adeline Lamont is glad some things about her beloved hometown never change. But when her grandfather is injured, she has to run the family store, Chocolate Haven, and make its legendary fudge. Trouble is, she can't get the recipe right to save her life--or Chocolate Haven. And she doesn't need her ornery new tenant, Sinclair Jefferson, stirring up the pot with his help--and daring Addie to taste her wild side…

Once Sinclair gets his hapless brother back on track, he's leaving Benevolence for good this time. He's made his life far away from his irresponsible family and their scandals. Trouble is, he can't quite stay away from Addie's optimism, enticing plus-size curves, and kindness to those who need it most. But they don't seem to have a thing in common--except that Addie's passion for chocolate, and for Benevolence, is just as contagious as Sinclair's passion for her. Maybe small-town life has its charms after all…

This book had all the things I love in a small 

town romance, a sometimes feisty character 

who could make me laugh, a little suspense

 and mystery, and a hunky guy. 

Benevolence, Wash so reminded me 
of my small southern town, 
that I instantly fell in love with it. 
I, like Addie, love living and working 
in a small town, so I could relate 
to this side of her. I especially 
loved Sinclair and his sweet/pushy 
way of getting Addie to see that she 
could stand up for herself without eing disloyal to her family. There's nothing so 
sad as seeing a smart, 

intelligent, hard working person 
unable to say "NO" 

to family members and friends. This 
is probably the main thing that 
kept me from totally enjoying 

the book. I pretty much read 
this book from cover 

to cover in one sitting during our 
first really big snow. 

One warning though, make sure you are not  

hungry while reading this book as the 

chocolate descriptions alone will put on 10 pounds. 

One addition that I think would have added  

to this book would have been some chocolate 

recipes at the end. Saw on Shirlee's blog that 

she and her girls had been working on some family 

recipes and this would have been an awesome 

place to share. 

Home Sweet Home
1. Sweet Haven (2016)

 2. Sweet Surprises (Aug 2016)
3. Bittersweet (2017)

While http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ 
(my go to site for checking the correct sequence of series books)
 lists Sweet Surprises and Sweet Haven as two separate series, 
they contain the same town and family members, so  I'm putting 
them together. As a reader, I'm always wanting to know 
when the next book in a series is due out. If I discover
 later that this info (based on my suppositions) is incorrect,

  I will correct it.

About the Author

Shirlee McCoy spent her childhood making up stories and acting them out with her sister. It wasn't long before she discovered Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, her mother's gothic romances . . . and became an ardent fan of romantic suspense. She still enjoys losing herself in a good book. And she still loves making up stories. Shirlee and her husband live in Washington and have five children. 

(I can see the ND/HB and gothic romance subtle influence in McCoy's writing and love that the books I cut my teeth on were important in her life, too!)