The send-to-Kindle copy of this book that I used to access this one was an utterly atrocious file, with 5-6-7 words running together on every line, thus making this an impossible read! Didn't get a chance to download any other format before the file got archived, so this was my only option. Proved utterly unreadable!

I did not get around to reading this book prior to it’s publication date and it has since been archived therefore I cannot leave a review at this time.

I adored this book, so much, I do love an enemies to lovers romance and this one Is perfection, it a,so has lots of baking in my other true love, so I think this was made for me. It is a sweet but not too saccharine romance, with some spice thrown in the mix and a whole lot of diversity. Our main couple, what can I say I just loved the bones of them, They are so funny, flirtatious and I loved the backchat, all the characters were just brilliant, the writing is fantastic and I am so looking forward to reading more by the author

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This was an adorable, fun read. It was the perfect romance read to cut through my fantasy binge, and the cover is just so adorable.

This was the perfect enemies to lovers romance, with lots of delicious baked goods on the side. It was every bit sweet, every bit spicy, with a whole lot of diversity! The main characters were just to die for, I couldn't get enough of them and their witty, flirtatious banter. In fact, the entire set of characters were just so damn loveable, it was impossible to truly dislike anybody. I can't wait for book 2!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group for approving Sweethand by N.G. Peltier in exchange for an honest review. I have given this book four out of five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First of all, can we appreciate how gorgeous the cover of this book is! The colours used to create this beautiful cover are so eye-catching, it would definitely lead me to picking it up if I saw it on display in a bookshop.

This book introduces us to a great array of characters; our two main characters, Cherisse and Keiran were very likeable and I especially liked the fact that this book had a dual narrative. Cherisse is an incredible pastry chef and Keiran is a successful music producer, they both have a little history from when they were children and since then, they’ve always managed to push each other’s buttons ….in the wrong way. My two favourite side characters from this book were Scott and Remi. Their relationships with Cherisse and Keiran had me laughing at the pages some times, they were both witty, funny and loyal.

Absolutely loved the premise of this book; the maid of honour and the best man having to put their differences aside and work together to create a great party for the bride and groom. The slow burn romance and enemies to lovers trope was incorporated and written into this book brilliantly. It felt as though it had the right amount of steamy scenes and squabble scenes. For example, this quote alone made me want to keep on reading: “He needed to quit looking at her like that as if she were the next thing he wanted to sample”. Oh my, the tension is super high!

I really liked the bisexual representation, the Caribbean setting and the yummy food references throughout this novel. At times, I could definitely feel my mouth salivating from reading over all of the food descriptions.

It didn’t quite hit the five star rating for me as I felt that the last part of the story was a bit rushed and although I love the enemies to lovers trope I felt that the reasons weren’t clear as to why they were enemies in the first place. Besides these two points, I don’t think I could say anything negatively towards this story.

I would highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy the enemies to lovers trope and cute, light contemporary romance novels. I cannot wait for more novels from the Island Bites series to come out!

I loved the diversity and complexity of these characters - and anything set in the Caribbean, at any level of society usually gets a "yes" from me! However, given that the happy ending was obvious and inevitable from the beginning, I did feel like the story dragged somewhat.

This was everything you could want from an enemies-to-lovers baking themed romcom. Sweet, fluffy and steamy with a side helping of extremely likable characters and some casual bi representation despite it being a heterosexual main pairing!

(Many thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for early access to this title.

I enjoyed this book for what it was a palette cleanser of steamy very open door Romance.

Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really enjoyable read. Well written with really lots of cuteness and touches of raunchiness . Reading this was like meeting up with the girls and catching up on all gossip. I really like how Trinidadian society and socialite circles were depicted and normalised. I'm not a romance fan but was thoroughly griped and couldn't put it down. A great lighthearted and heartwarming read.

You know those books which are good, but without ever quite making it to great for you? For me, Sweethand falls into that category. I enjoyed reading it, for definite, but I never quite loved it (possibly not helped by pacing issues, which I’ll come to).

The story follows Cherisse and Keiran, two people who don’t really get along, but who are forced together as maid of honour and best man, to plan various wedding activities. And, lo and behold, they each discover that perhaps they didn’t quite have the right idea of the other when this all started.

Let me start with what I liked about this book and that was the characters. Particularly, I liked that you got both of their POVs. Sometimes I feel like, with hate to love especially, getting a single POV doesn’t help (me, specifically) because I’ll always end up hating the guy. It can be done well, sure, because sometimes dual POV just tells you that the enmity is stupid (thankfully, not the case here), but this was a case where I was glad to get dual POV so I could properly enjoy the romance.

It’s not just the main characters of this book that you’ll love: the side characters are all each wonderful (and I’m eagerly awaiting Remi and Maxine’s book. Like. It has to happen, I’m begging). I love book series where all of the characters are going to get their time to shine, and this one is no different for that.

In all honesty, what let me down in the end was the pacing. I’m mostly resigned to romance books having third act break-ups which are, to put it kindly, somewhat stupid. Here, it wasn’t so much, although it also was something that I personally wouldn’t have been that bothered about. (Actually like a lot of the strife in this one.) But I could shrug that off. Or, I could have, if it hadn’t happened only 30 pages from the end. I just think, if you’re going to throw an argument like that in there, you have to show me that the couple can work past it. Instead, it got resolved within about 5 pages (after a judicious 20-page break-up), so it just felt like it was in there for the sake of being in there, not because it made sense. Although the motivations for it may have made sense, if they were allowed space to breathe.

Also, minor side note, but I wasn’t sure why Keiran had to make the first move after Cherisse had basically told him not to contact her. I mean. I do get why in the sense that he messed up, so it’s on him to apologise. I don’t get that she’s told him to go away and yet she’s expecting him to come to her? But perhaps this was just another case of “I wouldn’t react like this myself, so I’m confused”. I would have just assumed it meant that Cherisse would get in contact first.

But those little issues aside, I did enjoy reading this book. So if you’re looking for some romance to pick up this Easter weekend, let it be this one.

I can't give this a proper rating because this was completely unreadable for me. 90% of the words were mashed together into one sentence and it was giving me a headache trying to make sense of anything.

What a fun and sweet book! I loved the development of both Cherisse and Kieran as their relationships developed from enemies to something more. Highlighting Kieran’s vulnerabilities also made him a fully rounded character, and made the romance so much more believable. Part of why I enjoyed this book so much was because of how much of myself I saw in Cherisse, from the passion of baking, the need to be a morning person and be organised, to her outlook on relationships. Perhaps the most relatable character in a romance for me. Overall, this book was so cute to read and provided the much needed comfort. If you’re a fan of the Brown sisters books by Talia Hibbert, then this book is a must read!

SO MUCH FUN

Really liked everything about this one! The romance was steamy, cute and filled with banter. Loved all the characters and the food making. Great representation. Then the Caribbean vibes and the dual POV made it even better!

The cover is sooo gorgeous and I can’t wait for more books in this series!

This story gave me so many mixed feelings, but i will say the writing is addictive and it does have a lot of fun scenes. I almost binged in one sitting, as it was so entertaining and i wanted to see how it would all work out.

Sadly the mcs were very difficult to like at times, i went from hating Keiran and loving Cherisse then they would swap. The alternating povs worked really well to get to know them individually and made it easier for to grow on me, but seemed a lot of tell and not show in places.

I didn't really understand why Keiran had such an issue with Cherisse, other then it coming across playground like where guy is mean to the girl he likes which i hate. So that made him very annoying to me in the first half, as his constantly rude towards Cherisse just for existing and mentions her badly to others. Yet i did fall in love with him eventually as he is adorable in his own way and got better.

Cherisse i adored for the most part, her passion for baking and the importance of her career were wonderful. I loved her friendship with Remi and she is such a strong character, however she started to become a jerk when finally things started to heat with Kieran althoug understandable.

I will say the steamy scenes in this book are stunning, theres a few and all are incredible - lots of fun to read. Keiran and Cherisse have plenty of chemistry, the love/hate between them makes for a lot of great tension throughout and when finally heats up its amazing.

There are a lot of sweet moments throughout which i enjoyed, Keiran and Cherisse alone together actually were my favourite moments. Especially the dancing, plans, music, brunch, balcony and texts between the two were lovely. The growth in their relationshipe is beatufiully done over time and i enjoyed seeing them get to know one another, outside of their past hate for each other.

I could understand both their fears and yet i wish they had communicated more at times, because it would have resolved so much. There were a few aspects that just seemed there to add conflict, which i expected but they already had enough between them in the enemies to livers vibes that it just didn't seem necessary.

Oh i must mention the wonderful representation in this book too, has bi mc and many lgbtq+ characters in side cast that i loved! Shown in a beautiful way and appreciated so much.

So many characters to enjoy here, Scott was great fun and Remi always made me smile. Ava and Eric were adorable, in their love for romance. I can't wait to see more books in this series.

Overall an enjoyable read, for anyone who loves enemies to lovers and a super sweet story. With a happy fitting end for Cherisse and Keiran, looking to the future 💕

Sweethand was on my most anticipated romances books of 2021 – and I’m not going to lie, it was because of the gorgeous cover design (the dress! the cat!). It also appealed to me because it involved baking and music which I anticipated to be a great combination for a romance novel. Naturally, I wasn’t disappointed and really loved the characters in this book.

So the beginning of the blurb sounds like this book is going to be full of drama, and don’t get me wrong there is some but it’s tasteful and doesn’t detract from the romance. Cherisse is a baker, recently coming off the back of a baking show that she dropped out of when it was leaked that her musician boyfriend was cheating on her. Now she’s baking the cakes for her sister’s wedding, and the pressure from her family to settle down herself couldn’t be greater.

Keiran is a producer that’s slowly making a name for himself with his coworker. Having also been burned by an ex, he’s in a similar position to Cherisse herself. The two are re-united after years apart as best man and maid of honour at the wedding – they only problem is that they hate each other!

I’m not always a fan of hate to love but I really liked Cherisse and Keiran together. I enjoyed them learning about each other – and that all their preconceptions about each other are completely wrong. It was also good to see them appreciate each other’s work more, given Keiran didn’t have much respect for Cherisse’s baking business at the beginning.

Another part of the book I loved was Cherisse and Keiran’s friends – both characters had good friends who cared about them. Cherisse’s cat Jell-O was also a little superstar. Keiran is also bisexual – I really appreciated a lead man who is bisexual because it’s something I don’t see very often in romance novels (or at all really).

Overall this was a fun read with lots of mouth-watering baking and great characters. It took me a little while to get into but then I was flying through it, eager to see if these two would finally get a grip. I will be very interested to see what other characters in the Island Bites series get books about them!

Where do I begin with this incredible romance that also made me so hungry!? This book is set in the Caribbean islands and features (I think but please correct me if I am wrong) all black characters. The setting of this book was incredible and it makes me want to travel more.This book has so much great diversity (as a white person, I am always trying to read more diversely and you should too). I loved that Keiran was bisexual, a big softie and wasn't afraid to cry. I really liked how it was handled and discussed in this book as I think it's really important to show that strong men have vulnerability too. This romance is a 'I kind of hate you but I secretly like you' story and I couldn't put it down! I couldn't get enough of the fact that Kerian liked her more and it was adorable. You get to see Cherisse and Keiran's relationship progress from hating each other to friends to more and I adored the progression as it wasn't rushed and some moments were damn swoon worthy.

I loved so many characters in this book that I could write a fully essay on them all but one of my favourite things about Cherisse is that she swore a lot. As someone who swears far too much, I loved that about her! And the descriptions of her baking creations made me so hungry so be prepared for that! Sweethand is written in third person with dual perceptive with some great steamy scenes.

I loved all of the friends in this book, they were really funny and enhanced the story but I also had a slight issue with them. I felt like I should have already known some of their backstories and I felt like I was missing something at times even though this does appear to be the first in a possible series. I wish there was more of an epilogue from the book as I felt like too much was left open and I wasn't ready to leave the characters yet so hopefully the next book isn't a very long wait! So many moments in this made me smile and I need a copy for my shelves as it is stunning inside and out.

Okay, so I know they say don't judge a book by its cover, but I have to admit that I was initially drawn to this book because I think we can all agree is an absolutely stunning cover.

Luckily for me, the story truly delivered. I immediately loved Cherisse's whole vibe; I loved her Ava, Remi Reba and the gang. Their friendship was so cute and warm (and honestly made me miss my girl, I swear this panini is a MENACE) and so lovely to read. I can tell there are many layers and history there, and you don't get to explore every facet of that in Sweethand, but as its a series, I'm assuming we get more of this in future books, so rather than disappointed, I'm expectant!!

As for Kieran King, I will not lie, but at first, I was nervous because I did NOT like this buffoon. But once he got his head out of his ass and started showing some of that personality, I realised (like Cherisse does) that yes, he is a dumb man, but he's also quite loveable.

I really love the romance here; the whole enemies to friends to lovers vibe they had going was so adorable, and the whole setting of the wedding and the CAKES (which sound like they tasted amazing omg I am a sucker for cakes) just added to the magic.

I think what really cinched this was the setting because even if I weren't suffering from severe wanderlust from being cooped up in my house for a year, the utterly beautiful island setting of Trinidad would've reeled me in regardless. Just reading about it, I can feel the beauty of the island, and it honestly provided such a stunning backdrop for the romance, and I will 100% be re-reading to enjoy this book in the summer weather so I can pretend I am in fact living island vibes.

So yeah, this book cover perfectly matched all the loveliness and fun in Sweethand, and I highly recommend it, a GREAT read.

This was such a great book! I loved seeing the chemistry between Cherisse and Kieran and how this developed into feelings. I particularly liked that it was dual perspective as I really enjoyed getting both sides of their feelings. The jokes and banter between Cherisse and Kieran were also a great part of the relationship and fun to read! Aside from their romance, I loved their interactions with their friendship groups and dynamic between them when they were planning the wedding. It was also interesting reading about both of their jobs and how passionate they were.

I did find some parts a bit predictable and the ending seemed a bit rushed but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book!

This was a really lovely modern romance. The characters are extremely likeable and a tonne of fun, not only that but they feel like real people and I love that it didn’t overplay the enemies to lovers trope too much as I'm honestly getting a little tired of seeing it done badly in TPR. The way the story progressed felt real, natural, and logical but also special and extremely heartwarming.. Loved it, this is such a strong debut! Thank you to Little Brown Books and Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.