This was an contemporary romance story about two people who grew up together and always had some sort of animosity towards each other. After reuniting and ending up maid of honor and best man for an upcoming the wedding, the two have to spend time together more and more often as they prepare to support their friends and loved ones for their big day. This was a classic enemies to lovers romance. The pacing was a bit slow in the beginning as it took a while for the two to acknowledge their attraction to one another and longer still to act on that attraction. The attraction early on in the book was exclusively a physical attraction which gave it a bit of an insta-lust vibe. Overall it was a light romance story, complete with two hard working and career oriented people who finally after lots of strife and some frustrating miscommunications were able to find their way towards their own happily ever after. Thanks to netgalley for the a copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

Cherisse has sworn off guys in the music industry and in general to focus on growing her pastry chef business. She will be the maid of honour at her sister wedding and soon finds out someone she hates is actually the best man. Cherisse and Keiran are always fighting and bickering, but what happens when things turn headed on a rainy night.

As soon as I saw the cover I knew I had to read it, especially since it's not about white people. This is an #ownvoices romance that takes place in Trinidad and Tobago and gives you a glimpse of West Indian culture. I was listening to the audiobook and enjoyed the voice and hearing the accents and common phrases. Hearing the descriptions of the food made me so damn hungry.

As someone who loves enemies to lovers, I was so happy that the characters had great tension and romantic build-up. They were both so willing to grow and try harder and I enjoyed watching them fall in love and try to hide their feelings. All the character were so progressive and I loved the LGBTQIA+ representation and the inclusion of clear consent.

The overall story is fairly simple, believable and straightforward, with a lot of sweet moments, hot smut, character development and yummy food. Kieran is such a brilliant love interest that you can't help but fall in love with. I am just really happy with how everything unfolded and highly recommend picking this book up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was fun contemporary romance. I enjoyed the audiobook narration - thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to review.

While SWEETHAND was, should i say it, a sweet rom-com, I don’t think it will end up being very memorable. Nonetheless, here’s what I loved and what I didn’t:

LOVED:
- THE QUEER CAST. Not only was it incredible to have a bisexual male love interest, this book featured a great cast with several queer characters. It was lovely to see on-the-page queer representation be unquestioned - there was no external struggle related to any of the characters being queer.
- THE FRIEND GROUP: Briefly touched on above, this book introduced a lot of fun side characters. I’d be interested to read several more books in this world..

DIDN’T LOVE:
- THE PACING: In true romance fashion, there was a third act breakup that readers could see coming from a mile away. Not only was this plot point predictable and not very creative, but I would have preferred for the conflict to be resolved before the last two pages.
- THE FAT REPRESENTATION: The main character is described as curvy throughout the story, but the cover does not reflect this. I didn’t dock a star for this reason, but I’m not quite sure the book did enough to challenge the fatphobia the MC experiences as other characters commented on her body.

I had no other major qualms, but my socks we not knocked off when it came to the romance. I liked the leading pair and I was ultimately rooting for them, but I wasn’t extremely invested in their HEA.

I received an audiobook copy of Sweethand by N.G. Peltier from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this one! I think it was the perfect first read of my summer vacation.
Sweethand is an enemies to lovers romance following Cherisse who is the maid of honour for her sister's wedding and Keiran who is the best man. The story shows a few months leading up to the wedding in June, and all the times that Cherisse and Keiran butt heads while working together on wedding-related duties.
Cherisse owns and runs her own pastry business, Sweethand, and all the descriptions of the food she was making made me hungry, so a snack might be needed.
I thought that the enemies to lovers tension was well written and the characters had great chemistry together.
4/5 stars, I wish there was an epilogue, but I also liked that the ending wasn't rushing the romance after the conflict was resolved.

Cherise and Keiran have known each other since they were little and even though they don't get along they share all their friends, so much so they are stuck being the best man and maid of honor at a wedding and planning together all the events leading to it.

I really enjoyed this book, all the characters were POC, there's LGBTQIAP+ representation even within the main characters and is set in a country that isn't in North America or Europe, which is quite refreshing, and it really immerse you in the culture. The enemies to lovers trope was well done with lots of sexual tension and the book is quite steamy, which I personally enjoy. Also bonus points for the mention of my favorite sport, rugby!

My only minor complaint is that the audiobook has both POV yet we only have one narrator for it, and I would have preferred having a male narrator for Kieran's chapters, but Chrystal Bethell did an amazing job narrating it anyway.

This story is about Cherisse and her enemy Kieran who happens to be the best man to her maid of honor in her sisters wedding. From the time they were young they have not gotten along. Kieran had always thought she was a bit stuck up but hes always been somewhat in love with her. Cherisse thinks hes the most annoying man she's ever meet.

They are pared up for all the wedding activities and have to plan a lot of things together for the wedding.

This is a typical enemies to lovers story and when I say enemy I mean enemy. They both have there hot buttons with each other but Kieran is less hostel because of how he feels for her. She really hates everything he does.

When one night things take a turn for the good and then were left wondering is it a good turn for them or a bad mistake its not as simple as having a connection and end up being together. It's a drawn out process of will they won't they with a hiccup at the end.

It was a funny audiobook and I enjoyed the narration. The cover is really cute. I wished the hiccup could of been fleshed out more. I like my books with a little more conflicts. Not to easily wrapped up. With a little more fire.

But was a solid cute read.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook

The audio is very slow and the narrator mispronounces some words. Plus her Caribbean accent comes and goes. I did enjoy the romance though.

I enjoyed this romance - loved the Trinidad setting in particular - but I struggled a bit with the pacing and other aspects of the writing. White the narrator did a good job, I kind of wanted a male voice to narrate Keiran's sections. I preferred his vulnerability to Cherisse's, especially with his discussion of his bisexuality and his interest in Cherisse as she ran hot and cold with him. I also don't know if it was my app or the recording, but when I sped up the audio settings there was a weird echo that I don't usually get on audiobooks even if I listen to them at a faster speed.

3.5 stars

I know that this is Romancelandia blasphemy, but I don't usually love enemies-to-lovers romance. However, I thought this story was quite lovely and thoroughly enjoyable. It felt like a breath of fresh air to read a contemporary set outside of the US or the UK, and the Trinidadian setting of this book somehow made it feel like both a both a small town romance and a city-set romance. It has a large (very queer) cast that I found confusing at times, but altogether very compelling. The main couple are both so complex and charming Reading the heroine felt like chatting with a friend right off the bat and the hero is bisexual, and it's such great bi man rep all around.

The book started off a little slow for me, but did pick up eventually and ended up being a wonderfully sexy, fully read. However, by the end, the romance felt more like the two people embarking on a relationship rather than a fully satisfying HEA.

As for the audio, overall I found it quite listenable. The narration was emotive and flowed nicely. There was one moment at the end of Chapter 19 where it seems like there's a portion of the scene that was clipped or skipped in editing, but I'm sure this will get sorted before publication. Additionally, I would have been interested in hearing some of the characters performed with a Trinidadian accent.

I think this book is perfect for fans of The Worst Best Man and Christina Lauren's enemies-to-lovers romcoms.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape for the ALC.

What a super fun, entertaining cute book!
This was such a fun read with awesome character development, and the relationships was simply amazing!
Talk about a wonderful love story!? This is the book.
The narrator was beautifully done! Easy to follow along with.
What I enjoyed most was the sparks flying between Cherisse and Keiran. Absolutely to die for!
At first its a hate love relationship. Friends to lovers. But they then they start falling for each other!
I enjoyed this book so much and I can't thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Media enough for this advanced audio book! THANK YOU!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook!

"She’d never hated the nickname she’d been dubbed with by her fellow foodies on the island. Sugar Queen. She liked it. The print and online magazines she’d been featured in used it all the time. Hell, she’d rolled with it all the way and plastered the damn nickname all over her bio on her website and social media accounts.
Except when Keiran said it in that smirky, condescending tone—then she hated it."


Cherisse and Keiran are childhood nemeses. So when Cherisse's sister Ava gets engaged to Keiran's best friend, she should have known he's be involved in the wedding. But she never would have guessed he'd be the Best Man to her Maid of Honour. Now they have to plan all the pre-wedding activities together, and the tension from their childhood rivalry has morphed into something more... sexual.

WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!! Okay, I loved the first, like, 80% of this book. It was sexy. It was fun. The chemistry was great, the island was atmospheric, the Caribbean culture was vibrant, and the side characters were fun.

But then the "big conflict" that tears everything apart comes around and it's so... boring. Like, the main point of contention was laughable. I won't spoil anything, because I really do feel like it's a sweet read (lol) but man, all that amazingness comes to a halt... for that. It was hardly even a big deal.

But let's talk about the good: That cover is GORGEOUS. Our MCs were fun. We got ✨pining✨. The smut was tame but still pretty hot. The characters were fleshed out, strong, and meshed so well together. That wedding slumber party seemed like a BLAST. The cast of characters is also so diverse, with not only queer rep, but a bi main character!

The narrator of the audiobook was SO GOOD (if a bit slow; I ended up listening in 1.5x speed just for the audiobook to sound normal. However, I don't think that's an issue with this reader, since I've noticed that ALL the audiobooks I've listened to sound really slow when it's on default speed). I've noticed narrators will try to change their voice for every character in a book, and I LOVED that Chrystal Bethell didn't do that. I had no problem following who was talking, and honestly it's always a bit off-putting when a narrator will change their voice to be more masculine or feminine based on the character speaking in the novel.

3.5 stars rounded down. It's listed as "Island Bites #1" and I definitely enjoyed the book enough to continue the series when it's out :)

#NetGalley #Sweethand
I thank NetGalley for providing me with an audiobook in exchange for an honest review :)
All I have to say is this....everyone pick this book up when releases. It was quite good 😊