Sweet Girl by Cristin Harber

Sorry I’ve been so MIA this week or so… I work on site for a customer, but technically work for a different company… anyway, the bosses are meeting today and it’s been a little hectic.  Not in a good way.  There were promises made before I started that I’m not allowed to help with… promises that have not been kept.  Basically, today’s going to be brutal, so I’m distracting myself in the best way possible while I wait for the mayhem to begin: books!

I read Sweet Girl this weekend, but have seriously been in such a funk that I didn’t get anything on paper until now.  This is technically a prequel to a series, although you have to pay for the next book and I’m not sure I’m invested enough to drop dough.

Nicola Hart is in college, trying to live the dream, but her older brother and his best friend (Cash) do everything they can to keep her protected and under their wing.  That includes scaring off any guys that dare approach her.  Nicola doesn’t mind though, she only has eyes for Cash.  Lucky for Nicola, Cash has noticed her grow into a young woman and is more than happy to fulfill her guy attention needs.

Everything seems perfect until it isn’t.  Nicola has had a terrible feeling about her job the whole semester, and everything comes to a head when she finally discovers the truth about what’s occurring behind the scenes.

Ok, I feel like after my whining and plot rundown, I’ve made this a super long post.  But, we still want to know how I feel about it (or at least I hope).

• The ending was a little far fetched.  I can’t say exactly what happens, but what I think was supposed to be a dramatic ending felt a little “this would never happen.”  Partly because it wouldn’t happen, but also from watching more Investigate Discovery shows than is healthy, the process followed is not how it is in real life, so the drama fell flat.
• Cash is randomly into cards.  It’s a set up for the books to come, that much is clear from the ending, but it seems a little out of left field.  I feel like it would help to have boy’s night mentioned or the gambling mentioned before we get to this point in the book.
• I loved the characters.  They’re a little bit trope-ish, but that’s what we love about romance.  Cash is rugged and sexy, wearing a cowboy hat and knowing just what a girl wants.  Nicola is sheltered and only has eyes for one man.  But they fit together and have history and make you swoon with their cuteness.

Overall, I enjoyed the book.  Not enough to pay to see what happens, but enough to say it’s a satisfying book with a cliff hanger ending, so if you enjoy it, there will be more for you to read about these characters.