Sweeten the Deal

It was fine for a quick read. Cute, basic story. A little dorky, but still cute.

Billionaire romances are typically with a dominant male lead. This one throws those gender norms out the window.

Caroline is neurodivergent and comes into a large sum of money after her grandmother's death. She's looking for happiness. She finds Adrian and he's a broke artist. They have some fun and it's cute. The ending was a little different, felt like it ended mid-story. Maybe this is in a series that I didn't notice.

Nothing too exciting, and no major storyline to follow. Good, easy, quick, heartwarming read.

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I just finished Sweeten the Deal by Katie Shephard and here are my musings.

Caroline has very little control in her life and when her grandmother opens all the doors to a future she can map for herself, she decides she wants to immerse herself in culture but she needs someone to guide her. Being 22 and ready to do something for herself for once.

Adrian was at the top of his game with his art, a beautiful man creating beautiful paintings. His whole life is now in tatters and he is sleeping on his friends couch. A 33 year old failure but he needs money. He needs to get his work back in a gallery to help pay rent.

When his roommate suggests a sugar baby arrangement, he is horrified by the idea but when Tom adds his profile to the site and Caroline arranges a meet up, he wonders if he can really do this. Complete opposites and she is so young but somehow, Caroline awakens something in Adrian and the more time they spend together, the more they realize that maybe, what they want and what they need are very different things.

This book was so good! I knew from the synopsis that this was a book I needed in my life and it didn't disappoint me one bit!!

The writing was so brilliant and the author had an incredible way of bringing these characters to life that I was smiling all the way through the book. Caroline is my kind of girl. She knows what she wants and she isn't afraid to make mistakes to get to her end goal. Adrian is that handsome grump that no woman can help not falling in love with. I know I did.

The plot was genius! The verse sugar baby concept was really very clever. I loved the grumpy sunshine vibes and the way Caroline dresses herself is epic! I wish I had her courage. She did what was right for herself even when it meant making her family angry at her. That's a hard thing to do and that just made me love her more. I am a huge art fan so having the book based around artist endeavors made this book an even bigger winner for me.

This age gap romance checked every box for me and it is out NOW so go grab a dozen copies and hand them out to your friends!

5 stars! Thank you @netgalley and @berkleypub for my gifted copy