SWEET TROUBLE

Author: Susan Mallery ISBN: 0373773056 9/2008 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: HQN

Home, sweet home? Jesse Keyes has done some serious growing up. With a steady job and a vibrant four-year-old son, she's in a far better place than when she left Seattle five years ago…pregnant and misunderstood by almost everyone in her life. Now it’s time to go home and face her demons. But her sisters, Claire and Nicole, aren’t exactly impressed with the new and improved Jesse. And then there’s Matt, Gabe’s father, who makes it clear that he never wants to see her again despite the lust that still smolders between them. Jesse doesn’t know if she can make up for all the mistakes of her past. But the promise of sweet nights with Matt might just give her the extra incentive she needs to make it worth the trouble…

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Jesse Keyes returns home to Seattle to face her actions of past and build a future for her four-year-old son in Susan Mallery's conclusion to her bakery sisters' series, SWEET TROUBLE.

Five years before, Jesse's sister Nicole had thrown her out because of her perceived affair with Nicole's then-husband Drew. Even her boyfriend Matt, the man she had come to love through friendship, believed she had been unfaithful to him and wanted nothing to do with her, even when learning she was pregnant with his child. So Jesse left Seattle and ended up in Spokane, out of money, alone and with a child on the way. With the help of Bill, a local bar owner, Jesse was able to get a degree, successfully have a job, and raise Gabe, her son. But now, Gabe wants to know about his father so Jesse returns to Seattle to right her wrongs. Though even after all this time, she isn't welcomed back with open arms. Much to the contrary, her sister Nicole still distrusts her and Matt has become someone that Jesse doesn't recognize. But for the sake of Gabe, she is willing to work to show everyone that she has changed. But Matt is not having any of it. He wants to hurt Jesse as much as she hurt him all those years ago. And with Gabe, he knows just how to do it. But he waits for just the right time to break her, leaving her hurt and broken as he once had been. What Matt doesn't count on is his lingering feelings for Jesse and the sense of protectiveness his new son raises in him. Will he be able to hurt them both, in the end? And more importantly, will it be worth it?

SWEET TROUBLE was a great conclusion to Mallery's trilogy about three sisters who are connected by a family bakery. I previously read SWEET SPOT, the story of twin sister Nicole and her beau. I have yet to read the first novel, SWEET TALK, about Nicole's twin, Claire, but look forward to getting my hands on it! So obviously, though the stories are connected, they can be read on their own and understood. I liked both Jesse and Matt. Through flashbacks, readers get to see how the two met and formed a friendship that turned into love. With Jesse's return to Seattle, we see a woman who has grown up, mostly because of having a child. She loves her son Gabe to no end, and at seeing this, Matt figures he has the perfect way to hurt Jesse. But soon enough, Matt starts to connect with his son and he knows that hurting Gabe's mother isn't going to endear himself to the boy. That aside, Matt still has feelings for Jesse, much in the same way she still has feelings for him. It was great to watch them work back to a place where the sins of the past could be forgiven in order for a future to be built for Jesse, Matt, and Gabe. I also enjoyed reading how Jesse and Nicole repair their battered relationship, as well as revisiting with characters from the previous novels.

I enjoy every Susan Mallery novel I read and SWEET TROUBLE was no exception! Mallery has another sister-related trilogy that is due out at the beginning of 2009 and I can't wait!

Maame Kanbi