SWEETEST MISTAKE – Candis Terry
Sweet, Texas , Book 2
Avon
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-223724-8
eISBN: 978-0-06-223725-5
January 2014
Contemporary Romance

Sweet, Texas – Present Day

After a public divorce and a private humiliation, Abigail Morgan is back in Sweet, Texas to clean up her parents' home and sell it for them.  Her wealthy ex-husband bought them a condo in Florida so no one would ever meet them, and they jumped at the chance.  Her husband left a letter taped to a box with their settlement papers and the keys for a condo he bought her, all because she asked him if they could have a baby.  How much of a failure does that make her?  And then who shows up at the door but her former best friend and first love, Jackson Wilder.  He is still upset after she left town all those years ago without ever saying goodbye—just as he and his brothers left for Afghanistan—and she was never to be heard from again until now, back in Sweet.

Jackson can't believe Abigail just left Sweet and never contacted him when he left for the service.  They were best friends for years, and getting cast aside still rankles with him, especially when a brother was killed and his father died months later.  When he finds out she's back in town, he goes over to find out how long she's staying and to let her know how deeply she hurt him years ago.  Between being a fireman and working part time at his brother Reno's hardware store while Reno's on a trip with his new girlfriend Charli, Jackson has plenty to do, along with being with his young daughter Izzy.  He is determined never to let anyone hurt Izzy, even though his marriage with her mother is over.

Candis Terry had written a very modern novel with divorced characters and two people trying to find their way after trauma in their lives.  Sometimes it's hard for Jackson and his brothers Reno, Jesse, and Jake to accept the deaths of a brother a father, and it's been hard to keep moving along.  Abigail married a man who merely wanted her for arm candy and to do charity work and build up his image; love had nothing to do with it.  Jackson met a nice woman named Fiona, and when she got pregnant they married.  While he loved Fiona and worships his daughter Izzy, he just couldn't be the husband that Fiona needed, someone to love her totally.

Secondary characters include Reno, Jesse, and Jackson's mother.  Along with everyone in Sweet, most people welcome her back, although she knows most people talk about the gory details of the failure of her marriage.

SWEETEST MISTAKE is a contemporary story of two people who forget how best friends should remain in touch and share the good and the bad times with each other.  The story of Reno and Charli is ANYTHING BUT SWEET (June 2013), and I hope Jesse, the veterinarian, will get the next happily ever after.  It would be a mistake to miss SWEETEST MISTAKE this month!

Carolyn Crisher