Sweet Dreams (The Bakery Romance Series Book 3) - Cecelia Dowdy

4.5 Stars!

ABOUT THE BOOK -
Misty Stewart found Christ shortly after the birth of her baby, causing her to make drastic changes in her life. Short-tempered and street-smart, she realizes being around her un-saved, dysfunctional family is draining her, so she feels the Lord wants her to distance herself from her relatives. She hopes this distance from her family will allow her to deepen her faith, making it possible for her to raise her two-year-old daughter, Jennifer, in a better environment. Struggling to raise her daughter alone, she bonds with her new neighbor, Sterling Richards. She’s drawn to kind-hearted Sterling, but wonders about the deep sadness that he harbors. Sterling has familial problems that run deep, and romance is the last thing on his mind.

Sterling Richards, a professional baker, is grieving over the recent death of his father/business partner. Since his father left him as the sole beneficiary of his life insurance policy, his relationship with his identical twin brothers is strained. Why would his father fail to include his twin sons as part of the inheritance? He now struggles to mend the relationship with his brothers, struggling to run his father’s bakery alone.

Can Sterling and Misty find the courage to love one another?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -
I spent the first ten years of my life on a military base in Aberdeen Maryland since my dad was in the Army. We moved to North East Maryland when I was about ten. I always remember the joy of opening a book, and reading mesmerizing stories that entertained me for hours! I went to the University of Maryland in College Park, earning my degree in Finance! My freshman English teacher claimed I was a great writer, and recommended that I change my major from Finance to English, but I didn’t heed his wise advice!

Instead of pursuing a literary career, I worked as an accountant for a travel agency for ten years. During that time, I traveled all over the world, including the following places: Germany, France, England, Tahiti, New Zealand, Mexico, Jamaica, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, and Santo Domingo.

In 1994, I began writing for fun, and I kept doing it until I sold my first inspirational romance novel. Before I sold my novel, I wrote sweet romantic short stories regularly for national women’s magazines. I’ve published thirty-seven of these stories. I’m now working on other novels, and you can check the books section of this website to see a list of past and future releases!

I love both secular and Christian fiction. I also love young adult fiction, and I hope to have my own young adult inspirational series someday!

I’ve been happily married to my husband for eight years. We currently reside in Maryland with our son.

Visit Cecelia at her website - HERE

MY THOUGHTS -
Right away I liked this book. After only the first couple of paragraphs I fell right into it. I really liked the authors writing style. There were some ups and downs, some suspenseful moments and even a gasp or two.

Very good character development (even thought I wasn't in love with everybody, but that's life).

First there's Misty - A young single mom - she was very stubborn, and almost too guarded and it made her seem stand-off-ish and not very warm even though she was a sweet person. It was just hard to get close to her because she held her heart so close.

Then the leading man - Sterling - I had very mixed feelings about him. At times I really liked him but then other times I thought his personality seemed too strong, he was overbearing and controlling even though he had good intentions . He was always trying to look out for Misty but I think it was too much at times and that's why she was pulling away. I did end up really liking him though, but it was a slow process.

Nate - The bad boy ex, he was trying to turn his life around to win Misty back and be a father to their daughter. I wasn't sure if I believed his conviction or not. But part of me really did want to like him.

Latisha- She was a very strong personality, flirtatious, loud and even rude at times. But she's the type that once she started dropping the brick wall and I got to know her I really started to like her.

And then just as I'm really getting to know all of these people... a tragedy happens (no, I'm not going to tell you what!). Good ending.

I love when an epilogue tells what happens to all the characters in the story.

A "Sweet" romance that is definitely worth the read! This was my first from this author and won't be the last! I would love to continue the series (which appears that you do not have to read them in order).

PS & BTW - I love the covers!  :-)

I voluntarily posted this review after receiving a copy of this book from the author, Cecelia Dowdy  ~ Thank You!

Order your copy from Amazon - HERE