Falling in Love on Sweetwater Lane
by Belle Calhoune
Mistletoe, Maine - Book 3
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: February 21, 2023
Reviewed by PJ
Will a big-city veterinarian give this small town—and the single dad who’s caught her heart—a chance?
Veterinarian Harlow Jones knew returning to small-town life, even temporarily, would be a disaster. She just never guessed it would start that way—with her car skidding off the road outside Mistletoe, Maine. And while her rescuer is both charming and handsome, Harlow isn’t about to get involved with a local. She’s in town for one reason only—to pay off her vet school bills—and then she’s back to her real life in Seattle.
Nick Keegan knows all about unexpected, life-altering detours. He lost his wife in the blink of an eye, and he’s spent the years since being the best single dad he can be. He’s also learned not to take anything for granted, so when sparks start to fly with Harlow, Nick is all in. He senses Harlow feels it too, but she insists romance isn’t on her agenda. He’ll have to pull out all the stops to show her that love is worth changing the best-laid plans.
PJ's Thoughts:
I've fallen hard for Belle Calhoune's small town of Mistletoe, Maine and the people who call it home. Nick Keegan (and his young son, Miles) have been begging for a story and I'm happy to say that their book, Falling in Love on Sweetwater Lane, is all I had hoped for.
Leave it to Calhoune to pair single dad, Nick, a man with both feet firmly planted in Mistletoe with a woman who loathes small towns, is only there to eliminate her student loan debt, and is determined to not stay one day longer than she is contractually obligated. This big city woman had enough of small towns as a child and has no desire to relive the horror of that time. She may be game for some fun but relationships and friendships are not for her. Of course, Mistletoe, with her pups and people, may have something to say about that.
I enjoy how real Calhoune keeps her stories. Her characters are well developed with layers of complex emotions and relatable back stories creating obstacles to love. She infuses their journeys with plenty of humor and charm but doesn't hold back from honest, heart-wrenching emotion. Harlow's struggles with her mother's illness and Nick's anger over an unexpected curveball related to his late wife's death are good examples. I appreciate that she doesn't give them easy solutions to their issues but confronts them head on. Once her couples work through the emotional turmoil of what life has dealt them, and choose to be happy together, I'm confident in the staying power of their love and life together.
This is the third book in Calhoune's Mistletoe Maine series and from what I've read, this concludes the series (though I'm holding out hope for a story for Harlow's twin brother, Malcom). Falling in Love on Sweetwater Lane can be enjoyed as a standalone, although main couples and secondary characters from the first two books are prominent in this third book as well. For that reason, you may want to start with book one, No Ordinary Christmas (Lucy and Dante), followed by book two, Summer on Blackberry Beach (Luke and Stella). All three books have my enthusiastic recommendation.
