She hid secret messages in frosting, thinking no one would notice.Abby Tyler welcomes you to the witty, well-meaning busybodies of Applebottom, Missouri, where the community takes its pies — and its matchmaking — very seriously.When Sandy Miller emerges from her shack on the edge of town after eighteen years, she finds a job making tea cakes for a little shop on Town Square.But then everyone … Town Square.
But then everyone starts spotting secret words of love and longing on her cakes.
Andrew McCallister is the first to admit that he never got over Sandy Miller when she dropped out of high school and disappeared. But now she’s back.
He just has to get the guts to talk to her.
When the town summons the pair to a meeting to plan the school’s centennial bash, Andrew and Sandy discover they are the only two members of the committee. As they attempt to rekindle the long-lost flame, Sandy realizes her messages have been seen by the town, and maybe she doesn’t regret them after all.
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Don’t miss the other standalone Applebottom books by Abby Tyler:
— The Unexpected Shelter
— The Perfect Disaster
— The Irresistible Spark
— The Special Delivery
— Mistletoe Summer
more
A heartwarming and fun romance this Abby Tyler read is sure to get your heart pumping. This is not a dirty read, but a cozy contemporary romance that will make you believe in love.
Sandy is a romantic by heart. She believes that her heart has missed out on the one love she truly wanted. Pregnant and shunned by the town years ago, Sandy lived a lonely life of solitude raising her beautiful son. She missed out on lots of things. Her youth, graduation, college and romance.
So 18 years later she writes secret messages in the icing of the cakes and decadent desserts she makes. “unrequited, handsome, if only, regret” and so on….
Andrew will admit he never got over the fact that he waited to long to ask out Sandy. He loved her from day 1, but was too afraid to approach her. Then one day someone swept in and stole her away, running her life. So imagine his surprise when she returns to town 18 years later, just as pretty as she was the first day he met her. This time he won’t let his chance pass him by.
This is a light and refreshing read. Poor Sandy has troubles on her hands, but it is up to her to make something of her life. That or let her ex ruin it a second time around. A story of truths, that a lot of women deal with in their lives. This story reaches it’s readers with a very relateble story line.
Overall this book was a light and sweet read. Though I wish the story had a bit more depth to it, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It had lovable characters and good story line. A great read for those who like a books about long term crushes turn romance.
Quick, light, fun, entertaining read. No steam here, but the story has romance and the requisite HEA most of us expect. The small town of Applebottom, MO (who thinks these names up? Why, Ms. Tyler does.) Is a den of busybodies, who set out to insure this story has the spark to keep it interesting. Put your feet up, grab a glass of your favorite adult beverage and enjoy.
Readers that visit the small town of Applebottom, Missouri find reading this second chance romance to be delightfully charming and sinfully sweet. Sandy and Andrew are strong, compelling characters that easily charm readers into their story. The small town setting and the matching making townsfolk add to the ambiance of this romance as Sandy and Andrew try to rekindle their long lost flame and reach for their second chance at that happily ever after. Emotional turmoil regarding the past adds depth and suspense to the story while Sandy’s secret messages adds a bit of flair and spices things up. The story is a bit on the short side but the plot is fast paced, flows smoothly and provides readers with a delightful and enjoyable read.
Sandy Miller has been leaving cryptic love messages on the cakes she decorates. When the Applebottom town busybodies discover that the object of her affection is Andrew McAllister, her high school crush who has recently returned to Applebottom to teach at that same high school, they set out to work some matchmaking magic. Will these two find their second chance at love? Or will the reappearance of a figure from her past ruin her chances of a future?
The story is told from the points-of-view of Sandy and Andrew. This is a sweet second chance romance full of charming characters. Things resolve a bit too easily and move along too quickly, especially in the last few chapters. But it’s wonderful to see Sandy grow from a timid girl into a confident woman.
At the end of the book, you’ll find a sweet treat: a recipe for “Gertrude & Maude’s Chocolate Refrigerator Pie”! Sign up for the author’s newsletter to receive a free epilogue to this book and the books to follow. There’s more matchmaking fun in the next book in the series, The Perfect Disaster, featuring Coach Carter and Ginny.
Warnings: mild sexual references.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Full blog post: https://www.booksdirectonline.com/2019/03/the-sweetest-match-by-abby-tyler.html
This is a new author to me and I have no idea why I haven’t come across Abby Tyler before now.
I love small town romance and I fell in love with Applebottom and it’s meddling residents and if you love quirky, funny, nosey meddling matchmakers this is definitely the book for you.
Sandy was the town outcast when she got pregnant in high school but now she is back in town decorating cakes for the local tea room and once again she crosses paths with Andrew the boy who crushed on her back in their high school days. Andrew believes Sandy wasn’t treated fairly by the town and now he has the chance to put things right and maybe even act on the attraction he has felt for many years…..
A sweet fun romance with adorable characters and I’m sure like me you will be left smiling like a Cheshire Cat at the end of this great read. Looking forward to reading more from this talented author.
This was such a diverse book. It was sweet but sad yet funny and heartwarming. I adored Sandy and Andrew. Sandy went through such a hard time but came out so much stronger for it. And Andrew was just so sweet and I wanted to eat him up. I just wanted more epilogue…lol but that’s me just being nitpicky. If you want a good fast sweet read this is definitely the book for you!! I definitely recommend it!! – By Tina
This is a super sweet read, I thought Sandy was just the sweetest thing not only with her amazing cake skills but with having the guts to come back to town after what occurred 18 years earlier and the messages in her icing were ingenious! Andrew is an absolute gentleman and you can see how much he cares for Sandy not matter what happened years ago. This book will keep you turning the page and hoping Sandy and Andrew can get to get the while also being worried that on the next page something will happen to ruin what they have. I can not wait to read more in this series as I just love the townsfolk who are always looking out for everyone and seeing who is going to be set up next!!
Sandy was the towns outcast, having a baby at a young age. Now that her son has gone off to college, she reenters the town that caused her to stay away.
When the town busybody elder ladies decide to play matchmaker, they realize Sandy and Andrew have always had feelings for each other. Will Sandy be able to let her guard down after so many years? Can Andrew confess his love after all these years of being quiet and letting get away in high school.
This is a story from an ordinary every day couple. If you wan to read about someone besides a
Multimillionaire sweeping a lady off her feet and living happily ever after, this is book you will want to read. Andrew is not flashy and doesn’t have material items to impress Sandy, it is all about an old fashion love affair. Would love to see their story continue!
This is a new pen name for one of my favorite authors, which promises wholesome heartwarming stories. Pretty much like a hot cocoa on a snowy day. Andrew has been in love with Sandy practically his whole life and is getting ready to make his move when the then 15 year Sandy starts hanging out with one of the “popular” kids. When she falls pregnant, the father says he is not the father and promptly spreads terrible rumors about Sandy that make her retreat with her mother to a cottage in the woods. Now, with her son in college and her mean, spiteful mother dead, Sandy is trying to get her life back on track. The meddling older women in the town decide to take matters into their own hands and try to bring spark back into Sandy’s life. This is a well written story, that flows beautifully and keeps you engaged. The characters are relatable and endearing, and make you want to root for them. Definitely recommend this book.
This is the ultimate feel good book. Like a hot cup of tea and a cozy blanket on a cold winter’s day; the story, characters, and even the town, draw you in and wrap you up in love, laughter, and the sweetest of happy-ever-afters.
My Rating:
4.5
Favorite Quotes:
She liked to wave her arms to express herself, and her dress had flouncy sleeves that made her look a bit like a flying squirrel.
Gertrude had always been a sourpuss, but in her heart of hearts, she loved this town and everybody in it. That included Betty Johnson and her evil petit fours.
Some of the things these people had said to her eighteen years ago would ring in her ears all her life. It was one thing to forgive, but quite another to completely forget.
“This is MiMi, Lolo, JuJu, NayNay, Tutu, and Killer.” Killer looked up at the mention of his name. He was a tiny brown Chihuahua with a pink nose. “Killer?” Andrew asked. “He’s a rescue pup. He won’t answer to anything else.”
She wondered if she had died somehow, and this were her afterlife. Nothing felt real.
I’ve loved you since I was too young to know what the word meant.
My Review:
I connected to this delightful book on page one and was an instant fan of the lively and fun yet insightful writing style of Abby Tyler. The storylines were relevant, engaging, and amusingly observant while still tapping on all the feels. Ms. Tyler has deftly captured those small-town foibles and advantages with her irresistibly intriguing, meddlesome, and quirky characters. I am greedy for more.
A great start to a new series!
Anyone who follows my reviews knows that I don’t read very many “sweet” romances these days. But, when a favorite author comes out with a new pen name, and writes a sweet book, I’m gonna read it. Abby Tyler is the new small-town romance pen name of USA Today bestselling author Deanna Roy / JJ Knight and I love nearly everything she’s written – no matter what she calls herself.
The Sweetest Match really is a sweet, but engaging and page turning, romance story. Sandy was the town outcast when she got pregnant and left school at 15 years-old. The no-good boy who got her pregnant denied everything and smeared her name so that she couldn’t even show her face in town any longer. Now she’s back and decorating cakes with a special flair for Betty Johnson at Tea for Two.
Andrew McAllister blew it back in high-school when he never got up the courage to ask Sandy out. He hated how the town crucified her after she became pregnant. No one really knows who her baby-daddy is but he doesn’t care anyway; he just wants another chance to get to know her and maybe see where his attraction to her might go.
This story really has a lot going for it: Town busybodies who see themselves as matchmakers and want to get Andrew and Sandy together; an intriguing heroine who has exceptional cake decorating skills; a hero with an unrequited crush on the heroine and a bad guy as the baby-daddy.
I enjoyed reading about the developing relationship between Sandy and Andrew. Both of them have their insecurities but finally manage to overcome them and get their HEA.
If you’re looking for a great story with no cussing and no sex but is still a compelling story, I highly recommend The Sweetest Match; I can’t want to read the next book in the series.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
4 Star Review The Sweetest Match by Abby Tyler
Abby Tyler is a new author to me and I have absolutely no idea why that is. I really enjoyed this The Sweetest Match. From Start to finish Ms.Tyler had me hooked as she wove her tale about Applebottom, Missouri (oh how I love the name).
The Sweetest Match ticked quite a few boxes for me. This is a small town contemporary romance about Sandy Miller and Andrew McCallister.
Andrew McCallister never really got over Sandy when she dropped out of high school and disappeared, but now she’s back and all Andrew needs to do is find it the courage from within to talk to her. For Andrew, Sandy is the one who got away because he was to slow to admit his feelings. For Sandy, she has had feelings for Andrew since she was a teenager but due to circumstances, could not act on them.
It appears that the people of Applebottom loved to get involved in one anothers’ business and when Sandy and Andrew are asked to work on the school’s anniversary celebrations together, they realize that they might have a chance to re-kindle the old feelings, if they dare.
This was a quick, sweet romantic read about taking a chance, a leap of faith and opening yourself up to the possibilities.
3.5 Cranky Stars
Quick and easy holiday read. Sandy was subjected to the prejudice of a small town when she was shunned for falling pregnant at 15 to her then boyfriend Jerry. He denied all knowledge of the baby and said that she slept around. Jerry was very popular and wealthy and he was believed so Sandy and her mother moved to a place on the edge of town where Sandy didn’t enter the town for 18 years while she was raising her baby Caden. When Caden had won a full scholarship to college this had left Sandy with time on her hands, her mother had died 5 years previous. She applied for a job at the town’s bakery, cake decorating, all seemed to be forgiven for her mistake. Her cakes where being noticed from towns far and wide. Little did anybody know that she hid words among the decoration. One day in walked her childhood crush Andrew, who had come back to Applebottom to look after his mother and became the local history teacher. They started something albeit short lived as Caden needed her, Jerry had shown up throwing his weight around. She had a lot of soul searching to do.
Although this being a romance story I personally found it boring, but to read at the end there’s going to be a follow on book, this book could just be setting the stage, we will have to wait and see!!!!
Welcome to Applebottom a small town that’s simple and cozy, rumors run like wildfire and the townspeople are nosey as hell but romance….. now that’s there specialty! This was a feel good, sweet, funny read that had me smiling and laughing with the antics from the matchmaking elders of this quaint town. Sandy, once the town outcast and now the local cake decorator who’s been secretly in love with Andrew the local history teacher since she was fifteen. What happens when the meddling woman discover hidden messages in Sandy’s icing decorations? Pick up this read, get all the feels, see if Sandy and Andrew find that once in a lifetime love!
If you love second chances, this story is not only a second chance for young, unrequited love, but a second chance at life. Sandy Miller was exiled from the town of Applebottom when she was just fifteen years old. Eighteen years later, she takes a job decorating cakes and pastries at the Applebottom Pie Shoppe.
When her boss discovers hidden words of love and longing hidden in the decorations, she and the other meddling but well meaning senior citizens in town target Sandy for their next matchmaking endeavor.
With small-town charm and a quirky but endearing cast of characters, this story is a little bit poignant and a lot sweet and touching. If you like small-town romance, you’ll love this wonderful, charming story of redemption, growth and second chances.
Very sweet, clean story. Lovely second chance, but low drama (some, but not a lot). You may just fall in love with the town while you’re reading! This was my first book by the author and I can’t wait to read up about the rest of the characters!
This is a sweet little book by a new to me author. I love small town romances.
This is an easy read. With a happy ending. If you’re looking for a book that won’t wretch your heart but also has you rooting for the characters this is your book!
This is a second chance romance, Sandy and Andrew went to high school together but when Sandy had to drop out because she got pregnant they lost touch. Thanks to some meddling town folks they keep getting thrown together in funny and awkward situation…. this is a fun second chance romantic read I enjoyed from start to finish.