“There comes a time in your life when you have to choose to turn the page, write another book, or simply close it.” ― Shannon L. Alder
BLURB: Miles Piekus thought he and Itai would make a great team, despite the infidelities haunting their past. After all, Itai is smoking hot, they’re both driven entrepreneurs, and they love each other. What else did a person need?
Well, a lot more, apparently, because not only are they no longer passionate, they don’t even share the same passions. Like people, affections change, and Miles wonders if a relationship this broken is truly worth repairing.
Itai’s business launch with his ex-boyfriend isn’t helping. And Miles himself has a new business to grow over a busy few weeks where Thanksgiving and Hanukkah collide to form either the best holiday season ever, or a kosher caterer’s worst nightmare.
But help comes in the unexpected, ruggedly handsome form of Detective Dominic Delbene, a pickle aficionado with his own ghosts, who stakes out the deli to capture a dangerous drug dealer. As Hanukkah’s eight days come to an end, Miles discovers that Nic is not only good with pickling; he’s good at everything.
REVIEW: I have been so excited to start getting the holiday books in for review, and this was the first one of the bunch. Luckily, it was a great start. I learned a lot more than I ever thought I could about pickles, but that is neither here nor there. lol.
The story begins with Miles’ side of the story. He has taken over the family business, a vegetarian kosher pickle shop, and his parents have retired and moved away. This doesn’t mean that all the changes he has made to the shop are well received by the long time patrons. While trying to please the “regulars” and trying to bring in new business, Miles is also trying to expand into catering. He had planned to have his partner Itai at his side working the business. It seems that Itai has other plans and is more concerned with his own computer business, and unfortunately, his former boyfriend.
As the story goes on, Miles is more and more sure that Itai has begun cheating on him again, and he doesn’t know if there is anything worth trying to save anymore. One day while working himself to death, alone in the deli, a gorgeous man walks in and changes things in a big way for Miles. Detective Dominic “Nic” Delbene is looking to bust a drug trafficker, and he believes this person is working from the deli.
To investigate, Nic goes undercover as an employee of the deli, and Miles finds himself completely smitten with the handsome cop. As Nic and Miles get to know one another, Miles finds himself growing further and further away from Itai. The one thing Miles will not do is cheat, though. EVER. So he has a decision to make. Does he try to fix what might be broken with Itai, or does he make a clean break and try things with Nic?
When the undercover investigation comes to a close, Miles gets all the answers he needs. With Hanukkah as a backdrop, Miles finds out what is important to him and what he needs to be happy. I loved how this story was written, and I highly recommend this one. I hadn’t read anything by Astrid Amara before, but I will definitely be reading more.
You can buy Sweet and Sour here:
I love this author! Another one going on my WL!