REVIEW REWIND: SWEET THING by RENEE CARLINO

Series: Sweet Thing #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: 1/7/14
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5 stars

"You have to teach your heart and mind how to sing together…then you'll hear the sound of your soul."

Mia Kelly thinks she has it all figured out. She's an Ivy League graduate, a classically trained pianist, and the beloved daughter of a sensible mother and offbeat father. Yet Mia has been stalling since graduation, torn between putting her business degree to use and exploring music, her true love.

When her father unexpectedly dies, she decides to pick up the threads of his life while she figures out her own. Uprooting herself from Ann Arbor to New York City, Mia takes over her father's café, a treasured neighborhood institution that plays host to undiscovered musicians and artists. She's denied herself the thrilling and unpredictable life of a musician, but a chance encounter with Will, a sweet, gorgeous, and charming guitarist, offers her a glimpse of what could be. When Will becomes her friend and then her roommate, she does everything in her power to suppress her passions-for him, for music-but her father's legacy slowly opens her heart to the possibility of something more.

A "heartbreaking and romantic" (Aestas Book Blog) debut, Sweet Thing explores the intensity and complexities of first love and self-discovery.

I wanted to read Sweet Thing from the moment I laid eyes on it. I mean, come on, there's a love story between friends, and music. Impossible for me to resist, right? And in those respects, Sweet Thing definitely delivered. But what I did not count on, was how much I would love a ridiculously charming, adorable man by the name of WILL RYAN.


"To love is brave and Will was the bravest person I knew." 


 Will Ryan....this man was absolutely, heartbreaking perfection. It's not often you come across a character like Will. He was utterly charming, handsome in a casual and approachable way, a musician with talent and standards beyond belief, soooo sweet and lovable, and has the type of personality that causes everyone to fall in love with him. He is a modern day man in black, and yet wears ironic and ridiculous t-shirts. He was a patient man, more patient than anyone should ever be. He is a man who recites poems like prayers and listens patiently, waiting for a sign. He was neurotic and eclectic and bizarre at times. Will was a total win. He was impossible not to love.

"I cried because I knew that if I gave myself to Will, I would be left in pieces...left behind. The only way I could hang on was to be his friend, even though every part of me wanted more.


Ohhhhhhh, Mia. You poor sweet, thick-headed girl. I adored you. You were such a brave and loving young woman. You had gone through a terrible time, and I admired your ability to keep moving and make a wonderful new life in New York. And how you frustrated me! Will Ryan was your roommate and best friend. It was clear to everyone in your life that this lovable, caring, and talented man was whole-heartedly in love with you, and yet you resist. I wanted to be mad at you, and at one point I sat my Kindle down and cursed at you. Until I remembered... you, Mia, were still searching for yourself. Trying to reconcile who you thought you should be with who you really are. Trying to maintain a friendship with the only man you love, because if he leaves, it will break you. And then, I just sat back and waited for you to come to the realizations that would move you from young lady who is lost and afraid, into a woman who has come into her own. It was quite an angsty but worthwhile ride. 

Sweet Thing was so different than what I expected. But if you ask me what I had expected going in, I'm not sure what I would say. Maybe I thought the story would be simpler? I don't want to give it away, but the Sweet Thing started with an enchanting and intriguing prologue. Then we moved along Mia's journey to discovering her true self and love for perfect Will, and then came full circle, and touched back to the beginning. And by that I mean, Carlino delivered a gorgeous and profound prologue, one that had me laughing with happiness and a little dazed by it's cleverness and perfection. I have to give the author a tremendous amount of credit because she did not take the easy path with the characters and their journey. And yes, I did get so frustrated with Mia and her changes of heart, but she remained true to Mia's character, and this made the payoff even sweeter. Sweet Thing could not have had a better, more satisfying conclusion. As it turns out, there will be an addition to Will and Mia's story, Sweet Little Thing. I am ridiculously giddy.

Sweet Thing, with it's sweeping love story, remarkable characters, and WILL RYAN, is a love story that stands out from the rest.

Favorite Quotes:


  Maybe it was fate that I sat next to her that day, or serendipity, divine intervention, who knows? However you look at, I got seated next to the first girl to ever really steal my heart. I was in love from that moment on.

  He's in love with you." She said it deadpan as she stared into my eyes, waiting for a response.
  "How do you know?" "I can tell and anyway, he told me. I believe his exact words were cosmic, soul-shattering, air in your lungs kind of love.”

   "So will you do this with me, Mia?" he said, looking hopeful. 
"Yes," I breathed. 
"And will you play music with me every day?"  "Yes."   

Purchase Links

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About the author

Renee’s first friends were the imaginary kind and even though her characters haven’t gone away, thankfully the delusions have. She admits she’s a wildly hopeless romantic and she blames 80’s movies staring Molly Ringwald for that. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two sons, and their sweet dog June. When she’s not at the beach with her boys or working on the next book, she likes to spend her time reading, going to concerts, and eating dark chocolate.

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