Sandwich, With a Side of Romance, by Krista Phillips (Abingdon Press, 2012)
Maddie arrives in the town of Sandwich with a single, burning goal: to set up a stable home so she can get her younger brother out of foster care. Problem one: she loses her job on the first day. Problem two: she wasn’t a model child during her own foster care days, and the couple who have Kyle right now want to keep him.
She’s desperate enough to confront the man who cost her the job and convince him to hire her. Her new boss, Reuben, is irritable and has a jealous girlfriend, but Maddie’s out of options. She has a lot of attitude of her own, but behind his impatience Reuben feels sorry for her. He can’t fire her—especially when it seems her administrative skills might just save his sanity.
Sandwich, With a Side of Romance is an inspirational romance with appealing, complex characters. Maddie comes from a troubled past and wants nothing to do with men. Reuben is coasting in a long-term relationship, and his restaurant business takes up all his time. Still, they each sense an attraction they need to fight.
Maddie is a new Christian and her conversations with God are blunt, direct and often funny. She’s open to learn more, and her intentions are good, but will that be enough to help her gain custody of her brother?
Author Krista Phillips blogs at One Woman’s Dream: finding joy in life’s journey, and you can learn more about her there. Sandwich, With a Side of Romance is her first novel, and I hope we’ll see more from her soon. I snagged the Kindle edition when it was on a free promotion, but the regular Kindle price is $9.99 (Amazon.ca). I can’t recommend paying that much for an e-book unless it’s one you really, super want to read, especially since the trade paperback is only $12.05 (Amazon.ca).
[Review copy from my personal library.]