Sweet as Sin, by J.T. Geissinger is a 386-page contemporary romance novel and is the first book out of a four-part series. It is written from a first-person POV, one-sided (which I don’t really love)

Spoilers Ahead ***

You got a celebrity makeup artist and rockstar, what could go wrong? And both protagonists have troubled and tainted pasts, more so the hero. Let’s break apart the protagonists, shall we?

There’s Kat (short for Katherine) who is a makeup artist who apparently hates musicians (strange to be a celebrity makeup artist since you never know who your next client will be), has two best friends, and loves margaritas. You find out about the margaritas four times in the first chapter…so, there’s that. That’s not all, she also has deeply seeded trust issues, which you do lightly learn about throughout the book.

Now, Nico, I had a love-hate situation with this guy. I love alpha male characters, but sometimes he was just a bit too much in the physical sense. He is a dirty, dirty boy which is always super fun. He also has a pretty dark past which makes you feel for the guy.

The overall plot for the story…I mean, there is no resolution to their past or anything like that, it is simply two people who fall in love and are trying to make the relationship work through their jealousies and trust issues with each other.

Generally, here are my thoughts:

1. Snarky dialogue, which I always love
2. The hero is a crass and a dirty boy, which is always super fun
3. The way time moves through this book…is interesting. You finish a chapter then it’s like, two weeks later
4. Both protagonists have rough lives, which I get is supposed to garner empathy, but the way and how the telling of their past is delivered is like vomit. Essentially, they get into a fight, and then it’s like, “My father left me and my mom for another family” type deal. The opening up and learning to trust isn’t built upon, it’s just…sort of expected between two individuals who have stated they have trust issues so I had a hard time buying that
5. One of the things about any book that has romantic elements, there is that telltale, “he/she makes my heart skip a beat” type moment. This book was instalove. I don’t LOVE that premise. Instalust, sure…and building and seeing amazing things about the other character leads to adoration and love…but this was just BOOM. I’m jealous of you, stop doing that, don’t let him/her touch you, stuff. I don’t enjoy that.
6. I failed to see growth of emotions, the love and relationship itself felt immature…something you’d expect from younger individuals
7. Their relationship was volatile. Anytime jealousy or something like that hit, there was yelling, throwing, arms swinging (not at each other)…and that was a bit much. I could see it once or twice, but it was every time. Then the sweet moments that would follow the volatile ones were so extreme and intense I questioned the mental stability of the characters
8. Sex scenes…meh. They were quick and dirty, don’t hate that, but it would have been nice to have a change-up

In summary, I give this a 3 out of 5. It didn’t suck, I’ve enjoyed other books by this author more. I just wish that things flowed at a more natural pace in this book and that the characters showed gradual growth versus, “we argued, now I totally forgive and have changed”.