4-STAR REVIEW: SWEETEN THE DEAL by Katie Shepard

Publication Date: October 17, 2023

She’s lonely, rich, and ten years too young for him—but she’s also his “sugar daddy,” and they couldn’t have less in common. Opposites attract in this charming new romance by Katie Shepard.

MBA student Caroline Sedlacek knows her personal balance sheet is a little lopsided. On the asset side, at twenty-two she’s got an NCAA trophy, a great education…and the two million dollars she unexpectedly inherited. Liabilities? She’s never had friends, a boyfriend, or any life experiences away from the tennis court or the classroom. She’d love to invest herself in everything else, but “everything else” never came easily for her.

In the ten years since he left art school as a vaunted prodigy, Adrian Landry has won shows and major prizes—and done his best to shed his reputation as a pretty man who makes pretty paintings. Though currently broke and sleeping off a bad break-up on his college roommate’s couch, he knows this is the chance to get his life back on track at thirty-three—he just needs the money to find a new gallery.

When Adrian’s roommate lists him on a thinly veiled escort site, Caroline is not the patron he expected. She’s way too young, way too naive, and loudly uninterested in having sex with him. Instead, they’re both going to get exactly what they want: a little culture on her side, and a lot of cash on his. Aside from their sugar baby arrangement, they’ve got nothing in common. But as they reel from the symphony to the Haymarket, they learn that what they want and what they need might be two very different things.

Sweeten the Deal is the second book by Katie Shepard, and I’m looking forward to reading her next book, No One Does It Like You, in which there is an excerpt at the back of the book. 

Sweeten the Deal is fast-paced and held my interest throughout, even with some repetitiveness to the storyline.

Caroline is in school for her MBA in Boston, and Adrian is a decade older and a starving artist staying with a friend rent-free due to his breakup with his fiancé, who also showed his art at her gallery. Caroline and Adrian’s meeting on the Internet was an interesting concept, and their business arrangement has some laugh-out-loud moments. She’s all about spreadsheets, costs, and profits, and he doesn’t know anything about the business side of his art. That’s all about to change with her help, or is it?

Caroline is awkward in her social interactions, and Adrian is helping her in that venue as well as taking her to cultural events at her request. She grew up in a small town in Texas, and her family life was very dysfunctional, even before money was involved. 

Several storylines are told, and the author brings them together nicely. The relationship between Caroline, Adrian, and his roommate, Tom, was sometimes fraught with tension, but other times, it was just them being there for each other. It was fun to see how Caroline often inserted herself into their lives. 

There is some closure, especially with the epilogue, which takes place two months later, but I wish it went on a little longer. Is there truly a happily ever after? 

Sweeten the Deal is set in a big city with an age-gap romance, and opposites attract tropes. I turned the pages quickly, riveted to see what the characters would be up to next. This is a lovely rom-com to cuddle up to with a cup of hot cocoa. 

Katie Shepard studied Soviet history and worked in human rights law before burning way, way out, and achieved professional tranquility as a simple country bankruptcy lawyer. She lives in Texas with her husband, kids, and elderly rescue cat, but is often found hiking in the Rocky Mountains or the virtual woods of Thedas.