Book Review: Trouble on Tap by Avery Flynn

Title: Trouble on Tap
Series: Sweet Salvation Brewery, Book 3
Author: Avery Flynn
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: July 14, 2015 (self-published)

What fun is life without a little bit of trouble?

Retired supermodel and forever wild child Olivia Sweet is nothing but trouble. The youngest Sweet triplet is back in her hometown, but instead of a triumphant return it’s a parade of humiliations. She’s broke, homeless and dealing with the fallout from her scumbag ex-boyfriend publishing naked pictures of her to a revenge porn website.

Staid and stalwart veteran Mateo Garcia has seen more trouble than a man ever should in his lifetime. He’s gone from pretty boy Marine to a small town police chief with a chip on his shoulder and scars covering the left side of his face. Now his former lover, Olivia, is back in town and living next door.

When the two are forced to work together to fix up the crumbling veterans’ center, the sparks fly between the beauty and the man who sees himself as a beast. Not everyone is happy that Olivia is back home though and Mateo has to choose between the town who wants her gone and an uncertain future with a woman who he thinks could never love him…

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Reviewed by: Lesley

Why I Read This Book: The characters and the set up struck my interest. I liked the idea that they had a sexy past together but needed to figure out where they stood with one another under new circumstances.

What I Liked: This book starts with Mateo and Olivia’s last hook up before his final deployment and the end of her modeling career. Not only does it kick the book off in a super sexy way, but it also shows both characters at their high points making their reactions and feelings in the rest of the book more believable and make more sense. I really liked that this scene plays out at the beginning and then jumps forward to present, rather than having it told as a flash back or a memory later on.

I also liked the way the situation of Olivia’s photos being posted to the revenge porn site was dealt with. I was interested to see how it would play out because the whole concept of revenge porn really pisses me off, and I was glad to see that those she cares about meet her with understanding and respect. I also liked that Olivia is the one to actually deal with her ex and his blackmail. Mateo does do some damage with his fists, but it’s only when she takes matters into her own hands and deals with the situation with intelligence and backbone that his threat is diminished.

What I Didn’t Like: I wanted more! I felt like the resolution to a lot of the plot lines came too fast. All of the sudden it was the fundraiser and things were drawing to a close.

Also, the repetitive comparisons of Olivia’s current challenges to walking down runways in skimpy bikinis or doing lingerie photo shoots started to drive me crazy. Drawing back on her modeling career and what she’s familiar with makes sense, but something about the way it was done and the number of times it occurred detracted from a character that was otherwise developing quite nicely. Similarly, I got a little tired of being told how crazy, wild, and hated the Sweet family was in Salvation. There were moments when if this had been shown rather than told it would have had a greater effect. Being reminded over and over again about Olivia being a Sweet and how unwelcome Sweets were in the town started to make it feel somewhat disingenuous.

Overall Impression: Trouble on Tap is a quick and sexy contemporary romance with interesting characters and a great premise. While reading the first two books in the series would provide insight into the other Sweet sister’s back stories, this book can work as a standalone.

Lesley’s Rating: