Tart and Sweet (Candy Man)

By: Amy Lane

Narrated by: Philip Alces

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

In the Army, Robbie Chambers turned on his lover out of fear -- and he hasn't been able to live with himself since. Now he's out of the Army but still trapped in the closet that brought on his most cowardly moment, and he starts to think he'll never be able to fight his way free.

Until he sees Cy McVeigh. Beautiful and uninhibited, Cy is dancing on the boardwalk at Old Sac for no other reason than the moment called for it. Robbie not only joins in the dance but is smitten from the very beginning.

However, Robbie still has old business to clear up, and when he helps out a kid in need and comes face-to-face with the man he betrayed, he's forced to come clean with himself. He can't redeem his mistake if he's still locked into his old patterns, and he won't ever be worthy of Cy if he can't earn Adam's forgiveness. He's going to need all the help he can get from the people at Candy Heaven in order to make things right with his past so he can have a future with Cy.

©2016 Amy Lane (P)2017 Dreamspinner Press

Love This Series!!

What made the experience of listening to Tart and Sweet (Candy Man) the most enjoyable?

The combination of Philip Alces' narration & Amy Lane's writing style for this series is perfection.

What did you like best about this story?

I really enjoyed seeing all the previous characters from the other books. Also, I love how this series was written. Such a great combination of funny, light hearted romance combined with just the right amount of conflict & angst.

Have you listened to any of Philip Alces’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listed to a few other books narrated by Philip Alces, so far they have all been a very good listen.

Any additional comments?

Definitely recommend this audiobook, but listen to the others in the series first or you'll be missing out.

Fun and Sweet finish?

I think its the end of the series, and while yeah it can stand alone you can't really appreciate the overall story if you don't get the whole picture from the previous stories. Anyway following along with the series its another fun and sweet listen with characters that you would think unredeemable but you end up loving them in the end. Alces narration made it an even better listen.

Another great addition to this series:funny, sweet

This is book four in a series and I guess – in theory- you don’t have to read these in order – but ya should! Without reading about Adam and Finn, you really can’t truly appreciate Robbie and why it’s such an AMY thing to do to give him his own book! Also, Ezra and Miguel's book also gives you insight as to why Ezra has to be the one to help Robbie.
On Facebook we had a long discussion – Mary and Amy and all the peeps – about whether or not Robbie even WAS redeemable and a lot of people thought he wasn't… well – she managed to find a way.
At first you think Robbie was a true a-hole. He dumped Adam in the middle of a war-zone and left him high and dry, knowing what that could potentially do to him. And we, as readers, are already very invested in making Adam (and Finn) happy so how can we look at Robbie and root for him?
Well---- there are some things we learn that help – for sure – but I think the most important lesson Amy teaches us is that anything (I guess within reason!) can be forgiven if you really mean it and are determined to “not be that guy” anymore.
That’s awesome because who doesn’t want to believe they can outgrow their mistakes, right?
In any case – we now get to see just what makes Robbie tick and learn more about the bi-sexual and oh so tempting Cy (who briefly thought about pursuing our Ezra). And… for me this is HUGE – we get to see Mickey and Shane again!!!! WOOOOOT!
Of course I devoured this in one sitting the minute I got it and I loved every last bit of it. Just like all the other “Amy lite” books it has some hot smexy times, some super satisfying feels and some hard bits that we have to be brave to withstand.
Based on the ending I’m not sure if this is the last one? It sort of leaves it open for more, but not in the near future… As Darrin said – all his boys are happy and healthy so I guess this is a good place to stop, (or take a vacation!) right?
Highly recommended to fans of the series, an okay standalone but better read in order.

5 of 5 stars

Audio

So, Philip Alces has done all the other books in this series (and several others by Amy) and he does his typical good job with this. I definitely think he’s getting better over time, though I do think his voice is a bit “old” for the characters he’s portraying.

However, he attempts to do a Russian accent for Anna and Mickey and…. Well – it sounded more Scottish than Russian. Also – I have a huge soft spot for Paul Morey’s narration of Amy’s Making Promises - and his interpretation of Anna, Mickey and Shane – so I was disappointed by Philip’s accent – but glad he gave them an accent at all!

This is a lovely closing book to the series and – of course – it was great having the same narrator throughout – I thought he did a nice job of giving Ezra a bit more of a distinct accent this time and I adore his Miguel, Adam and Finn … so all in all I was quite pleased. I’d have made this a 6 if his Russian accent was better *wink!