Sweeter Than Honey

Honey Hill, Book 2

By: Joy Avery

Narrated by: Tamika Katon-Donegal, Leon Nixon

A talented baker and a small-town sheriff forced into a fake relationship decide whether to take a chance on love in this delectable romance from Joy Avery.

Baker extraordinaire Rylee Harris has a recipe for everything—except love. It’s been five years since she lost her husband, but romance is still a struggle for Rylee. In her small hamlet of Honey Hill, North Carolina, Rylee knows she’ll be the talk of the town when she finds someone new.

To ease her mother’s worries about her love life, Rylee impulsively invents a fake relationship with the only man who’s caught her eye: the town sheriff, Canten Barnes. It’s supposed to be a secret, but secrets don’t last long in Honey Hill. One bit of gossip leads to another, and soon the whole town thinks Rylee and Canten are an item.

As Rylee and Canten embark on a make-believe relationship to save face, they slowly realize that their feelings for each other aren’t fake at all. Can Rylee and Canten keep the charade going—or will the town’s prized baker and respected lawman take a real chance on love?

©2022 Joy Avery (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“The stuff of which Hallmark movies are made, the complete and unabridged audio book featuring the narrative storytelling talents of Yamika Katon-Donegal and Leson Nixon take full and entertaining advantage of Joy Avery's impressive flair for originality and the kind of narrative driven novel that lends itself so well to a fully engaging theatre of the mind experience on the part of the listener.”—Midwest Book Review

“Narrators Katon-Donegal and Nixon complement each other as they develop intrigue and passion and build the drama for these charming characters in small-town Honey Hill, North Carolina. Listeners will question if the relationship between Rylee and Canten was ever fake.”—Booklist

“Rylee and Canten are charming, complex characters whose transition from friends to lovers feels wonderfully organic. The eccentric supporting cast brings on some laugh-out-loud moments that perfectly complement the heavy emotions and sizzling romance. This is a must-read.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Not as predictable as book 1

The music references were exceptional. The humor was over the top. Reminded me of where I grew up

This book is everything!

Well developed characters, romance, love before sex, great sex, lots of laughs, and perfect narration. I did have to speed up the playback but that's personal preference, my family talks fast. My 1st book by this author but not my last!

Full characters, a beautiful Black escape

Tamika and Leon are an expert pair in this story, hours delightful narrative style they bring to Riley and Canton's characters. Such a sweet story about love, sisterhood, and a nosey ass multi-gen village. A Black southern dreamscape.

Sweet Story, a little drawn out

Well written, sweet story with romance and some light hearted moments. Story was well developed, but a little drawn out. The female narrarator is really good. Will proactively seek out more audiobooks with her reading.

A Sweet Lovestory

This book was so beautiful!!! There is something so precious about Black Love without the additional trauma or stereotypes. The main characters are so well written, and I found myself laughing out loud along with them.

I need a hundred more of these types of love stories.