Sweets & Sycamores by Arianne Nicks

This romance is so sweet! (literally, since it takes place in a bakery)

Allie is a witch who can’t control her fire powers, but she’s desperate to learn; only her coven won’t help her. She’s given a deadline to figure out how to control her magic, and if she succeeds, she’ll be allowed back into the coven. If not, then she won’t have anyone. She’ll be alone.

She doesn’t want to be alone. 

She really wants to be part of this particular coven because her mom was part of it. She was close with her mom before her mom passed away. Nobody in the coven is nice to her except one girl, sort of. They’re friends, ish. Still, Allie isn't very welcome. 

Her coven gives her until Hallows Eve to figure out how to control her fire powers. But until then, she has to go somewhere else. She isn’t allowed in their home. 

So, Allie goes to Sycamore Falls (not on purpose) to learn about her powers and ends up finding work at the local bakery. Dom’s Sweets. Her boss, Dominic Ranford, is a grumpy guy with a kind heart guarded by ice, and Allie is exactly the right person to thaw it. 

Dom is also on a secret mission.

Allie and Dom are adorable together. They get off to a rocky start, what with Allie waking Dom in the middle of the night to ask for a job. Or more accurately, his best friend, Brandon, does that, and she’s just dragged along.

Dom is a grumpy gentleman from the beginning, but as he gets to know Allie, learns that she’s nice, bright, hardworking, reliable, genuine, his thoughts about her start to descend into not-so-gentlemanly territory. Though Allie’s thoughts about him are already less than innocent.

I loved being in Dom’s perspective, watching him fall for Allie harder and harder, until he’ll basically do anything for her, including letting her keep an energetic, adorable baby dragon at the bakery.

His name is Ekko, and I want him to be mine.

Dom also helps Allie learn about her powers, how to control her fire, which comes with some surprising revelations. And in return, Allie insists on helping Dom with his secret mission.

The side characters in this story are really great, too. Not only is Brandon hilarious, the way he teases Dom about his deepening crush on Allie, but Mia is awesome, too. She owns a bookstore and befriends Allie instantly. Mia is one of my favorite parts of the story.

Something is going on with Brandon and Mia, and considering I love them, I’m really curious to learn what. I’m hoping there’s a second book in the works starring their romance. 

Sycamore Falls is a great town with great people and beautiful Autumn weather. I would love to go back there someday soon.

Spoilers Ahead 

I really admired Allie’s determination to learn how to bake and learn how to control her magic despite her short amount of time in Sycamore Falls. She really wants to be helpful to Dom, even before they get to know each other, which is one reason I love her. And the way she keeps her composure when the entire town hates her, always greeting everyone with a smile. I admired that.

Dom’s little comments during his perspective about “murdering Brandon” or “punching Brandon” are funny. He always gets so frustrated when a moment with Allie is interrupted. 

At first, his comments are about how Brandon put the thought “What if it was Mia” in his head, which I liked because Dom automatically felt protective of Allie. And his protectiveness grows the more time they spend together, and so do his feelings for her.

Brandon and Mia know about Dom and Allie’s feelings before they do. At least, that’s what it seems like. I loved it. Just another reason I adored both Mia and Brandon. 

One of the main events in the story is a wedding that Dom’s Sweets caters. Both Dom and Allie attend the wedding, and of course, Ekko does too. Allie and Dom at the wedding are interesting, to say the least. 

The way Mia convinces Allie to choose a sexy dress and how Mia makes sure Dom’s tie matches the color. Adorable! And Allie puts Ekko in a bowtie. I loved that.

I loved when Dom and Allie dance together, and their flirty comments about Allie’s tattoos, how it sort of freaks Allie out. And how her weird behavior afterward causes Dom to blame himself and feel bad.

 He really is a good guy.

After the wedding, and their flirty comments, they sort of discuss what it meant. Not really. And decide they are comfortable together, nothing more, nothing less. 

It is their “comfortable” phase, and it doesn’t last long.

Later, when they finally get together, their flirty comments come back during their spicy scene. Allie shows Dom her tattoos, and he tells her to tell him about them. It's a great spicy scene. Not too spicy, but it still had that tension, heat, and tenderness. 

After that, Allie and Dom are officially together. One of my favorite scenes during the last couple of chapters is when Allie wakes up in Dom’s arms and Ekko is tangled up at their feet. It is such a great, quiet, sweet moment. I love it so much.

I also really enjoy the epilogue. Allie forces Dom to ride her beloved broom, which he hates, but he sucks it up because he wants to make her happy. He loves making her happy. And Ekko’s cockiness at the fact that he can fly without complaints or issues, unlike Dom, is funny.

Dom and Ekko are pretty much frenemies. But they both love Allie.

An adorable conclusion to a fantastic story.