Review: Sandwich, With a Side of Romance by Krista Phillips

Madison Buckner has moved to Sandwich, Illinois, to start a new life and to try and get custody of Kyle, her eleven-year-old brother. She is fired from her job as a hairdresser on her first day, and talks her way into a new job as administrative assistant to Reuben Callahan, owner of The Sandwich Emporium and two other restaurants.

Maddie is a new Christian, trying to live by God’s standards and put her difficult past behind her. She is helped by Allie, who she meets by coincidence in a McDonalds bathroom, and who just happens to be Reuben’s sister. Allie is a good friend and great example of practical Christianity for Maddie, interfering in all the right places.

This is a fast, enjoyable read, with a freethinking and likable heroine and a slightly-uptight hero who is almost engaged to his on-off girlfriend of almost ten years, and is now trying to fight his attraction to his new assistant. If there was one thing that was not quite up to standard, it was the character of Livy – she filled too many ‘other woman’ clichés. But this was more than compensated for by the positives, particularly the way Maddie comes to terms with her past during the course of the novel.

Overall, Sandwich, With a Side of Romance is a perfect beach or holiday read, with a healthy combination of fun and serious.

Thanks to Abingdon and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can read more about Krista Phillips on her blog.