Sweet Baklava

By: Debby Mayne

Narrated by: Hallie Ricardo

After years of looking for a place to belong, Paula Andrews finally finds her niche in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Her soap and candle shop flourishes, and her friendship with the Papadopoulos family gives her the love and support she never got from her own family.

The only thing missing is a romance - or, in the grand hopes of the Papadopoulos family, a proper marriage. It would preferably be with Nick, their favorite son, who is currently serving in the air force. Paula, however, has doubts. After all, he's been gone a long time, and he loves flying. Their lives have grown apart. Would he still feel anything for her?

When Nick comes home on leave, sparks fly - and not just with Paula. Nick's father wants him home, helping with the family sponge: the diving business. His mother wants him back in the family and back in church. Nick just wants Paula...and the air force.

So who's going to give in first? And what will it mean for their love and future?

©2011 Debby Mayne (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Great Book

Would you listen to Sweet Baklava again? Why?

Maybe. I generally don't like to listen to others read .

What other book might you compare Sweet Baklava to and why?

Not sure.

What about Hallie Ricardo’s performance did you like?

She did a decent job in using both grammar (pauses etc.) and some changes in her voice in order that the story, and characters do not bleed together in a monotonous fashion.

Any additional comments?

I believe this is the first Christian Book I ever read, a couple of years ago. Now I generally prefer historical fiction. However , Sweet Baklava is one of the books that will always be a favorite of mine.

I like the contrast of the loving family v. dysfunctional families. The insecurities young girls face in high school, what a little bit of determination can result in, paying forward what God has taught us about life , the difference that a good friend makes, the difference that Jesus Christ makes, investing in others in your community can make you happy and brig you peace, that communication is key in all of your relationships.

I don't think my review can do the book justice.

Generally, I prefer to read vs. listening to a book, and it took me a little bit to get into this again and took me a lot longer to listen than actually read the book. However, I will say the narrator was at least pleasant to listen to, she wasn't nasally or whiny, nor was she irritating.

It's just that I am more visual than an auditory person , I just don't think I'll ever be entirely content to listening to someone read to me.

** I was provided a free copy of audible book for a review***

loved the storyline

loved it from beginning to end,!! liked the ending narrator did a fair job but was confusing with portraying the male voices.

Sloooowwww storyline

It was a “sweet” love story.....no pun intended due to the name of it and the overused references to baklava. I appreciated the backdrop of Nick’s very large, very involved & very well meaning family—which was the contrast to Paula’s dysfunctional one. However, the author overplayed Paula’s family history to where you just wanted to tell her to see a therapist to work out her stuff already! I had trouble liking Paula’s character—even less as she continued to let her mom use her. Pathetic. Nick’s character was almost too perfect, although you had to wonder how he never pursued the woman of his dreams in the previous 10 or so years? I appreciated the importance of faith in the story—although some of it seems a bit trite and too “quick fix” for characters. Overall an “ok” audible.

Loved this book!

If you could sum up Sweet Baklava in three words, what would they be?

A sweet romance.

What did you like best about this story?

I felt like I was right there in the story. Descriptions are wonderful and I was wanting some baklava!

Any additional comments?

I love Debby Mayne's books. I would recommend this one to others for sure!

Book

I got very frustrated with this book. It has a great story to tell but it took way too long!

Could have been at least 1/3 shorter without rehashing the same points over & over.

The story was sweet ( although the love of baklava was overdone too). I don’t understand why the same points must be stated over & over again. The spiritual part was fine with me, but I get frustrated when Christians are portrayed in an unflattering way.

Slow moving

The story was sweet but pretty boring. The characters didn't have any real problems, just imagined ones. The narrator was terrible. She didn't even attempt to do male voices. The female lead and male lead sounded exactly the same. It was difficult to tell which one was speaking. The only voice that sounded different was the mother. she had a Southern accent. Since all of the other characters were from the South, it didn't make sense that none of them had accents.

sweet story

I liked the story but for me I like man voice be more manly but the story was good.

Just couldn't finish it

I really wanted to like this book, but it was just too annoying. So many things that just don't make sense. She can't remember he's in the Air Force and not the Army. He's been a pilot in the Air Force for 8 years but never been out of the country. She's supposedly a strong, independent woman but at 30 years old completely flakes out every time she talks to her out of control manipulative mother. The last straw was her flipping out because she was conceived before her parents got married. Seriously, in this day and age? Finally couldn't stomach any more of it.

Main character is whiny

Cute ish story. Liked the spiritual undertones
Lead female is very whiny.
Predictable story
Narrator bland