Sweet Payback

Samantha Sweet Series, Book 8

By: Connie Shelton

Narrated by: Andrea Bates

Revenge is often a cold dish, but in the tiny northern New Mexico town of Sembramos emotions are running decidedly hot. When two men convicted of murdering a local girl are released from prison after serving only a few years, their convictions overturned, the town's old pain rises to the surface and tempers flare. Samantha Sweet has her hands full with Easter at Sweet's Sweets, while her husband, Taos County Sheriff Beau Cardwell, is charged with keeping order among the two hundred residents of Sembramos. Topping it off, Sam is assigned another house to break into and must drive there daily, right through the small war zone where payback seems to be on everyone’s mind.

©2014 Books In Motion (P)2014 Books In Motion

Fun Book! Exceptional performance!

I really enjoy Connie Shelton’s writing. Is it a bit predictable? Yes. You know Sam & Bo are going to always get their man...woman....person...people! 😁 However, it’s an enjoyable ride. She writes with humor, tenderness and mystery.
I most especially love Andrea Bate’s performances! I think she catches the essence of the characters. I get completely wrapped up in listening while working on projects that time flies by!
Thank you to both author and talent!

Love the Series, Hate This Book

Any additional comments?

I love the Samantha Sweet series, but this installment was just terrible. I feel like I should re-listen to this one because I can't believe it was so bad, but I can't bring myself to give it another try. It seems as if Sam spends the entire book trying to fill her time by cooking or cleaning or going to the store. Do you remember when Samantha Sweet was a successful and very busy business owner? Connie Shelton doesn't.

The storyline revolves around an investigation that seems non-existant. Sam is constantly worried about her husband's safety (where did that come from?) I can't even remember one thing that may have happened at the bakery. Two huge plot points are so incredibly obvious that it was almost shocking. And the absolute worst part has to do with the box. There is no way to talk about that without spoilers, so: SPOILER ALERT. SPOILERS AHEAD. DO NOT KEEP READING!

If you've read the series, you know that in a previous book someone was willing to have someone killed to get their hands on the box, yet in this book, Sam decides to try to find out more about the box and / or the woman who gave it to her. This leads to Sam taking the box to a lunch date with a stranger and showing her the box in public. What the what? Previously, Sam actually hid the box in her air vent so as not be be killed or injured for it, but now she's all "Hey I'll just show this to someone I don't know in a cafe, no big deal". I cannot get over just how ridiculous that idea is. Sam would never do that, just as she wouldn't randomly contact people to ask them if they have any information on Bertha Martinez and an artifact she had in her possession. I just don't understand how CS could have written any of that.

The box storyline mixed with Stepford Wife Sam and Do Nothing Beau make this book terrible. I just hated it and am seriously reconsidering moving forward with this series.