Review: Excellent read!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 21, 2013
We've all heard the old adage from long married couples that friends make the best lovers or heard someone say their spouse is their best friend. I don't think this always holds true, but Misty Simon's exploration of the concept of long established friends slowly changing the parameters of their relationship grabbed me and wouldn't let go until I finished WHAT'S LIFE WITHOUT THE SPRINKLES? in one pleasurable sitting. It's simply that engaging and just plain good!Baker Claudia Bradley and contractor Nate West have been best friends since kindergarten and they've always been there for each other. Yeah, there was that awkward moment when Nate tried to kiss her when they were twelve, but Nate stood by Claudia when she found herself pregnant at eighteen and her boyfriend Peter abandoned her before her second trimester. Nate was there when she gave birth and he's been a good friend and father figure to her 10 year old son Justin. The two of them see one another or talk on the phone every day and their friendship is a comfortable one. Well-meaning friends and family members think they make a perfect couple, but as Claudia and Nate finally wake up to the attraction they feel for one another, fear of ruining their all-important friendship is just too scary for either of them to contemplate.Misty Simon deftly eased me into the atmosphere of small town life and longstanding friendships. Her plot is well-grounded and rings with authenticity and realism. Nate is that perfect hero who is always considerate of others and plays by the rules. Heroine Claudia is the quintessential single mom who has overcome the stigma of teen pregnancy and becomes a successful businesswoman, while being a great mother.Ms Simon's writing has warmth, her characters seem like real people, and her plotting drew me in as she wove this amazing story of a platonic friendship that's breaking new ground, but not without some doubts on both sides. Emotions run high among this couple and the interfering family and friends who have a vested interest in their happiness, and Misty Simon approaches the emotional element so well that, in the end, I even felt compassionate towards the self-centered man who left his pregnant teenage girlfriend to fend for herself a decade earlier. Put this one on your TO READ list because you won't be disappointed in this cake with added sprinkles.Reviewed by Angie Just Read...for TheRomanceReviews.com