Candy Man: Tart and Sweet – Amy Lane

In the Army, Robbie Chambers turned on his lover out of fear—and he hasn’t been able to live with himself since. Now he’s out of the Army but still trapped in the closet that brought on his most cowardly moment, and he starts to think he’ll never be able to fight his way free.

Until he sees Cy McVeigh. Beautiful and uninhibited, Cy is dancing on the boardwalk at Old Sac for no other reason than the moment called for it. Robbie not only joins in the dance but is smitten from the very beginning.

However, Robbie still has old business to clear up, and when he helps out a kid in need and comes face-to-face with the man he betrayed, he’s forced to come clean with himself. He can’t redeem his mistake if he’s still locked into his old patterns, and he won’t ever be worthy of Cy if he can’t earn Adam’s forgiveness. He’s going to need all the help he can get from the people at Candy Heaven in order to make things right with his past so he can have a future with Cy.

Uh-oh, Robbie Chambers, Adam’s ex and the guy who betrayed him, is in town! What would Adam do? How would Finn react?

Robbie is beating himself up at what he did and he is seeking redemption. Luckily, the psychic tag team of Darrin and Ezra is on the case. They made him take the candy test and he willingly went along with whatever advice they gave. That’s a good start, Robbie.

Random male model as Robbie Chambers

Walking around Sacramento with his girlfriend, Robbie met Cy McVeigh, a dance teacher busking in the streets who asked them to dance with him. As the trio danced, Robbie felt himself strongly drawn to Cy.

Model with magnificent hair as Cy McVeigh

Cy is a free-spirited bisexual who isn’t afraid to shop in the women’s department. He is the opposite of Robbie, who is still in the closet and has to tip-toe around his bigoted parents. Cy was what Robbie needed. He became Robbie’s support while Robbie learned to forgive himself. Amy Lane did a great job bringing the two together.

One of the best things about this book is that Ezra really came into his own. He’s more confident and happy and his gift was strong. Even Darrin was impressed. Ezra was the designated peacekeeper who effectively kept shit from exploding because the meeting of Adam and Robbie was all sorts of awkward. And Finn, well, let’s just say he wasn’t taking things quietly.

Tart and Sweet brings the Candy Man series full circle. There were a lot of Finn and Adam and Ezra and Miguel but Rico and Derek barely made an appearance which was kind of disappointing because they’re my second favorite couple. Adam and Finn is definitely number 1.

That epilogue! I love it!

The book ended on a satisfied note. Our dear candy fairy, Darrin knew his job is done and that he can leave Candy Heaven in good hands.  With the boys happy and dreaming big dreams, he does what needs to be done, he goes on a vacation.   

P.S.

To get the full Candy Man experience, I recommend reading the books in order. There are a lot of backstories, characters and references from the previous books.

Reviews of Candy Man books here.

Rating:

4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits

Soundtrack: Sorry 
Artist: Nothing but Thieves
Album: Broken Machine

(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31370835-tart-and-sweet)