I had a difficult time on deciding my rating. "Sweet Baklava" by Debby Maine is a light romance situated in Tarpon Springs, Florida. This book has a lot of references to Greek American culture. I thoroughly enjoyed that. I picked it out because we have a branch of Greek Americans in our family. I have always loved Greek cuisine, music, dances and love to learn about the culture.

However,I was bothered by heavy emphasis on being Christian so much. I felt that it interfered with the story. It felt like little commercials were coming in and interrupting the story.

Because of its lightness, I would classify it as a Christian beach read. I did like the main character, Paula Andrews. She was owner of a candle and soap shop and friends with the Papadopoulos family. She and Nick Papadopoulos had been sweethearts in high school. Paula has to decide on whether to marry him or not. He is on leave from the air force. The book also covers her relationship with the shop workers and a shop lifter. I enjoyed reading all of the story except for the religious commericals.

A plus to the book is the abundance of Greek recipes in the back of the book. I am familiar with most of the foods and like that I now have a reference so that I can make them.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, if either you enjoy the religious references or can ignore and just like the story. No, I would not recommend it to anyone who would be offended by those religious references. ( )

Paula is a shop owner of natural soaps and candles she makes herself. Her mother and her have a difficult relationship. She loves roots and dosent want to leave the town shes made her home. sixteen years ago she went to collage and her high school boyfrien went to airforce and she felt his abandment. Nick went in air force after Paula mom told the lie that she was never comming back to thier town. Nick loves the airforce. the town Paula lives in has a lot of business that nick greek family owns and lots of family that has welcomed years ago Paula into their heart when Steffanie became friend to the new girl Paul. Steffanie is Nick's cousin. Nick comes back to his family with 6 weeks of leave and realizes he still loves Paula. but does not want to give up the air force and Paula does not want to leave her business and home. the first chapters I did not know if I would like it but I found out it was good romance and How God can change lives for the better if we let them. I enjoyed the book very much. thier is a lot of greek reciepes at end of the e-book. ( )

Sweet Baklava is a sweet treat for any book lover! Debby Mayne captures the heart of her readers instantly with her skillfully created plot , well thought out words and characters that make the reader feel like family. Add in some humor, and God's love, and it's the perfect afternoon relaxing read.

Paula and Nick's story had me hooked from page one. The sweetness of the story was a light throughout, as the story of Nick coming home on a 2 week furlough from the military, still in love with Paula after all the years and trying to win her heart permanently, unfolded. Paula loved Nick but, after a rocky childhood, just wanted stability and didn't want to risk her heart again. Though there were times I wanted to tell Paula to "wake up, girl!", I enjoyed watching Nick bring Paula her beloved baklava dessert. But, will he ever win her heart? Can the scheming surprises of Nick's family help to open Paula's eyes?

Why don't you grab a copy this sweet treat of a read now, to see if God's message of trusting Hi, and following His will for the heart ever clicked in Paula? It's a fast, easy, yummy read that will captivate you and leave you smiling and laughing out loud. You'll feel as though you're right at home with the large Papadopoulous family in this sweet, family-food-fun 5 star novel. I'm anxious to see if Debby turns this into a Papadopoulous series, as there are a few characters mentioned in the story that I'd love to read more about (hint, hint to Debby Mayne!). ( )

The faithful fiction author, Debby Mayne, gives us her newest Christian romance novel, Sweet Baklava. High School sweethearts, Paula Andrews and Nick Papadopoulos, reunite in their hometown of Tarpon Springs, Florida, several years after Paula left for college and Nick joined the Air Force. Paula now owns her own candle and soap store in town, while Nick loves the Air Force and is not ready to leave it. They are still in love with each other, but will they be able to overcome their insecurities and mesh their dreams together that seem to conflict with one another?

This book puts a different spin on the traditional romance novels of late. Most romance novels seem predictable in what will happen in the end, but Sweet Baklava keeps you guessing the whole way through that you will not be able to put this book down. The minor characters play a huge role in this novel. They help to move the story along quickly, bringing a fun and entertaining aspect to the novel, especially Nick’s large Greek family, that owns most of the businesses in town, that makes the whole town seem like one big loving family, even when they are scheming to get Paula and Nick together. Mayne does a great job of incorporating Christian values and views into the novel without it making it seem preachy.

This book is perfect for anyone looking for a fun, lighthearted read. Do not be scared away by the Christian romance aspect of the novel, because even though there is talk of God and church throughout the novel, it does not play a huge role in the novel itself, even though these values are what drive the characters to do what they do. I recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a good new romance novel to read. ( )