Sugar Daddy

No actual Sugar Daddies. Zero stars.

Nah, I'm just kidding. Though this is like no romance I've ever read. It's slow to build up to it, but Liberty starts out so young that this is just fine by me. Instead, the background of friendships (Miss Marva, Churchill, the people at the salon) and familial obligations (Liberty cares for her much younger sister Carrington after their mother dies) propel the story along until the real romance comes along, between Liberty and Churchill's son Gage.

There are so many good side characters. Texas is a character too, and that makes up for no sugar daddies. (Though there's a lot of rich oil dudes, and Liberty is po' but gets hired by one of them, so I get what the title is going for.)

There's a Love Triangle (isn't Hardy Cates kind of the best romance name?!), and long-held secrets, and it's sexy but not smutty. I really really enjoyed this.

The writing and pacing were so good. I had to mark down some notes because seeing Liberty's childhood and upbringing crafted her character and life beautifully. It gave me an insight into her hometown, her family and her personal thoughts. The writing was flawless and the story was easy to get lost in and lose a few hours reading. I loved seeing Liberty's devotion to her sister and how naturally she fell into the role of caregiver–throughout the entire book. From the very beginning her giving nature was easy to discern and part of her personality.

The romance came later on in the book and the second half of the book was not what I expected but I did appreciate the new characters that were introduced and became a family to Liberty and her sister. The love interest in the first half was very enthralling because their connection grew organically, as did the romance in the second half. I'm glad with who Liberty ended up with but the second love interest was not exactly my cup of tea sometimes. He was very nice but he was more like a stock character of what the author thought an appealing billionaire Texan businessman should be. Which was pretty great in the end but made the story feel very formulaic.