Book Spotlight: Sweeten the Deal

It was only last spring when Katie Shepard released her debut novel, Bear with Me Now. Today, she’s back with her second romance, Sweeten the Deal, about a rich but lonely young woman playing “sugar daddy” to a broke artist over ten years her senior. They have a mutually beneficial arrangement: He helps her gain life experiences and culture, and in exchange, she funds his art gallery. But despite being total opposites and having an age gap, an unexpected romance blossoms as they spend more time together.

I don’t often read “sugar daddy” romances, but seeing it gender-flipped like this certainly piques my interest! Caroline, at only 22, is the one with millions of dollars to share and a need to finally live her life. With broke artist Adrian by her side, they’ll experience all kinds of cultural attractions. This looks like a fun book that feeds curiosity and highlights how opposites may not be so different. It reminds me a bit of The Kiss Quotient (a book I adored!), albeit with a different goal for the woman doing the hiring. Combine that with art and possibly some real talk about money and I’m sold!

Find out more about Sweeten the Deal below, and let me know if you’re planning to pick it up. If you’ve already read it, let me know how you liked it in the comments! I’m hoping to read this book soon, so stay tuned for my review.

Official Summary

She’s lonely, rich, and ten years too young for him—but she’s also his “sugar daddy,” and they couldn’t have less in common. Opposites attract in this charming new romance by Katie Shepard.
 
MBA student Caroline Sedlacek knows her personal balance sheet is a little lopsided. On the asset side, at twenty-two she’s got an NCAA trophy, a great education…and the two million dollars she unexpectedly inherited. Liabilities? She’s never had friends, a boyfriend, or any life experiences away from the tennis court or the classroom. She’d love to invest herself in everything else, but “everything else” never came easily for her.
 
In the ten years since he left art school as a vaunted prodigy, Adrian Landry has won shows and major prizes—and done his best to shed his reputation as a pretty man who makes pretty paintings. Though currently broke and sleeping off a bad break-up on his college roommate’s couch, he knows this is the chance to get his life back on track at thirty-three—he just needs the money to find a new gallery. 

When Adrian’s roommate lists him on a thinly veiled escort site, Caroline is not the patron he expected. She’s way too young, way too naive, and loudly uninterested in having sex with him. Instead, they’re both going to get exactly what they want: a little culture on her side, and a lot of cash on his. Aside from their sugar baby arrangement, they’ve got nothing in common. But as they reel from the symphony to the Haymarket, they learn that what they want and what they need might be two very different things.

Get the Book

You can buy Sweeten the Deal here – it’s available as paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Sweeten the Deal by Katie Shepard
Audience	Adult
Genre	Romance; Women’s Fiction
Number of Pages	384
Original Publication Date	October 17, 2023