Review: The Inn on Sweetbriar Lane

Foiled again by my “Ooh, a small town romance! Yes, I’ll review it” impulse. The Inn on Sweetbriar Lane should have been really sweet and enjoyable. And I’m sure some people felt that way about Jeannie Chin’s novel. I just…didn’t. The story really didn’t work for me and the characters drove me up the wall.

Here’s the book’s description:

June Wu always has it all together—only now, she’s in over her head. Her family’s inn desperately needs guests, her mother’s medical debts are piling up, and the surly, if sexy, stranger next door is driving away the customers she has left! When he asks for June’s help, though, she can’t say no. After all, his new bar could be just what the upcoming Pumpkin Festival needs to bring in more tourists. But with the fierce attraction between them, will working together be playing with fire?
Ex-soldier Clay Hawthorne prefers being on his own. He’s moved to Blue Cedar Falls for one reason—to carry out his best friend’s dream of opening a bar in the hometown he’ll now never return to. But the town’s business association is trying to stop Clay’s progress. June soon becomes his biggest supporter, and while their partnership is supposed to be only temporary, for the first time Clay wants something permanent—with June. Can two total opposites really learn to meet each other in the middle?

I received an advanced audiobook copy of this novel to review and, personally, I felt like the narrators didn’t help me enjoy Chin’s novel. There were dual narrators, which I often really like especially when it’s a romance being told from two characters’ perspectives. This time it really grated me. Katy Tang and Zachary Webber were the narrators and Webber, especially, really didn’t work for me. His female voices were so, so bad. And the rest of his narration felt…flat. I've seen other reviews that praise his work but for my earballs? Hard no.

I know I sound like a broken record but I’m really particular with enemies to lover stories. And I don’t really appreciate it when a so-called “opposites attract” story ends up being more enemies to lovers. That’s what happened with this one. The pair get off on the wrong foot and they can’t move past that for awhile. June tries to be a nice neighbour but she goes in with certain expectations and doesn’t allow Clay, who’s grumpy and hates everyone and everything about the small town, to explain whatever he’s willing to explain (he’s such a closed book…also frustrating). But then! They kiss and fall into bed with each other and…all is well? I couldn’t buy into the relationship at all.

Not only did the relationship not work for me – zero chemistry – but the characters themselves did nothing for me. I wanted to like them. Truly. They had had hard pasts but neither were willing to communicate with anyone about anything and I’m so over stories where no one talks. There are other ways to create conflict! I appreciated that June was Chinese American, something that isn’t seen all too often in romance novels, but that was about the only high point for me.

I’m always bummed when I don’t like a book. I really did expect to enjoy The Inn on Sweetbriar Lane but it just didn’t work for me. Will I read more of Jeannie Chin? Maybe. Maybe not.

*An advanced audiobook copy of this novel was provided by Hachette Audio in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*