AS GOOD AS THE FIRST TIME (SUGAR LAKE #1)

True to its name, the small southern town of Sugar Lake is a sweet place to visit — and you might even want to live there... 

With her big city career and relationship in sudden free fall, Olivia Gale isn't sure where she belongs. So when her help is needed at Goode N' Sweet, the family bakery in Sugar Lake, she jumps at the chance to indulge her pie-making hobby while getting her life back on track. Olivia's not looking for any distractions. Even if the boy who once left her without a word is now a grown man with intriguing secrets — and the same tempting hold on her heart...

A firefighter and single dad, Clayton Morris is trying hard to fix his past mistakes. He thought he was doing the right thing by leaving Olivia — and now he's sure he has nothing to offer the accomplished woman she's become. But ignoring the sparks between them is impossible. And as unexpected surprises and hard choices endanger their fragile reunion, they'll have to decide which direction to take if they want to find the road back to love...

Release Date: October 30, 2018

Penguin Random House Publisher Services

Sugar Lake #1

Contemporary Romance

Review copy provided by publisher

Liza's Review:

As Good As The First Time is the first book in the Sugar Lake series of books from K.M. Jackson. If you are a fan of reunion romances or second chance romances, I can highly recommend this book.

Olivia Gale is the more "together" one of her siblings. Her brother is still finding himself and her sister Drea is still figuring out her talents and work goals. When Olivia is fired from what seemed to be her dream job, it happens at the perfect time to go back to Sugar Lake to help her aunt out with the family bakery. I loved that Olivia always baked to relax, and she was so quick to jump in to help her family. I also absolutely loved that her younger sister Drea surprised her by going with her, as I couldn't wait to see how the sister's relationship would change during the trip. Olivia appears to be super serious while Drea is more sassy and fun-loving when we first meet them.

Olivia knows when she returns to Sugar Lake it is possible she will run into her teenage love Clayton Morris, but totally isn't prepared for him to not only be there, but living next door with his young daughter. I have to say I really liked that Liv and Clay slowly reconnected. Liv had to get past her anger and listen to Clay's reason for distancing himself from her and eventually breaking her heart. I could totally feel the connection and chemistry between Liv and Clay from the moment they first saw each other again. I had all the feels for this couple as I read their reunion story.

While I loved the slowly building romance in this book, I have to say I loved the relationship building of Olivia, Drea and their cousins every bit as much. Olivia and Drea really have never been close, yet the more time they spent together the more they seemed to get each other. I love that the relationship between the sisters really seemed to be every bit as important to their character development as the romance between Olivia and Clay. Maybe because I have a sister and a brother the sibling relationships were just as important to me.

Olivia takes her time really figuring out where she belongs in the world. I honestly felt like it was just part of who she was to try everything before finally listening to her heart and going that route. I figured out at the very start of this story she was a baker at heart, but I loved her path to figure it out for herself. I also loved getting a glimpse of what Drea can become in this book. I can't wait to see how her character develops in future books.

As Good as the First Time was a wonderful story. I'm a big fan of finding books in a series early so I can read them in order. I can't wait to see where K.M Jackson takes the characters from this series in future books. I already have several favorites, and I hope they each get their own story along the way.

Rating: 4 Stars (B)