Romance - denial - secrets - trust - and add in baseball and small towns you have a bittersweet and entertaining story of people dealing, people growing, and coming to terms with who they are and what they want out of life. A fast read - great for the weekend or vacation. A happy ending of sorts, but also some tear jerker moments.

This is a sweet book about a single mom with a super sweet son and a retired baseball who falls in love.

I do have a critique. There was the stereotypical breakup around 80% in, but I won’t explain why because that is a spoiler. I thought it was sweet and low angst.

** Received a copy for review.**
I love a man with swagger. Cole could easily be a big grumpy bear. Life has not been kind to him recently.
Palmer is a grumpy bear with way too much on her plate. Almost every man in her life has been a disappointment. She doesn’t trust her self to become involved with anyone else.
This book is mostly sparkly and sharp. It does have a curve ball but it’s not one of those books where something takes it over.
I hope there will be a book for Val and Fish. I need to know more about their future.

I don't even know how to begin to describe my impressions of this wonderful story. This may be a cliché because there are quite a lot of stories like this, but this story is somehow different for me. Here, we meet a single mother and a former athlete who is looking for a new start and a life without disappointment, pain, and mistrust., Their chemistry is felt from the very beginning until the end. The story is very emotional and for the most part, it describes real-life situations. I enjoyed it and it has all the best recommendations from me.
Thank you for this opportunity.

Adriana Locke made me cry...

I hadn't even read the blurb for The Sweet Spot when I started it- Adriana is just one of those authors that could write my grocery list and I'd want to read it. So while I may have went in blind to the story I was about to read, I was still blown away by the story that unfolded.

Palmer and Cole's journey is filled with so much humor, sweetness, a bit of spice and emotion. Palmer is one of those bada** single moms that has learned that she can only rely on herself so she gets things done. She may struggle but her world is her son and I absolutely LOVED the relationship between Palmer and Ethan. Cole is a little lost in the world trying to figure out his next move after retiring from a professional career in baseball. While he is a sunshine and ocean California boy he really did fit well into the small town vibe.

I adored how Cole- a man that has never really had to work to get a woman's attention- felt there was something special about Palmer and continues to show her that he is there without being overbearing or too pushy giving her time to war with herself about taking the leap. This story though- from the start I just felt it burrowing in my heart. I was so in tune with the characters that I was shattered right alongside with them in a way that I wasn't expecting. The banter had me cracking up at times and I could feel the growth in Palmer's anxiety when she was overthinking. In general I can feel the emotion when I read a well written story but very rarely will a story cause me actual tears. That is just a testament to how phenomenally Adriana wrote this story because I definitely cried like a baby with both sad and happy tears.

Thanks for continuing to create worlds I can lose myself in, Adriana ❤

I LOVED this story.

Cole Beck is a baseball superstar who recently retired on short notice. He returns to his hometown to visit family while trying to reconcile his decisions with what he thinks the future holds for him. He meets Palmer and there's something about her that sparks his interest and distracts him from his anxiety. Palmer Clark is a single mother who runs in damage-control mode and never seems to catch a break. But she always keeps a cool head. Her priority is—above and beyond all else—to make sure her son Ethan is happy and everything is right in his world.

This is a romance with heart and heat. While the attraction is instant, Palmer resists so it adds to a push and pull that had me turning the page at a frenzied pace. She is trying to avoid repeating relationship mistakes where she falls for the hot guy and is left with a broken heart. But Cole is pretty irresistible and has impeccable timing. Their connection organically developed and bloomed with each scene and I was happy to have a front row seat. Nothing felt forced or over the top. It was as if two souls meant to be together finally reunited. But it's not all roses and perfection. There is pain and heartache, but there is also an overwhelming amount of love between their relationship and several others in the story.

I loved this story, the characters, the side characters, the pacing, pretty much everything about it. The writing flowed so beautifully and naturally, I was already halfway through before I even realized it. Admittedly, I'm generally not a fan of reading children in romances. But the relationship between Palmer and her son was an absolute thing of beauty to read.

If you enjoy stories with a strong focus on family and the depth of what someone will do for their loved ones, then this is a must read.

/I received an early edition of this book. This did not affect my opinion of the book or content of my review./

Oh man I loved this book! The story was so sweet and heartwarming, but what really sold this book was so many of the little things. Ethan alone was enough to make this book 5 stars, his and Cole's relationship was sweet. I loved the scene where we see where the title came from. The Florida State reference (Go Noles!!).

Palmer's background and trauma makes her such a relatable character with all of her personality and her need to only rely on herself. Cole's story builds so well with leaving clues until you finally get the answers, the same way Cole is handling his news as well.

Cole and Palmer's relationship is so sweet with a good amount of steamy mixed in. Their meet cute was so much fun. Their issues were relatable and their fears understandable even if you wanted to smack them and tell them to work out their issues. I just loved this book so much!

A truly sweet story.

Adriana hit this one out of the park. It is a swoony, sweet, bantery, lovely treat of a story.

Palmer, a single mom to 12 year old Ethan, has no faith in men. Her dad was an alcoholic who she basically grew up taking care of as if she were the adult.

Cole, a newly retired star baseball player, is visiting his parents and is smitten with Palmer.

Their paths continue to cross and it seems as though fate wants them to be together. Their connection is so real. From the beginning their banter back and forth makes you feel as though they are old friends.

I loved every moment of this book, even the ones that made me cry though I do wish there had been a few less of those moments.

Read this one. No, seriously. Go preorder it right now and read it the moment it comes out. You won't regret it!

I have always enjoyed any book by Adriana but that is my favorite one hands down! She outdid herself with this one!

The Sweet Spot by Adriana Locke is about an overworked single mother, Palmer, and a retired baseball player, Cole.
Palmer wants to find true love. She wants someone who will put her first and take care of her while she takes care of everyone else. Cole is enamoured by Palmer, but he has plans to head back to California after a month, so definitely no long term plans of staying in a small town in Ohio. Yet they're both very drawn to each other. Palmer tries her very best to stay away, while Cole tries his very best to hook Palmer. Eventually, she gives in and so the story goes.
The banter and text exchanges between Palmer and Cole were probably the best part of their budding relationship. The relationship between Cole and Palmer's son was just the sweetest thing EVER.
Adriana Locke pretty much hits a homerun with The Sweet Spot.

I feel like the title is very appropriate for this story. This was a sweet single mom, small town romance. Palmer's struggles as a working single mom were so relatable and the author did a great job detailing her backstory and how/why she is this way. There were some really cute scenes between her and her son Ethan. I'm a sucker for single parent romances where the significant other goes out of their way to get to know the kid and have a relationship with them. Cole did not disappoint - I really loved his and Ethan's relationship. It was a little slow in parts and there was some extra noise surrounding her work that I thought took away from the story a bit, but overall it was a cute, low-angst read.

Great book!!!
I absolutely devoured this book! These are such a great group of characters, a realistic storyline & great character banter all around. I am now missing these characters so much.

Well Adriana did it again! I love small town sports romances and anything single mother or father related. Palmer and Cole were amazing! I love how much strength Palmer had. She wanted to give her son the best life she could but she also didn’t trust men easier. And you understand that more when you find out her story. Then there is Cole.. sweet Cole. A flirt but has a good heart. Who doesn’t love someone who retired in baseball and ends up coaching little league. They give you all the feels! I loved these two!

One of my favorite quotes from reading this..

You never know where life may take you. You just have to have patience and trust that it will all work out. You have to believe that the challenges, hardships, all the moments that absolutely bend you in half are just making you stronger, and more resilient, and absolutely more badass for life on the other side.


The Sweet Spot is a heartwarming, make you laugh, cry love story that will have you hooked from the very beginning. I loved Palmer and Cole so much, let's not forget about Ethan. There was so much real life in this book. I swear I could feel the emotions no matter the situation. This is by far one my top favorites by Adriana and that's saying something because I've read everything of hers that's out.

single mother Palmer meets Cole who is in town to visit his parents, he doesn't want a long tern commitment, but she does. sweet story with a happily ever after

I'm usually such a fan of this author's stories but The Sweet Spot missed the mark, unfortunately. The story telling felt frantically paced which affected the quality of the writing. The connection between the two main characters was parsed out and uncertain in a way that I couldn't feel it until the end. There were a couple spots a I really enjoyed and a situation I could whole-heartedly empathize with because of striking similarities to my own life which I felt comforting. But overall, this story just wasn't the romance for me even though the premise was one of my favorite genre tropes.

I LOVE stories by Adriana Locke and I will tell you why, they are REAL, I know someone like Palmer. Adriana makes you fall in love right along side her characters, she sucks you in to the world she creates and you never want to leave.

Palmer has never had anyone to rely on but herself, so it’s really hard to let go of some control when she meets Cole and he doesn’t give her the option to refuse.

This story has all the things we know and love. Do not miss out on this one, when I say all the feels I mean ALL of them!!

This was a thoroughly entertaining book! The characters were great and the story moved at a great pace. It made me laugh quite a few times and made me teary at other times. It was well written. I would read a book by this author again in a heartbeat.

Palmer is a 32 year old single mom with "No happily ever after on the horizon". She's had a history of always choosing the wrong type of guy and is getting tired of that life. She lives in a small town and has friends that know what's what but she thinks she know nothing about herself, compared to them.
When a slick, honey voiced man asks for her phone number, she tells him "No", because she doesn't want to travel down that road again. Her girlfriend has other ideas and gives it up to this gorgeous guy, thinking Palmer needs to live a little.
When Colt sits in the bar, with his buddy, he can't believe the prickly feeling he suddenly gets when Palmer enters the bar. It can't be insta love, he doesn't roll that way, but it's something he's never felt before. He HAS to get to know her. He is shocked when she rejects him. This has never happened to him before. What else does a professional retired baseball player have to do, but pursue! Besides, he's completely untethered now, and has no idea what he wants to do with his life, at the moment.
Besides visiting his parents, Colt starts to discover some of the pluses of being in a small town. He just has to convince Palmer to spend some time with him. After all there is more to him than just his looks. Palmer is sticking to her guns. She wants a man that screams LTR (long term relationship) and Colt isn't it. Besides, she has her son to think about.
Being in a small town keeps throwing the pair together. When they finally get together, you feel like "at last!" This book is on long slow burn that keeps you aching for more. The story has it's highs and lows. Secrets that can break your heart and some humor that will make you laugh out loud. It's sweet, sexy and a great summer indulgence read.

I love this book! I highly recommend it . I will be re reading this book.. I love the characters and the humor in this book.