A review of "Sweet Mary"

Sweet Mary by Liz Balmaseda (Atria Books, ISBN 978-1-4165-4296-4)

Dulce Maria (Sweet Mary) Guevara had a good life. Not a perfect life, not one without some problems. Sharing custody of her son with a less than cooperative ex-husband, having to deal with slightly goofy Cuban parents and her deadbeat brother caused some issues, but she was successful in her South Florida real estate career and had her best friend and co-worker Gina, watching her back. That is, until the morning when the worst week of her life began.

DEA agents break into her house, arrest her and lead her out in handcuffs as her son cries and her neighbors gather to watch the spectacle. She is accused of being a high ranked drug dealer, an accusation that takes her and her lawyer more than a week to prove is no more than a case of mistaken identity. She is released but a cloud of suspicion remains in the minds of many. Her ex-husband has been awarded full custody of their son while she was in jail and it seemed her boss does not feel she should return to her old job right now...or maybe ever. In other words, her life as she knew it is falling apart and the only way she can see getting it back to the way it was is to find the real fugitive and totally clear her name. And the only person she knows that may be able to help her on her quest is her bad boy ex-fiancé Joe Pratts. His ties to certain criminal elements was the reason he became her ex-fiancé but those same connections may now hold the key to helping her restore her life.

Let's say when they head off together to the Keys, the sultry Florida heat may not be the only thing making it sizzle.

Sweet Mary is a very well written book, as one might expect from a two time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, with some very good characters and a setting that just comes alive. It's also a very visual book, betraying it's beginnings as a potential screenplay and you may find yourself wishing you had one of Mary's favorite Mango Sours to drink as you set off on this fast paced, entertaining romp with a lively cast. At times this debut novel is very funny, at other times quite touching but always with emotions that ring true.

To a degree, “Sweet Mary” puts me in mind of the best stories in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. Trade Italian-American Trenton, NJ for Cuban-American South Florida, take one sassy heroine, add a 'take no hostages' female sidekick, a family that will drive you crazy one minute and tear out your heart the next and top it all off with a handsome bad boy love interest and you have all the elements for a very entertaining read. I certainly hope this will not be the last we see of Gina and Joe, Lilia and Herminio Guevara and, most of all, Sweet Mary.