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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fun, lighthearted collection of 3 short stories, all featuring the same characters but with a different couple focused in each story. A feel good collection that made me smile
I'm biased, I was an early reader for one of the stories. But I stand by what I've been saying. This book... Means the world to me in many ways. I adore the characters and I just love the softness. The low-angst. The queerness and the respect and kindness the characters treat each other with. It was also very sexy. The comfort read of comfort reads for me.
lighthearted
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 ⭐
I preordered Graham's Delicacies when it was announced because 1) I loved Soft on Soft and 2) I wanted to support the author but also 3) QUEER SHORT STORIES YES PLEASE
Saccharine is about Jen that we saw briefly in Soft on Soft. She's a waitress at Graham's Delicacies and she's the cutest person ever ♥ I loved her and her relationship with her family and coworker, she's the kind of person that makes you smile easily
Not only this story is an introduction to the cast and the bakery but we follow Jen and Emilie throught their feelings
I loved them both, the cats, the frozen talks and just the atmosphere ♥ But because it was an introduction, I would have needed more chapters to really fell in love with them
rep: Emilie is non binary (she/they), they have anxiety and if i remember correctly they're pansexual, Jen is a Black fat bisexual girl with anxiety too. Jen's brother, Jackson is trans
Delectable was my favourite story because I loved the dynamic between Sam and James, also: slow burn.
James is gay Black bookworm who reads romance books during his shift, he's also the best friend everyone could wish for, and a proud cat owner. James is a cutie too, he's the co manager of Graham's Delicacies and the local Mexican-American gay mess. He's never been kissed but he had a crush on James for the last three years. James was adorable, he's kind of the dad figure because he's the one who raised his siblings. Speaking of sibling, his twin sister is a proud lesbian
Ravenous sounded so good on paper, an ennemies to lovers who used to be a one night stand between a baker and a food blogger? YES PLEASE
I had a little problem with the romance in this one because i thought they were closer in age. Yujin is 22 while Alex are 28. I thought Alex was Yujin's age or even younger at first and I was surprised to see they gap between them, and it didn't help that it's hinted a lot that Yujin is kinda boyish by the way he looks or texts. It wasn't a bad romance, just that I personally don't like romance with big gap (yes 6 years is a big gap for me here)
Anyways, we follow Alex who are Persian-Arab gay disaster who are trying to provide for them and their little brother. One night they met Yujin, who's a Korean-American gay food blogger. They both can forget each other but when Alex realise that Yujin is a famous blogger, nicknamed King who did a bad review of Graham's Delicacies, he's not happy.
Don't get me wrong it was cute, and i liked to see the whole cast at the end but this one was really fast and again the age gap made me uncomfortable.
to conclude: Graham's Delicacies has three cute romances that everyone should read ♥
I preordered Graham's Delicacies when it was announced because 1) I loved Soft on Soft and 2) I wanted to support the author but also 3) QUEER SHORT STORIES YES PLEASE
Saccharine is about Jen that we saw briefly in Soft on Soft. She's a waitress at Graham's Delicacies and she's the cutest person ever ♥ I loved her and her relationship with her family and coworker, she's the kind of person that makes you smile easily
Not only this story is an introduction to the cast and the bakery but we follow Jen and Emilie throught their feelings
I loved them both, the cats, the frozen talks and just the atmosphere ♥ But because it was an introduction, I would have needed more chapters to really fell in love with them
rep: Emilie is non binary (she/they), they have anxiety and if i remember correctly they're pansexual, Jen is a Black fat bisexual girl with anxiety too. Jen's brother, Jackson is trans
Delectable was my favourite story because I loved the dynamic between Sam and James, also: slow burn.
James is gay Black bookworm who reads romance books during his shift, he's also the best friend everyone could wish for, and a proud cat owner. James is a cutie too, he's the co manager of Graham's Delicacies and the local Mexican-American gay mess. He's never been kissed but he had a crush on James for the last three years. James was adorable, he's kind of the dad figure because he's the one who raised his siblings. Speaking of sibling, his twin sister is a proud lesbian
Ravenous sounded so good on paper, an ennemies to lovers who used to be a one night stand between a baker and a food blogger? YES PLEASE
I had a little problem with the romance in this one because i thought they were closer in age. Yujin is 22 while Alex are 28. I thought Alex was Yujin's age or even younger at first and I was surprised to see they gap between them, and it didn't help that it's hinted a lot that Yujin is kinda boyish by the way he looks or texts. It wasn't a bad romance, just that I personally don't like romance with big gap (yes 6 years is a big gap for me here)
Anyways, we follow Alex who are Persian-Arab gay disaster who are trying to provide for them and their little brother. One night they met Yujin, who's a Korean-American gay food blogger. They both can forget each other but when Alex realise that Yujin is a famous blogger, nicknamed King who did a bad review of Graham's Delicacies, he's not happy.
Don't get me wrong it was cute, and i liked to see the whole cast at the end but this one was really fast and again the age gap made me uncomfortable.
to conclude: Graham's Delicacies has three cute romances that everyone should read ♥
3 fluffy stories to brighten your day! truly we are blessed. I really figured i would know exactly who my faves would be (i mean i liked them all but!!) it was Alex and Yujin. Who would've guessed??? i only say so because i read a super early draft of Jen/Emilie and James/Sam's story and fell for Sam then James immediately but wow Alex eased their way to top spot. i love them so much! Their pettiness lol
There were obviously things i loved about each character because they're all so different and intriguing but damn Alex just swooped in and stole my heart.
This book is just like a warm hug wrapping you up in all the QPOC goodness! like Em Ali brought us that! Also this book made me hungry cuz the fooood descriptions. Emilie and Alex are the bakers and i want to sample everything!
The look into each relationship and how it formed was really well done. With Jen/Emilie (ship name Jem) we jump from present day to two years ago to how they met. Their meet cute lol.
James/Sam (ship name Jam??? idk i'm not good at these lol) Wow the mutual pining was off the charts and i adore James because he's a messy Virgo and Sam is just an adorably large bookworm. Drunk James is hilarious.
Then Alex/ Yujin (ummm Yulex? Alin? lol wow i got nothing someone gimme their ship name stat!) are the best because the whole we slept together and you left and now you turn out to be the YouTuber giving my workplace a bad review trope gave me life.
And then the epilogue, which showed the couples at a Halloween party. Fun! and sweet! Totally recommend this.
There were obviously things i loved about each character because they're all so different and intriguing but damn Alex just swooped in and stole my heart.
This book is just like a warm hug wrapping you up in all the QPOC goodness! like Em Ali brought us that! Also this book made me hungry cuz the fooood descriptions. Emilie and Alex are the bakers and i want to sample everything!
The look into each relationship and how it formed was really well done. With Jen/Emilie (ship name Jem) we jump from present day to two years ago to how they met. Their meet cute lol.
James/Sam (ship name Jam??? idk i'm not good at these lol) Wow the mutual pining was off the charts and i adore James because he's a messy Virgo and Sam is just an adorably large bookworm. Drunk James is hilarious.
Then Alex/ Yujin (ummm Yulex? Alin? lol wow i got nothing someone gimme their ship name stat!) are the best because the whole we slept together and you left and now you turn out to be the YouTuber giving my workplace a bad review trope gave me life.
And then the epilogue, which showed the couples at a Halloween party. Fun! and sweet! Totally recommend this.
After the first story, I was planning to give this book 2 stars. However, the second and third stories were a little more . . . restrained.
Saccharine - 2 stars. The narrator of this story is very OTT and, to my mind, there wasn't much of a story. New baker shows up, Jen likes them, they dither around a bit, then get together.
Delectable - 3.5 stars. I'm always a sucker for pining, and this was more my jam. Also, getting a stern straight-laced character drunk to reveal feelings is a time-tested trope.
Ravenous - 3.25 stars. This is the steamiest of the stories, for sure. I wish we could have gotten a little more insight into Alex's character, but Yujin was very sweet, and I liked them together.
This book definitely needed to be edited and proofed more closely. At least once, the wrong name was used, and the use of superlatives and flowery adjectives did take me out of the narrative multiple times (the first story was the hardest to get through).
Don't get me wrong; I love the representation in these stories, and I don't want every queer love story to be full of angst. Simple, sweet love stories belong to everyone! I just wish these stories had been trimmed and shaped a little more before publishing.
Saccharine - 2 stars. The narrator of this story is very OTT and, to my mind, there wasn't much of a story. New baker shows up, Jen likes them, they dither around a bit, then get together.
Delectable - 3.5 stars. I'm always a sucker for pining, and this was more my jam. Also, getting a stern straight-laced character drunk to reveal feelings is a time-tested trope.
Ravenous - 3.25 stars. This is the steamiest of the stories, for sure. I wish we could have gotten a little more insight into Alex's character, but Yujin was very sweet, and I liked them together.
This book definitely needed to be edited and proofed more closely. At least once, the wrong name was used, and the use of superlatives and flowery adjectives did take me out of the narrative multiple times (the first story was the hardest to get through).
Don't get me wrong; I love the representation in these stories, and I don't want every queer love story to be full of angst. Simple, sweet love stories belong to everyone! I just wish these stories had been trimmed and shaped a little more before publishing.
Lovely Romance
Queer love stories about people falling in love in a bakery. What's not to like. Hopefully we'll see more of this group.
Queer love stories about people falling in love in a bakery. What's not to like. Hopefully we'll see more of this group.
3.5 stars
3 short stories and they are all super sweet super fluffy and super sexy!
There's no angst and it's a really fun read for when you're just in the mood for something short and sweet to brighten up your day.
I loved reading about Jen and Em, they are so open about their affections for each other. It was really nice to read about characters already in a relationship because let's be real a big majority of romance stories are about the process of falling in love and getting together. Not to say that I didn't like the flashback to them meeting each other for the first time and their friendship developing into a relationship. The story is told in Jen's POV, and the way Jen thinks is really really loud! It's her personality because she's super bubbly and active, and also because a lot of these thoughts are also her anxiety talking. But because of this I feel like I'm being talked really loudly at half the time.
Next up is James and Sam's story. This is my favourite because I relate the most to James as a character due to not having any dating or kissing experience. A lot of James' inner insecurities I have myself too so it was really nice to see it in a story. The mutual pining was sooooooo cute, but they were both too busy trying to hide their attraction to each other that they were oblivious to the other person's attraction to themselves. So glad that this was not dragged out in their own story and we get to see how they got together!!
Lastly is Alex and Yujin's story, which is my least favourite of the bunch. Unlike for the previous two, there isn't much backstory to their attraction to each other outside of their first hookup and their amazing chemistry together. However, it was super sweet to see Yujin trying to court Alex and reverse the bad second impression.
The three stories are told in a sort of chronological order but I have to say I got really confused at the timeline of the story. In Saccharine, Jen and Em's story, there is a rough timeline established regarding some of the events that happened to the entire Graham's Delicacies crew. But I feel like in Delectable, James and Sam's story, the events as happened in their perspective doesn't really adhere to the timeline? I didn't plot out the timeline, but just from reading this is the impression I got.
3 short stories and they are all super sweet super fluffy and super sexy!
There's no angst and it's a really fun read for when you're just in the mood for something short and sweet to brighten up your day.
I loved reading about Jen and Em, they are so open about their affections for each other. It was really nice to read about characters already in a relationship because let's be real a big majority of romance stories are about the process of falling in love and getting together. Not to say that I didn't like the flashback to them meeting each other for the first time and their friendship developing into a relationship. The story is told in Jen's POV, and the way Jen thinks is really really loud! It's her personality because she's super bubbly and active, and also because a lot of these thoughts are also her anxiety talking. But because of this I feel like I'm being talked really loudly at half the time.
Next up is James and Sam's story. This is my favourite because I relate the most to James as a character due to not having any dating or kissing experience. A lot of James' inner insecurities I have myself too so it was really nice to see it in a story. The mutual pining was sooooooo cute, but they were both too busy trying to hide their attraction to each other that they were oblivious to the other person's attraction to themselves. So glad that this was not dragged out in their own story and we get to see how they got together!!
Lastly is Alex and Yujin's story, which is my least favourite of the bunch. Unlike for the previous two, there isn't much backstory to their attraction to each other outside of their first hookup and their amazing chemistry together. However, it was super sweet to see Yujin trying to court Alex and reverse the bad second impression.
The three stories are told in a sort of chronological order but I have to say I got really confused at the timeline of the story. In Saccharine, Jen and Em's story, there is a rough timeline established regarding some of the events that happened to the entire Graham's Delicacies crew. But I feel like in Delectable, James and Sam's story, the events as happened in their perspective doesn't really adhere to the timeline? I didn't plot out the timeline, but just from reading this is the impression I got.
SACCHARINE - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - okay this one was so freaking cute!! I adored Emilie and Jen and the whole crew at Graham’s Delicacies and the cameo of June and Selena’s date!
DELECTABLE - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I think this one was my favourite. I think I just saw a lot of myself in James and ugh, it was so cute!
RAVENOUS - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - This one was adorable! I loved seeing Alex and Yujin come together, even though Alex kept fighting it every step, even though they were so clearly smitten. Adorable!
DELECTABLE - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I think this one was my favourite. I think I just saw a lot of myself in James and ugh, it was so cute!
RAVENOUS - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - This one was adorable! I loved seeing Alex and Yujin come together, even though Alex kept fighting it every step, even though they were so clearly smitten. Adorable!