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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked the setup of this book and the main reason the to love interest were pushed together, but the ending fell flat for me on this one.
Here's what bugged me. I really didn't like how the lovers' quarrel section of this book became an "I love you, but you didn't say it back" conflict. This particularly bugged me because it just feels like lazy writing, but also, these people have only been dating for a few weeks at this point, after years of unaddressed pain directly involving both of them. Sloan has had legitimate reasons to be concerned about August's feelings for her and wanting to move slowly in a relationship with him. Sex and an "I love you" declaration don't erase the years of pain from rejection. Then, to make matters worse, it was put on Sloan to be responsible for his emotional struggles that did not involve her (dad, ex-wife). Donovan talked to her as if she "should have known better," and it, again, felt like lazy writing to rush to the conclusion of this book. Lastly, I really did not like the "Sweetness" nickname.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Abandonment
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
A Legend in the Baking is book 2 in the Sugar Blitz series. The premise of this series is simple (and fun): three professional football players open a cupcake shop called Sugar Blitz, and in the process of balancing football and cupcakes, they unexpectedly find love. August is the quiet, monosyllabic partner and he prefers to stay away from the spotlight. But when his impromptu rant goes viral, he suddenly becomes the most eligible bachelor in town. His partners decide to take advantage of this situation to promote their shop and the opening of a second location. And what better person to help than Sloane, his best friend's little sister? She's a social media manager, and she has a lot to gain from this opportunity. Who cares if August and Sloane have...history?
The romance here is definitely a slow burn, but it burns so good, filled with mutual yearning, longing gazes, and hitched breaths. Compared to the first book, the pace is slower and the comedy is toned down in favour of unresolved tension between August and Sloane. I truly enjoyed August and Sloane's relationship. I also really liked them as individual characters. Sloane is bold and brave in a way I wish I was. I'm not sure why a lot of reviewers disliked her so much. I really liked her and I admired her for knowing her worth and pursuing her goals. Yes, she might have been a tad bit silly when she was younger in the flashbacks, but that's to be expected. Her present self makes it evident that she's grown a lot. I'm still trying to figure out why reviewers dislike her lol. I have no issues with Sloane. In fact, I wish I were more like her.
I was a bit worried about how the author would approach August's relationship with his ex-wife Melinda. I had a lot of questions throughout the book and I was afraid none of them would be addressed. But the author surprised me with the final act, which really clinched August's stellar character arc.
I do have an issue with how August was always getting touched by random women who had watched his viral video. I feel like the sexual harassment (that's what I could call it) of August, a man, was downplayed in favour of comedy. Fangirling is fine, but unwanted touching is not. August may have been a good sport about it, but someone really should've pointed out that it was not okay for women to just go around touching him. There should have been some discourse on this, especially since it is an issue that is prevalent among fangirls (i.e., Kpop idols, etc.). I'm surprised this slipped past the editors' notice. Honestly, aside from this, I feel like this book was pretty much everything I wanted.
The romance here is definitely a slow burn, but it burns so good, filled with mutual yearning, longing gazes, and hitched breaths. Compared to the first book, the pace is slower and the comedy is toned down in favour of unresolved tension between August and Sloane. I truly enjoyed August and Sloane's relationship. I also really liked them as individual characters. Sloane is bold and brave in a way I wish I was. I'm not sure why a lot of reviewers disliked her so much. I really liked her and I admired her for knowing her worth and pursuing her goals. Yes, she might have been a tad bit silly when she was younger in the flashbacks, but that's to be expected. Her present self makes it evident that she's grown a lot. I'm still trying to figure out why reviewers dislike her lol. I have no issues with Sloane. In fact, I wish I were more like her.
I was a bit worried about how the author would approach August's relationship with his ex-wife Melinda. I had a lot of questions throughout the book and I was afraid none of them would be addressed. But the author surprised me with the final act, which really clinched August's stellar character arc.
I do have an issue with how August was always getting touched by random women who had watched his viral video. I feel like the sexual harassment (that's what I could call it) of August, a man, was downplayed in favour of comedy. Fangirling is fine, but unwanted touching is not. August may have been a good sport about it, but someone really should've pointed out that it was not okay for women to just go around touching him. There should have been some discourse on this, especially since it is an issue that is prevalent among fangirls (i.e., Kpop idols, etc.). I'm surprised this slipped past the editors' notice. Honestly, aside from this, I feel like this book was pretty much everything I wanted.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a nice continuation of the first in the series. I love that the guys who own the bakery are former athletes. It’s fun to see how different the guys were from each other even though they were best friends. I think that August shows that we can all stand to be emotionally available and aware. Just because something has been done predominantly by women doesn’t mean that men can’t equally hold space there. I loved how supportive August could be. I hate that he and Sloane had to deny what they could have been just because he thought he couldn’t be with her as his best friend's sister. It sounds like they were borderline with each other much sooner.