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marieintheraw's review
3.0
a bit info-dumpy in the beginning and very short, but overall a fun polyamorous story.
lezreadalot's review
3.0
Mary had long since accepted that her life was not a romcom, or a straight romance. It was a pure, unadulterated, comedy, a farce to be exact.
This was sweet, for sure, but I don't really feel too strongly about it. I love reading poly romance, but this went by so quickly I can't really call it satisfying. It's definitely tropey in all the right ways (professor quits her job, moves to a small town to become a baker, shacks up with the local police chief and fire chief, men who've been friends for years) but I wanted more. When I read a romance novella, I'm prepared for insta-love or insta-lust, but the speed at which this relationship moved was super fast, even keeping that in mind. Which was all well and good, because their chemistry was absolutely everything and they had fun banter and I was really rooting for them, but the way we sprinted to declarations of love did nothing for me. The conflict came literally out of nowhere. We don't learn anything about our characters' pasts organically; everything is just dumped on us in blocks of text. The prose has a very casual, almost conversational style, and it didn't exactly not work? But I'm not sure how much I liked it. It might just be a case of me needing to get used to it; this is my first work by this author. But I really came out of this feeling like we only had a very superficial understanding of the characters (even considering that this is a novella!) and caring more about the concept of this throuple rather than the relationship itself.
But, I mean, I did really like all of our characters, and this was sexy as heck. The main character is fat and black and thriving and I was always cheering for her. The humour didn't always work for me, but when it did, it was pretty amusing. A lot of my issues with this would probably be cleared up with more thorough editing (this is just a nitpick, but there were so many questions in dialogue where a question mark wasn't actually used, and it was driving me up a wall, haha). I've been meaning to try this author for a while, and I'm glad I did! I'll definitely try at least one more book in this series.
Content warnings:
Spoiler
discussions of past child abuse and parental neglect, drug use, homophobiathisisthesun's review
2.0
I’ve never read a book quite like this before and I really wanted to love it. It was interesting, “okay” at best. Can’t say I would run to read another one of her books.
golden_lily's review
3.0
Mary is a former academic who, after a failed attempt at tenure, has turned her entire world upside down and moved to Sea Port, a town so small you can't find it on a map. (If you forget that it's so small, it's not on maps, don't worry the book will remind you. Six times.) She opens up a bakery called Confections by Mary and sets about rediscovering the person she was before academia destroyed her soul.
I adore Mary. She's to the point and takes what she wants at every turn. Parents and friends object to this job change? Too bad! Two hot men are into you? We're a throuple now! She never hesitates or simpers, she just makes what she wants happen.
Santos and Knox I was a bit more ambivalent towards. Knox is outwardly gregarious while being very sensitive due to childhood abuse. Santos is outwardly stern but secretly very nurturing and kind. It's not that I dislike any of that, they just felt a little more one note than Mary. I also found their acknowledgement and acceptance of their long-time, buried love for each other was very fast.
Pacing is the real problem with the book. It feels too much like a collection of scenes without enough connecting them. It also cuts away in very weird places. Santos arrives at the bakery and he and Mary enter the bathroom for a kiss and grope. Then it's the next day and Mary's thinking about the kiss without really making it clear that time has passed? I thought the kiss was a dream sequence the way it transitioned. We also later find out that they went significantly farther in the bathroom than just kissing, but it's told instead of shown. All the other sex scenes are not fade to black.
The third act conflict comes out of nowhere. A morality clause to Mary's loan had never been discussed at ALL so when the town finds out about their polyam relationship, she's suddenly at risk of losing her job? She runs home in tears and cries herself to sleep, but by the time both men arrive she's got a game plan and they just have more sex? Also, what was her game plan? She thought of something while they were all getting down, but she didn't know who her accuser was. When she got to court, she discovered it was an heretofore unmentioned old, male busybody. Her defense of "you're gay and people objected to your marriage, how dare you object to my relationship?" literally couldn't have been thought up before then.
The book could maybe use another round of editing, but it's not too egregious. A few misused words, some layout issues. One kind of glaring sentence where the wrong man's name is used. It's certainly nothing make or break on an otherwise good book.
And there are some really great things in this book. Sea Port is a former Reconstruction town, home to freed slaves, many of whom's descendants still live there. That means the town elders and people in high positions of power are mostly related to the Firsts. Which makes them primarily Black. That's something you see soooooo rarely in small-town romance, I adore it. All three of the leads are POC: Mary is a fat (and dark) Black woman who loves her body and her body is loved by both men. Santos is Hispanic, Knox is also Black. Both men are ex-military and Santos is now a cop. Everyone warns him not to join the force because of the corruption and police brutality; it's why he moves to Sea Port. Their precinct is by the book, no lawsuits, no complaints. It's great to see that covered and discussed. Knox is fire chief which comes with less baggage, but it's also mentioned how they both worked hard to be good soldiers who were helping people.
The sex is hot. I'd probably classify this as erotica over romance because I don't think you can remove the sex from the character development. The way all three characters open up to each other, sexually, really drove the relationship. The sex seems fun with a lot of laughter and smiling and chatting. Though, there were a lot of positions I had trouble picturing and sometimes it felt like physics weren't fully in effect in their beds.
There's chemistry between Mary and both men. Santos and Knox, though, I felt off and on. In Santos' chapters it was obvious he was all in and there was a definite connection, but Knox remained reserved. In a longer novel it would obviously focus more on his trauma and coming to open up to Mary and Santos more, but it didn't quite get there for me. So in the end, this is a very sweet, very hot novella that would probably have benefited from being a full length novel.
I adore Mary. She's to the point and takes what she wants at every turn. Parents and friends object to this job change? Too bad! Two hot men are into you? We're a throuple now! She never hesitates or simpers, she just makes what she wants happen.
Santos and Knox I was a bit more ambivalent towards. Knox is outwardly gregarious while being very sensitive due to childhood abuse. Santos is outwardly stern but secretly very nurturing and kind. It's not that I dislike any of that, they just felt a little more one note than Mary. I also found their acknowledgement and acceptance of their long-time, buried love for each other was very fast.
Pacing is the real problem with the book. It feels too much like a collection of scenes without enough connecting them. It also cuts away in very weird places. Santos arrives at the bakery and he and Mary enter the bathroom for a kiss and grope. Then it's the next day and Mary's thinking about the kiss without really making it clear that time has passed? I thought the kiss was a dream sequence the way it transitioned. We also later find out that they went significantly farther in the bathroom than just kissing, but it's told instead of shown. All the other sex scenes are not fade to black.
The third act conflict comes out of nowhere. A morality clause to Mary's loan had never been discussed at ALL so when the town finds out about their polyam relationship, she's suddenly at risk of losing her job? She runs home in tears and cries herself to sleep, but by the time both men arrive she's got a game plan and they just have more sex? Also, what was her game plan? She thought of something while they were all getting down, but she didn't know who her accuser was. When she got to court, she discovered it was an heretofore unmentioned old, male busybody. Her defense of "you're gay and people objected to your marriage, how dare you object to my relationship?" literally couldn't have been thought up before then.
The book could maybe use another round of editing, but it's not too egregious. A few misused words, some layout issues. One kind of glaring sentence where the wrong man's name is used. It's certainly nothing make or break on an otherwise good book.
And there are some really great things in this book. Sea Port is a former Reconstruction town, home to freed slaves, many of whom's descendants still live there. That means the town elders and people in high positions of power are mostly related to the Firsts. Which makes them primarily Black. That's something you see soooooo rarely in small-town romance, I adore it. All three of the leads are POC: Mary is a fat (and dark) Black woman who loves her body and her body is loved by both men. Santos is Hispanic, Knox is also Black. Both men are ex-military and Santos is now a cop. Everyone warns him not to join the force because of the corruption and police brutality; it's why he moves to Sea Port. Their precinct is by the book, no lawsuits, no complaints. It's great to see that covered and discussed. Knox is fire chief which comes with less baggage, but it's also mentioned how they both worked hard to be good soldiers who were helping people.
The sex is hot. I'd probably classify this as erotica over romance because I don't think you can remove the sex from the character development. The way all three characters open up to each other, sexually, really drove the relationship. The sex seems fun with a lot of laughter and smiling and chatting. Though, there were a lot of positions I had trouble picturing and sometimes it felt like physics weren't fully in effect in their beds.
There's chemistry between Mary and both men. Santos and Knox, though, I felt off and on. In Santos' chapters it was obvious he was all in and there was a definite connection, but Knox remained reserved. In a longer novel it would obviously focus more on his trauma and coming to open up to Mary and Santos more, but it didn't quite get there for me. So in the end, this is a very sweet, very hot novella that would probably have benefited from being a full length novel.
malus23's review
3.0
Read somewhere in 2019, didn't realize i forgot to add it until i went to add the sequels.
sashreads's review
3.0
3.5
This was super sexy but the pacing was a bit off. If it was a longer book the 'conflict' could have been a bit more fleshed out, but with how short the story is I didn't see the need for the 'conflict'
This was super sexy but the pacing was a bit off. If it was a longer book the 'conflict' could have been a bit more fleshed out, but with how short the story is I didn't see the need for the 'conflict'
readerpants's review
5.0
From Scratch was the kind of fun, sexy, playful romance that finally got me to enjoy contemporaries. It took me until this summer to realize this kind of cheerful, plot-driven fun was a flavor I could really enjoy when it was done right. If you're in the mood for subtle and layered heartache, this isn't your read today - it's frothy, uncomplicated wish-fulfillment in the best way.
Just listen to all of this:
A fat -- not just "curvy" -- Black academic heroine!
(With a gorgeous actual-fat lady on the cover!!)
Two -- TWO!! -- sweet, sensitive beta heroes! (It's an M/M/F!)
They are all into each other separately and together!
Awesome, active lady friendships!!
Super HEA!
In a small-town setting that (from the glimpse we get) seems to be more like Henry Adams in Beverly Jenkins's Blessings series than the usual milquetoast small-town-filled-with-random-white-dudes-with-muscles!!
Basically no homophobia!
HER CAT IS NAMED CAT-LEEN CLEAVER.
And the next one is about a LIBRARIAN. Yes, I swore off librarian romances! But I'm coming back for Katrina Jackson's next book. And all the others she decides to write.
Heads-up: there were some distracting typos and a little bit of the roughness that can come with a self-pub. And I would have liked more of everything -- more character development, more exploration of the relationships and the characters' own interiority, even more about the townspeople -- but for a novella-length series debut, this was an absolute delight. I can't wait to read all the others. (Will the Mayor get her own book?!?)
Just listen to all of this:
A fat -- not just "curvy" -- Black academic heroine!
(With a gorgeous actual-fat lady on the cover!!)
Two -- TWO!! -- sweet, sensitive beta heroes! (It's an M/M/F!)
They are all into each other separately and together!
Awesome, active lady friendships!!
Super HEA!
In a small-town setting that (from the glimpse we get) seems to be more like Henry Adams in Beverly Jenkins's Blessings series than the usual milquetoast small-town-filled-with-random-white-dudes-with-muscles!!
Basically no homophobia!
HER CAT IS NAMED CAT-LEEN CLEAVER.
And the next one is about a LIBRARIAN. Yes, I swore off librarian romances! But I'm coming back for Katrina Jackson's next book. And all the others she decides to write.
Heads-up: there were some distracting typos and a little bit of the roughness that can come with a self-pub. And I would have liked more of everything -- more character development, more exploration of the relationships and the characters' own interiority, even more about the townspeople -- but for a novella-length series debut, this was an absolute delight. I can't wait to read all the others. (Will the Mayor get her own book?!?)
scrow1022's review
3.0
It took me a while to get used to the style (and why I had set it down previously). But once I got into it that was part of its charm. And the whole story was charming, plus I liked her determination to start over (along with "New Mary" + "Old Mary").
amy_harboredinpages's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Loved the the premise, but the execution lacked consistent flow. I had hoped for more. I liked the characters, but felt they needed more substance, and more build up to key moments, and twists. I would not recommend.