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laura_cs's review against another edition
5.0
I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
When she and her sisters took over their late grandmother's business, Sari Tomas immediately knew she wanted to run a cafe, serving coffee to the good people of Lipa. The atmosphere is cozy, the coffee is divine, and her staff is friendly and well-trained. So maybe the food they serve is horrible, no one is there for that, right? Then, just weeks before Christmas, a new challenger approaches. And moves in right next door...
Gabriel Capras loves baking. Opening his own bakery has been his dream, and if he can be successful, he can prove to his father that being a baker is a worth profession. A profession where he can still be the "man" and provide for his family. He also loves loud music, and the grumpy cafe owner next door. Too bad she hates his guts (and his audacity to not only drink but sell, *shudder*, 3-in-1 coffee), prompting a prank war between their two businesses.
It'd take a Christmas miracle to get these two together, right?
This adorably delightful holiday romance will make your heart grow three sizes--and crave the decadent coffee and mouth-watering desserts that you read about! Not to mention the fun and fantastic relationships that Sari and Gabriel have with their respective siblings (Sari being the middle child, while Gabriel is the kuya--oldest brother--of his family, and he's got a big, chaotic one!). I also greatly enjoyed celebrating the holiday in another country, with another culture, in addition to the story itself. A "sweet" romance, Christmas cheer, and delicious food--what more could you possibly want on your Holiday Wish List?
When she and her sisters took over their late grandmother's business, Sari Tomas immediately knew she wanted to run a cafe, serving coffee to the good people of Lipa. The atmosphere is cozy, the coffee is divine, and her staff is friendly and well-trained. So maybe the food they serve is horrible, no one is there for that, right? Then, just weeks before Christmas, a new challenger approaches. And moves in right next door...
Gabriel Capras loves baking. Opening his own bakery has been his dream, and if he can be successful, he can prove to his father that being a baker is a worth profession. A profession where he can still be the "man" and provide for his family. He also loves loud music, and the grumpy cafe owner next door. Too bad she hates his guts (and his audacity to not only drink but sell, *shudder*, 3-in-1 coffee), prompting a prank war between their two businesses.
It'd take a Christmas miracle to get these two together, right?
This adorably delightful holiday romance will make your heart grow three sizes--and crave the decadent coffee and mouth-watering desserts that you read about! Not to mention the fun and fantastic relationships that Sari and Gabriel have with their respective siblings (Sari being the middle child, while Gabriel is the kuya--oldest brother--of his family, and he's got a big, chaotic one!). I also greatly enjoyed celebrating the holiday in another country, with another culture, in addition to the story itself. A "sweet" romance, Christmas cheer, and delicious food--what more could you possibly want on your Holiday Wish List?
jessethereader's review against another edition
3.0
A sweet story filled with mouth watering descriptions of baked goods! The romance was a little on the rushed side, but I still found myself invested. While it's pitched as a rivals to lovers, the rivalry between the two is mostly one sided and only lasts for a short portion of the book.
amyreadsandsails's review against another edition
4.0
this was a fun read set in the Philippines by the #romanceclass author. The rivalry was super fun, the food sounded sooo good, but I was unsatisfied with the ending, especially around Gab’s father and the 80% break up - I thought Sari’s reaction was over dramatic. I also struggled a little bit with the audiobook and Filipino words because i couldn’t reread sentences or see how the words were spelt and get the context of the word. Lesson learned. I did really like the narrator though.
tessisreading2's review against another edition
4.0
You know those Hallmark Christmas movies where a hardworking coffee cafe owner is filled with loathing when a hot-devil-may-care baker opens a bakery right next door and proceeds to be hot and charming and offer her baked goods, and a prank war results? Yeah those? Add in some really good characterization, a fascinating and lovingly-written setting, and some sex scenes, and you get... this. It's awesome. I'll also note that de Guzman's If the Dress Fits made me hungry for Jollibee and I don't actually even like Jollibee, so as you can imagine the bakery scenes and writing here made me positively lust after the desserts described. So much fun, and will be a definite re-read come December.
titalindaslibrary's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mindfullibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
(free review copy) Such a sweet Christmas romance set in the Philippines ~ just as much a love story about food and coffee as it is about the human romance! The setting is everything in this book - love how atmospheric it is.
lattes_lipstick_literature's review against another edition
4.0
Sweet on your was such a delightful quick read! I've typically grown tired of all the enemies to lovers romances out there but Oh My! this was just so fun! I love the fact that we don't meet Gabriel right away and get to see Sari and her POV so we can understand her frustration and build up to their prank war. So, speaking of Sari, while I understood her and why she is how she is, Sari did come across as very temperamental and emotional, but that's why we had such amazing side characters such as Sam and Kira to call the Main characters on their BS.
Gabriel is pretty much the (im)perfect man. He is just so lovable, funny, and he can bake! He is my new book boyfriend, all other need not apply. Don't get me wrong, he does have issues and some baggage he's working on, but the fact that he's still such a joy to be around really does make him special.
Guzman writing is great and while I don't speak Filipino I love the inclusion of it especially considering where Sweet on you takes place. Also, the bit of body positivity were such a great surprise that I came out feeling great about myself and that is such a magical quality for Guzman to have.
Overall, once again food and romance a winning combination and a romance readers must read
*A Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this. This is my honest review*
Gabriel is pretty much the (im)perfect man. He is just so lovable, funny, and he can bake! He is my new book boyfriend, all other need not apply. Don't get me wrong, he does have issues and some baggage he's working on, but the fact that he's still such a joy to be around really does make him special.
Guzman writing is great and while I don't speak Filipino I love the inclusion of it especially considering where Sweet on you takes place. Also, the bit of body positivity were such a great surprise that I came out feeling great about myself and that is such a magical quality for Guzman to have.
Overall, once again food and romance a winning combination and a romance readers must read
*A Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this. This is my honest review*
kblincoln's review against another edition
4.0
A super-sweet (so, so sweet in all the meanings of the word) romance set in Lipa, Philippines in a small village of artisanal shops where the owner of Cafe Cecilia takes an immediate dislike to the new bakery moving in next door.
Sari, the middle sister of three who took over their Grandmother's coffee roasting business, prides herself in her cafe's work and making of signature coffee blends. Gabriel, the oldest of 9 siblings, is secretly in Lipa to open a bakery and make it enough of a success to please his rich father.
What follows are lots and lots of descriptions about coffee, pastries, and Philippine Christmas traditions. Right up my alley. There's a steady trickle of Tagalog phrases, and only about a third of the food is described so if you don't know what Tuyo or Pancit or Bonete bread is, you'll have to just be fine with not knowing or Google alot.
This is very sweet, very family centered romance. Most of the emotional work here for the hero and the heroine is being done within the context of their siblings and their place in their family. It's super sweet romance with quite a dance leading up to the first kiss (quite swoon worthy kiss, too mind you with a romantic dance dip) but then gets kind of unexpectedly steamy. A bit of adjustment was needed there.
The story kind of meanders, there's alot of repetition of the particular angst for the hero and heroine (oh no I have to please my father! why am I far from my family! oh no everyone leaves me!) and the final scene where the heroine basically goes to the beach and just changes her mind was a little...sketch...but I was so mesmerized by the large cast of interesting side folks and the food/coffee that it didn't matter. The description says they "prank" each other, but those pranks are more....little fun signs and stuff and not really pranks that move the story along too much or matter (other than the swoony kiss) so I wish more had been made of those.
Still, from a cultural and foodie point of view, this was really fun. And now I have to go Google a recipe for the heroine's favorite cake (brazo de mercedes) because who doesn't like a cake roll filled with custard?
Sari, the middle sister of three who took over their Grandmother's coffee roasting business, prides herself in her cafe's work and making of signature coffee blends. Gabriel, the oldest of 9 siblings, is secretly in Lipa to open a bakery and make it enough of a success to please his rich father.
What follows are lots and lots of descriptions about coffee, pastries, and Philippine Christmas traditions. Right up my alley. There's a steady trickle of Tagalog phrases, and only about a third of the food is described so if you don't know what Tuyo or Pancit or Bonete bread is, you'll have to just be fine with not knowing or Google alot.
This is very sweet, very family centered romance. Most of the emotional work here for the hero and the heroine is being done within the context of their siblings and their place in their family. It's super sweet romance with quite a dance leading up to the first kiss (quite swoon worthy kiss, too mind you with a romantic dance dip) but then gets kind of unexpectedly steamy. A bit of adjustment was needed there.
The story kind of meanders, there's alot of repetition of the particular angst for the hero and heroine (oh no I have to please my father! why am I far from my family! oh no everyone leaves me!) and the final scene where the heroine basically goes to the beach and just changes her mind was a little...sketch...but I was so mesmerized by the large cast of interesting side folks and the food/coffee that it didn't matter. The description says they "prank" each other, but those pranks are more....little fun signs and stuff and not really pranks that move the story along too much or matter (other than the swoony kiss) so I wish more had been made of those.
Still, from a cultural and foodie point of view, this was really fun. And now I have to go Google a recipe for the heroine's favorite cake (brazo de mercedes) because who doesn't like a cake roll filled with custard?
mommasaystoread's review against another edition
3.0
After a few too many cutesy Christmas romances (totally my fault), I decided to take a break and spread the holiday cheer over the other 11 months. Sweet on You is my latest Christmastime story, and it is charming and fun. The romance happens pretty quickly, like the whole thing happens in about a month, so that's something to keep in mind if you don't like instalove. I'm not crazy about it, but instalove does make for a nice bit of escapism in a cute and entertaining RomCom, which is what we have here. Gabriel and Sari start out as rivals, and we have lots of banter and pranks. For me, some of that was a little too over the top and it felt like childish flirting, but it was still amusing to read, and it was great for lifting the spirits. There was maybe a bit too much time spent in the characters' heads, but overall the story is fast-paced and a low angst, easy read.