bearley
Written on Dec 25, 2021
Aubrey Choi loves living in her small town nestled in the foothills of California, running her highly successful bakery away from the watch of her strict Korean parents. When a cake mix-up and a harsh review threaten all of her hard work and her livelihood, she never thought the jaded food critic would turn out to be her one-night stand. And she sure as hell never thought she’d see the gorgeous Korean hunk again. But when Landon Kim waltzes into her bakery trying to clean up the mess he had a huge hand in making, Aubrey is torn between throwing and hearing him out.
When she hears his plan to help save her business, Aubrey knows that spending three weeks in California wine country working with Landon is a sure recipe for disaster. Her head is telling her to take the chance to save her bakery while her heart - and her hormones - are at war on whether to give him a second chance. And it just so happens that Landon’s meddling friends want them to spend those three weeks as close as possible... by sharing a villa.
When things start heating up, both in and out of the kitchen, Aubrey will have to make a choice - to stick it out or risk her heart.
- ISBN10 1250621100
- ISBN13 9781250621108
- Publish Date 1 August 2020 (first published 14 July 2020)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 21 December 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Saint Martin's Griffin,U.S.
- Format Paperback
- Pages 320
- Language English
Reviews
Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading
Written on Jul 28, 2020
The story introduces Aubrey and Landon, two driven, ambitious and compassionate characters who shared a love for food. Aubrey specialised in baking, while Landon was a well-known food critic.
The banter between the main and secondary characters was fun and cute. I especially enjoyed Aubrey’s interaction with her best friend, Tara. Tara was what one would call the life of the party.
I am on the fence as it relates to the romance. I loved the outcome which I found sweet and adorable, but I was not a fan of the journey it took to get there. The many obstacles in the form of abandonment and daddy issues, failure to communicate, pride and cowardice proved to be the major hindrances in their journey to a happily ever after. Landon did something that had me fuming, and frankly I thought Aubrey should have made him grovel a lot more. I never felt the connection between them. I believe that the fact that the reader was told of the chemistry between the characters instead of it being showed was a contributing factor.
The story featured the POVs of both main characters, which I had no issue with. However, what I found frustrating was the there was no warning when a change in the POVs occurred, therefore it took me awhile to figure out which of the character’s POV I was reading. The fact that this was an ARC may have been a contributing factor to the confusion surrounding the change in POVs. I sure hope that is the case.
Conclusion/Recommendation
I had hope to love this book, but unfortunately I would have to settle for liking it. Would I read more from this author, maybe?
This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading
llamareads
Written on Jul 12, 2020
While at first glance the cover is cute (is that the chocolate bundt cake?), I’m going to point out that since this is an illustrated cover, there is zero excuse for whitewashing the two Korean main characters. I previously read Jayci Lee’s Harlequin debut, Temporary Wife Temptation, and loved it, so I was very excited for this book. It completely lived up to my enemies-to-lovers expectations!
“If I’m going to have a chat with a complete stranger, I might as well have an interesting one.” A deep blush stained her cheeks, and her lashes fluttered to hide her eyes. “Besides, you’re leaving tomorrow. I was hoping we could pack a lot into tonight.”
Aubrey’s content with her life – her bakery has a steady business of locals and tourists, so much so that she’s set to move to a larger location soon. As for a relationship, who has the time, well except for a casual one-night-stand after a hard day at the bakery (her assistant sold a 6-year-old’s chocolate-peanut butter-gummy worm monstrosity to an unsuspecting customer) with a hot stranger. Landon’s had an even worse day. Stranded by a car mishap on his way to review a restaurant, he hoped to at least enjoy a delicious snack at the local bakery, but he certainly wasn’t counting on some arrogant baker throwing gummy worms into an otherwise delicious cake – or the hot stranger sneaking out without even saying goodbye after their night together. But when he finds out after writing a scathing review that the owner of the bakery is none other than his mystery woman – and that the cake was meant for a child’s birthday party – he knows he has to make amends. What could be better than casting her for his friend’s new cooking show? Except that means they’ll have to spend three weeks together and their attraction is only getting stronger.
“Is this what home feels like? His chest tightened with wonder and panic, but he allowed the warmth and tranquility to wash over him. It was a stolen moment of happiness—isolated and timeless—and it imprinted itself permanently on his mind.”
Aubrey is just lovely. Yeah, she’s got family issues (who doesn’t?) but she’s overcome them and is successfully running her own bakery – at least until Landon’s review sent her customer base running. Her bakery is more than just her business, it’s her true home, and the thought that she could lose it is devastating. Which is why, when Landon comes back with his offer, Aubrey accepts, even after he directly accuses her of possibly sleeping with him to get a good review. So you can see why, for me, Landon originally starts out in “oh hell no” territory, between the awful review and that accusation. Luckily, we also get his POV in the book, so we know that he’s sincere about fixing the harm he caused, even if he can’t quite apologize for it. Landon’s spent the past decade traveling the world, not even bothering with having a car, and he prides himself on being organized and controlled. He’s never impulsive – not anymore – so he can’t understand why being around Aubrey makes him do rash things.
“If she could forget about her infatuation with Landon, she would have an amazing time at Bosque Verde. As simple as that. Once they became friends, everything would be wonderful.”
Their immediate attraction is sizzling hot. After the review debacle, Aubrey decides they’re better off as friends, though having to share a house for three weeks may push her luck. Their chemistry is off the charts, and there’s just an absolute boatload of lust, longing and angst, which makes their inevitable connection even sweeter. Both are dealing with the fallout of family problems – specifically, lots of dad issues – so sometimes this complicates their relationship, not to mention that they both think it would be highly unprofessional to sleep together again.
“Do you love me?”
“Hell yeah. I love you like mad. Why do you ask?”
“You have to kill me. If you sense that I’m about to go to the Horny Side, you must kill me. If you love me, then you will do this for me. Sleeping with him again will be the ultimate humiliation, and it could ruin our reputations and careers. It could ruin everything forever.”
There’s so much delicious food, and I especially loved Aubrey’s relationship with her cooking, especially when she talked to her sorbets to try to get them to freeze correctly. I also loved the California wine country setting, and I’m already planning a trip to the moonstone beach whenever it’s safe again. I also loved Aubrey’s friendship with Tara, and I’m definitely hoping that we get a sequel with her. Each character’s family relationships were also explored, especially the one between Aubrey and her mother. There were a lot of complicated feelings they had to work through, and I thought it was handled well. The ending was a bit overdone for me (very soap-opera-y), though I loved the grovel.
Overall, I very much enjoyed this book, and I was ecstatic to see that Daniel Dae Kim already picked this up to make into a movie. Jayci Lee is definitely on my authors-to-watch list, and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!
I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Sam@WLABB
Written on Jun 20, 2020
Aubrey's employee mistakingly gave a special order cake to the wrong customer, who happened to be a food critic, who happened to also be Aubrey's one night stand, Landon. His scathing review threatened her business, and in an effort to atone for the mess he created, he invited Aubrey onto a cooking show he was producing. Both of them understood, that they needed to keep it professional, but would they be able to resist their undeniable attraction to each other?
Five things I loved about A SWEET MESS
1. OMG! So. Much. Food. Obviously, there were many sweet treats featured in this book, as Aubrey was a pastry chef, but there was more, so much more. I was treated to quick meals whipped up by Brandon and some really incredible take out and restaurant food, as well. My mouth watered often, and I now have a list of dishes I need to taste.
2. Aubrey was pretty fabulous. She had left her home and her father's fortune behind in her teens, and built her business all on her own. She encountered quite a few uphill battles in this book, but she never stopped fighting for her dream. I just loved her ambition, tenacity, and fortitude.
3. Landon ended up being pretty incredible. He initially came off as very cocky, but he was super sweet, caring, and considerate. It was nice to see someone take care of Aubrey, since she had been on her own for so long, but he also wanted to support her dream, and that meant a lot to me.
4. The fantastic hero and heroine were elevated by a magical setting and fabulous supporting characters. Every place Lee took me sounded like a bucket list sort of place. The settings were quaint, charming, and super cute, and they also had some fabulous inhabitants. Both Aubrey and Landon were blessed with stupendous best friends and some amazing mothers, who added even more to my enjoyment.
5. Be prepared for a LOT of push-and-pull. Brandon and Aubrey spent a good part of the book fighting against their desires. In between all that pushing and pulling were many funny, tender, romantic, and rather steamy moments.
I had such a wonderful time rooting for these two. Their journey from one night stand to forever was filled with lots of laughter, a multitude of food, snappy banter, and plenty of swoons. Lee gave me an ending, that elicited happy tears, and I couldn't have asked for more.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
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