A Legend in the Baking - Review

*I received an audio copy from Spotify Audiobooks via NetGalley. All reviews are my own*

I have been on a Romance kick as of late and wanted to continue the mood by reading the sequel to the Sugar Blitz series, Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley. There's something about pairing romance and food that seems to fit perfectly. You know what they say, the way to a man's (person's) heart is through their stomach, and this time we get to geek out on cupcakes!

"August Hodges was supposed to be the silent partner in Sugar Blitz Cupcakes. Emphasis on silent. That is until his impromptu feminist rant about how women bakers are the backbone of the industry and baking cupcakes isn’t a threat to masculinity goes viral, making him the hottest bachelor in town. With a new location in the works, August and his partners decide to capitalize on this perfect opportunity to help cement their place in the community. But the hiring of his best friend’s younger sister, the woman who has haunted some of his best dreams for years, was as much of a shock as his new-found fame.

Social media manager Sloane Dell fell hard for her brother’s best friend the moment she met him more than a decade ago, but that teenage infatuation cost her dearly. Still, she accepts her brother’s request to revamp the bakery’s social media presence to take advantage of August’s newfound popularity, knowing it’s the big break her fledgling career needs. She’ll just ignore the fact that August is still August, i.e. sexier and sweeter than any man has a right to be. And that he drives her crazy with his resistance to all her ideas.

They vow to leave the past in the past. But when an explosive make-out session makes it clear their attraction burns hotter than ever, Sloane and August are forced to reconsider what it means to take a risk and chase your dreams.

As they’re both about to find out, all’s fair in love and cupcakes."

Naturally, I checked this title out via audio with dual voice actors, Jaime Lincoln Smith and Nia Serge. Both are newcomers to me, and did the 9 hours and 33 minutes some justice! I would love to hear more from both narrators in future projects.

I was eager to jump into this title last year when I was approved for it on NetGalley, but after checking out the first title in the standalone series, Fake it Till You Bake It, I was extremely hesitant. FITYBI was a slow burn and almost resulted in a DNF. I liked the storyline and the characters, but it was taking way too long to get to the point. I had to skip around a bit to find out what happened in Donovan and Jada's story. In doing so, once I finished with FITYBI, I was afraid to open up Legend in the Baking. Well, I can set those fears aside because LITB was a muuuuuch better upgrade in the Sugar Blitz series.

Don't get me wrong, some will still consider this love story a slow burn. However, because the narrators did such a fantastic job bringing these characters to life, and Wesley reigned in some of the mundane details and bickering between characters, I was able to really enjoy the story. I loved August and Sloan's character profiles. August was the strong, silent type, while Sloan was the dramatic, confident woman who made great chemistry. Sloan did get on my nerves from time to time with her brash overthinking, but August really saved the day for me, because he was such a sweetheart with the purest intentions.

In FITYBI, it was mentioned that Sloan and August had history, and in LITB, we finally got to see it unfold. Wesley took the opportunity to provide flashbacks to see how the stars of the show came to be. And while I appreciate following what made them fall apart initially, the "heartbreaking" moment (although real!) seemed a bit childish to me. But alas, teenagers. It was good to see both bounce back from the embarrassing college years and not let it deter them from what was happening at that moment.

Overall, I rated this book 3.5 stars. I liked this story better than the first. It was such an improvement. And the audio did help a lot! Between the second-chance romance, August's relationship with his dad, and an interesting take on black-on-black gentrification, which I'll rant about later, I enjoyed the book. I'm curious to see if there's going to be a third in the standalone series featuring the flirty bachelor, Nicholas. I wouldn't mind seeing what his story would be about.

A Legend in the Baking is available now!

#TheLittLibrarian #Audio #RomanceNovel #Fiction #ContemporaryRomance