A perfect bake.
In this delicious romantic comedy, a British home baker must win a televised cooking competition and navigate her competitors' distractingly good looks to provide a better life for herself and her daughter.
Rosaline Palmer loves two things most in this world: her 8-year-old daughter, Amelie, and baking. When the stars align and she's selected to compete in a reality TV baking competition called Bake Expectations, Rosaline is wary of leaving Amelie for filming but knows this could be the path to a more secure future for their little family. Alain Pope is a landscape architect and fellow contestant who winds up stranded with Rosaline on the way to the set when their train breaks down. The two share an easy connection, but while Alain seems like the perfect man on paper, Rosaline begins to question their attraction when another challenger enters the bake tent. Harry Dobson, an electrician, is at first written off by Rosaline as a rough-around-the-edges charmer looking for a good time, but he surprises her at every turn with his empathy and gentle humor. For years, Rosaline has been unhappily single, but since she's bisexual, she's been seen by many in the light of the biphobic idea that bi people can't make up their minds. Now she finds herself trying to choose between two partners in the midst of competing for something that would vastly change her life. Love and romance are central to this rom-com, but the most important journey is Rosaline's as she learns to love herself and discovers that romantic partners don't have to be integral to her own acceptance of herself. Hall creates a memorable cast of characters, from Rosaline's supportive ex-girlfriend to the utterly adorable and scene-stealing Amelie. Setting the book at a reality TV show is a brilliant choice as it not only introduces elements of forced proximity, but also the tensions that come from competition; there's sparkling humor and plenty of baking mishaps.
A perfect bake.Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5387-0332-8
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.
Childhood friends, almost-sweethearts, a misunderstanding, and a funeral.
Blair Lang and Declan Renshaw were best friends who went on one date before a disagreement and an accident sent them in different directions after high school. Now Blair is back from college to be with her great-aunt Lottie, who’s dying, and to support her single mother in small-town Seabrook, California. Finding a job at a coffee shop puts her in the path of her former boyfriend, since he turns out to be its owner. Can the two get past their mistakes? The novel uses the popular second-chance romance trope, but Pham fails to energize it through interesting characters. Blair’s grief over her great-aunt’s death and her plan to help her mother are overshadowed by internal monologues about her feelings, the way her friends aren’t paying attention to her, and the novel she plans to write. Declan’s distinguishing characteristic, besides being a former high school quarterback, is his skill at building birdhouses. Unsurprisingly, the couple doesn’t have much chemistry; when they embrace, their “bodies meld like…memory foam.” The wooden characters, unusual word choices (“conglomerate of pedestrians,” “litany of plants”), and odd turns of phrase (“tension melting from his eyebrows like butter melting in a warm pan”) are almost enough to obscure the lack of plot development. What passes for stakes is easily defused when Blair comes into an inheritance that saves her from working as a consultant at Ernst & Young in New York—so she can write a romance novel.
A romance that could have used significant rethinking.Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781668095188
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.
A heartbroken man lusts after his therapist while seeking revenge on a drug kingpin and his enforcer.
Mitch Haskell’s wife, Angela, died two years ago of an apparent suicide, but Mitch has always believed the scene was staged. Certainly, she would never have willingly left their young son, Andrew, behind. Consumed with a thirst for vengeance, Mitch—a former Marine and undercover agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and currently a police detective—is struggling with alcohol dependency and uncontrolled rage. Andrew is living with his in-laws, who are making not-so-subtle suggestions that they might apply for permanent guardianship if Mitch can’t get it together. So his boss and best friend, John Bowie, mandates that he go into therapy, which puts him in the path of sexy Dr. Dylan Reede. Within a few days, Mitch makes a connection between two new murders and the death of his former partner; finds a big clue that points to the truth about Angela’s death; goes undercover as a homeless man; takes on a vicious drug cartel; and obnoxiously bullies Dylan with a charm offensive that leads them inevitably to bed. While Mitch seems to lean into the stereotype of the ex-soldier/cop with deeply buried trauma who believes that the ends justify the means—at least in law enforcement—Dylan offers the strength and sweetness to help him start breaking down his walls, allowing herself to be vulnerable in turn. Is passionate sex enough to ground a relationship and a family for the long term? For these characters, and the breakneck speed of this thriller, it’s as good a foundation as any.
Two hot people confronting their trauma, making passionate love, and solving violent crimes! ’Nuff said.Pub Date: March 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781538743027
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
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