Cover Image: A Sweet Mess

A Sweet Mess

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Member Reviews

This book made me so hungry!!! And I loved it. Aubrey is a small-town bakery owner who is just trying to make ends meet. When a specialty cake ends up in the hands of a well-known food critic, her life unravels. Not to mention the food critic happens to be the unknown one-night stand that she indulged in. Aubrey's life can't get any worse. When Landon, the food critic, wants to make amends for his bad review, Aubrey has to decide if the sexual tension is avoidable enough to get her life back on track. I really enjoyed this story. It was light and just sexy enough. 4.5 stars. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC.

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Aubrey Choi owns a bakery. Landon Kim, food critique extraordinaire, mistakenly receives a cake meant for a young girl. Not anyone's ideal for a cake. Landon tastes it then writes a scathing review which inadvertently hurts Aubrey's business. Landon is shown the error of his ways and to make up for it invites Aubrey to be on a cooking show he is producing. Aubrey and Landon end up sharing a house during the three weeks of filming and sparks fly!

I listened to the audiobook of this one and the narrators did a great job! Fun, fast-paced, RomCom!!

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This story was cute, but it ultimately didn’t do it for me and I didn’t finish. I do think others could enjoy!

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Trope: second chance, surprise pregnancy
CW: abusive parent

I've tried to read and finish this book a few times ever since I received the galley but I always got stuck around 20%, but this time I managed to get through the end. The first quarter or so was so promising, but it began to lose its momentum from that point onwards.

I enjoyed the banter between Aubrey and Landon, and the pool scene specifically was Hot, but I wish I had felt more for them to give this book a higher rating. Super excited that this is becoming a movie tho - will watch for Daniel Dae Kim mmhmm.

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I am disappointed with this book. I was expecting one thing and received another. It had potential but it was not well written.

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A Sweet Mess is unfortunately not for me. I had tried this book and set it down in hopes of one day coming back to it, but now it is time to mark as DNF.

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Thank you to St.Martin's Press for my copy of A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee in exchange for my honest review.

I put this book off for quite a while. At first it was because I had seen mixed reviews. Then I read The Dating Dare before it came out and did not finish it. But I am so glad that I gave this one a shot! It was so cute and I enjoyed the whole book.

Here's what I like about it:
- I loved the meet cute and concept of the one-night-stand coming back to bite the two people in the butt after the fact
- I enjoyed the chemistry between Aubrey and Landon, the romance was sweet but had just the right amount of spice to it
- I felt like both characters pushed each other out of their comfort zones
- I really liked all the foodie talk!
- all the side characters were great

Overall this book was fun and had me craving some sweets the whole time I was reading it!

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I love a good Romantic comedy and this book did not disappoint. I was laughing throughout the entire book! I enjoy Aubrey and Landon together. Their relationship didn’t seem forced which is nice.

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This story started off sweet. The premise of the story was one I was excited to read about. But as I got to know Aubrey and Landon, something just didn't click for me. I finished feeling like I wanted more.

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This was a cute read, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. I love a good haters to lovers story- especially when it involves battling business owners. I would definitely recommend this one if you're looking for a light read.

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This is book 1 of the Sweet Mess Series. Aubrey loves her bakery and her life. When a one-night stand and a scathing review blows up the life she has made, she wonders what she will do. Then the author of the scathing review offers her a spot on a celebrity cooking show, she takes the chance that it will help her revive her bakery. When the two of them end of in a villa together for 3 weeks, will everything blow up in their faces?

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A Sweet Mess was a nice read.

I liked Aubrey quite a bit. She's driven, hardworking, and a loves her bakery. She and Landon hit it off right away and spend one night together. Of course, she doesn't know he is a food critic who decided to review her bakery when his car breaks down. Things get complicated when his bad review, based on an order mix up, causes all her business to dry up.

The premise for this story felt original and interesting. I didn't always connect with the writing style, so the story did drag a little at times. Overall, though, I did like the story and am interested in reading the next book.

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I think it's a good thing to go into books with low expectations, because then you might end up really liking it.

Let me tell you a story about my reading experience with A Sweet Mess.
Months and months ago, I saw it on Netgalley as READ NOW. Then life got in a way and blablabla, and I picked it up a year after it's release (feel free to judge me, I don't mind) when the reviews were already out there, and many of them weren't so generous.
I picked up the book with low expectations, thinking I would be bored most of the time, and boom, I was having an awesome time, fell in love with the writing style (especially with dialogues between characters which I found meaningful and deep at times, but more often just entertaining) and I got attached to characters whom stories made me understand where they came from.

This is a romance in which characters get together and then separate because if conflicts and miss communication (or lack of it to be fair) so I do understand why it wouldn't be appealing to a part of romance audience. To me, it was done right and I enjoyed following their journey to each other.

There were some smut scenes but they weren't too explicit. However, I wouldn't recommend this to minors.

Right after finishing A Sweet Mess I went into The Dating Dare, and guess what: I loved that one even more!
I guess Jayci Lee should find her spot on my list of authors who's work I am eagerly anticipating.

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This was cute, not great. Small town amazing baker gets a bad review from a food critic and it damages her business right as it is taking off. To make matters worse, there is no easy fix due to the flaming hot one-night stand they had before the article was published and they knew who each other was. They find a way to correct the problem but it was just meh, a lot of drinking, baking, and a little romance but then that unnecessary ending... Could have done without that last trope.

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this was a fun book and I am glad i picked it up, but it didnt feel like anything special compared to others i have read. I prefer Lee's newest novel over this one and that shows she is growing as a writer.

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A Sweet Mess is the first book in the A Sweet Mess series. This book is told from dual points of view by Aubrey Choi and Landon Kim.

Aubrey is a pastry chef and Landon is a popular food critic. Aubrey made a special item for a birthday party, and her helper accidentally served it to Landon. Landon met Aubrey that night and they spent a night together. When he gets back to his home, he's on a deadline for his story and writes a story on Aubrey's business.

When Aubrey finds out who he is she tries everything to get him to come back and really try her food. He refuses to because he never gives places a second chance. However, after trying her food for real, he gets her on a tv show to redeem herself.

As they spend time together they start to have true feelings together. However, he's scared people will realize he's only giving her a second chance because they spent time together. Can he get over his fear of the public's opinion? Will Aubrey forgive him for how he treated her in the beginning? Will Aubrey and Landon get their happily ever after?

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A POC romance with food and drama...
Truly enjoyed my time reading but certain major scene just didn't do it for me. They were messy and didn't match with the character's previous tone.

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First of all, I want to visit this town and eat at this bakery. Secondly, these characters were so relatable and watching their sweet romance unfold amidst many obstacles was just perfect.

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I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review and I wish I had nicer things to say. I got very strong Hating Game vibes. This book centers on a korean american couple and I honestly forgot that most of the time. The writing style was very odd and clunky, which sucked because I adored the premise and thought the beginning was very cute.

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Enemies to lovers is one of my favorites. Especially if there's a past that made them enemies, like this one has.

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