Not my cup of tea. But hopefully it is for others. *The eARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for free in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book but I think that it was just middle of the pack for the other things I have read recently.

This is a first time read for me by author Jayci Lee. An avid lover of Korean dramas, this book was just a fun and enjoyable read. The main characters were adorable and their romance developing into a HEA was lovely. Although it started off a bit slow and dull, I was glad that it developed into what I was expecting. A lovely and comfy read.

I would like to thank the St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review of this novel. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3-Stars

This was a good book and as I usually love food descriptions in the books I read, I particularly loved that part of the story. Food represents so much of the culture and I thought that shows brilliantly throughout the narrative. However, the kind of enemies to lovers trope along with the forced proximity trope got a bit boring and repetitive after a while. Aubrey and Landon are cute together but I guess I just never felt invested in their story because most of their issues could have been resolved pretty easily.

Overall still a good read and would love to read whatever the author writes next.

A Sweet Mess was a cute book. I enjoyed the story but I think the very best part was the description of the food. The repeat over and over again about the why they couldn’t be tougher just took over the book and was frustrating to read.

I was provided with an electronic ARC through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is the first book that I have read with Asian characters. Maybe I was just looking at or choosing wrong titles before, but it was very refreshing to read not only the description of the characters but also included were genuine tidbits of what was important to them and the facet of Asian American culture.

In the end it seems like photographer brother is checking Tara out. Will the author be writing THAT story as a sequel?

This was such a cute book! I absolutely adored it and recommend it so so much. All of the food aspects were the best, plus the bakery/baking show setting was amazing. Go buy it!

A Sweet Mess is the story of Aubrey Choi and Landon Kim. Like another book, The Dish/The Foodie’s Guide to Falling in Love (also recommended) their initial meet-cute and hot romance is interrupted by a bad review Landon gives of Aubrey’s bakery when he gets a cake intended for a little girl featuring surprise gummy worms.

I liked Aubrey and Landon but it was frustrating how they kept getting ‘stuck’ together - they have to share a tent, then a villa etc for reasons that are over-explained and underdeveloped. Also he has to refuse to retract the review otherwise there would be no story but it means the heroine continuing to obsess over him after he’s endangered her business.

I expected a fun and sweet romance and got exactly that in A Sweet Mess!

The main characters were likeable enough, though their dialogue about the main problem in the story became frustrating to read; the same few lines were repeated over and over at different points.

The author included food as a minor character in the book and I honestly wanted to visit a Korean restaurant by the end to try some new dishes!

A nice read for a chilled beach day.

I love the idea of the baking stars and the fact there was sweet stuff involved but other than that I really couldn't get into this book. I got lost after I realized into this book i got lost after the fact they slept together there should've been more heat to this story That doesn't mean others shouldn't read it.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book but I really enjoyed it! I am baker so I was excited to see a romance centered around a bakery and a food critic (I was originally trained as a chef specializing in Italian cuisine). This book is right up my alley. I really liked Aubrey and her friendship with Tara. I liked Landon okay, he wasn't my favourite male lead but I didn't dislike him either, I am very picky with my male peads and it's hard to crack into my favourites so don't hold that against him. I loved when Aubrey spent time with his friends and the relationship she built with them. I loved the baking part though. As Aubrey tested her new recipes trying to get them perfect and that joy when it finally works. I don't want to say too much about the trope at the end so it doesn't give away anything but it's one of my favourites and I was so happy to see it! I really enjoyed this book and it's a great book for summer and I think you'll like it.

A cute and sweet romance novel with some yummy baked goods thrown in there. Aubrey is running a small town bakery that is the talk of the town. At least until hot shot food critic gives it a bad review based on some bad information. Of course Aubrey and Landon begin their relationship before finding out who each other are in the bad review. And thus begins the tension of being together or being angry with each other.

I really liked Aubrey's character and personality, and while Landon was a whole lot more cocky, he still came across as a fairly likable guy who was clearly smitten with Aubrey. I also like the passion between the two that the author brought out without needing to describe every little detail of their romantic encounters.

However, I didn't understand how the proposed solution to the bad review was supposed to help. The plot was a bit vague in that area of writing and not super satisfying. In addition, the novel's end was very quickly wrapped up neatly and I found it a bit unbelievable that all was made right so quickly.

However, it is clearly supposed to be a light romcom novel and I expect to be entertained without having to invest much in the story. So for that, the book is hits the mark.

This was a fun read and I loved the bakery/food writing sprinkled throughout. A good love story with a happy ending and important reminders to be true to yourself and live your life.

great romance between a food critic and chef. Loved the friends and the romance. I enjoyed the different point of views and how they came to become a couple. I loved the friendships and hope for book 2 with the other couples.

Absolutely love this book! It's a quick read with a lot of charm and the tension and frustration between Aubrey and Landon is perfect!

A Sweet Mess is about Famous food critic Landon who writes a review of a bakery called the Comfort Zone. He realises he just had a one night stand with the owner of Comfort Zone, Aubrey though and tries to fix what he's done. I love cooking shows and books, so the premise really caught my attention for this one!

This book has the potential to be a cute, fun read but I have some major problems with the voice. Hopefully this is edited before the book's release, but it was quite jarring to switch POV's in the middle of the page. There was no delineation, just all of the sudden it wasn't Audrey's voice anymore but Landon's. Some things were also confusing in terms of plot. I had to read the section 3 times where he returned from his business trip and received the email from Audrey. It still wasn't totally clear. I think the initial meet cute of these two characters could be developed more. It wasn't quite believable how quickly they had this insane spark but then maybe that's the pessimist in me and I need to be more of a romantic. I did appreciate that the look at the Aubrey's culture. It was an unexpected but nice addition to Audrey's character and the book.

I couldn't get into this book hopefully someone else can. I usually like books like this. Thank you

This book gets a 3.5 rating from me as the story was touching, sweet and definitely had my heart hurting at times. A Sweet Mess was such an easy read and the scenes, characters, and food were so well-described I felt like I could see the Hallmark movie playing out in front of me. But that’s about it - it falls into my newly made up category of Hallmark Books which are corny, have the same “script” or storyline and you are 100% guaranteed a happy ending. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing novel.

This was a cute, quick read. It left my mouth watering and I stayed up way too late on a work night because I couldn't put it down..

Some cons would be the point of views changed and it took me a minute to understand who was speaking or thinking. Something else that really took me out of the story was the plot twist and the fast paced ending. It resolved wayyyy too quickly.