This is my first Jackie Lau and it was adorbs! Remind me why I haven’t read one before now??

Things I loved: the cultural dynamics, well-written bakery scenes, and serious chemistry between Lindsay and Ryan.

This totally reminded me of the Rom-Com from 1999, Notting Hill, so if you like those vibes, grab this one.

Well done!!

This was completely delightful! Lau always writes the best food porn, and this is no exception, but I also loved the way this story explored recovery after grief without steeping the reader in gloom. My full review will appear on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.

I started reading this 10 days after my own mom had passed (which is a bit over two months ago). I had no idea the hero was dealing with his mother's passing. Initially, surprisingly it didn't bother me but I'll admit it hit a bit hard after a while so just want to make others aware it's mentioned, especially since the hero is still grieving.

But I will say the book overall had a really cute premise. Their meet cute, well more of a meet disaster with donuts being knocked over would make for such a funny rom-com scene. I can really see a lot of these scenes playing out on the screen.

I'm curious about the other books that we may get as I feel like two characters are being set up as a thing? Although, one of them did come off as big a-hole so guess we'll see.

Actor Ryan and baker Lindsay’s relationship starts with a bang — or maybe more of a crash — when Ryan knocks over a tray of Lindsay’s artisan donuts. Despite the rocky start, they hit it off. When Ryan joins the cast of a celebrity baking show, Lindsay agrees to teach him to bake, and their connection keeps getting sweeter.

Sometimes you just need a sugar-coated happy ending, and this book was exactly that! I loved all the baking scenes, and I appreciate how the characters were shown handling loss and grief. If anything, it was a bit light on actual conflict; most of it happened in their heads, doubting if things would go well although they inevitably did. But in a pandemic where it feels like everything that can go wrong has gone wrong, it was nice to see things go well for Ryan and Lindsay!

Thank you @berkleyromance for a copy of Donut Fall in Love. I love that the setting of a donut shop and Lindsey and Ryan’s meet cute. I always appreciate a romance that has depth and this one covers dealing with grief, relationships with parents to racism in the movie industry. The baking lessons between Lindsey and Ryan had great banter and chemistry. And I adore Ryan’s dad and his tweets.

I've been a long time fan of Jackie Lau's books and the way she fits Canadiana and delicious tempting dessert morsels into her stories. This is a perfect example of that combination, with Canadian actor Ryan taking lessons from a local Toronto baker Lindsay before appearing on a reality TV baking show called Baking Fail (reminiscent of the real reality show Nailed It). Both main characters are also dealing with grief from the loss of a parent that feels very real and makes the reader empathize with the characters but doesn't detract from the overall rom-com feel of the story and the developing romance between Ryan and Lindsay.

A delightful romance between Ryan, a movie star struggling with grief, being there for your family, and making it in a world that pigeon holes you into a box, and Lindsay, a professional baker who loves donuts, beer, and knows a thing or two about loss and finding your way. The steady build of a relationship between the two after a clumsy accident leads to some great tension as both Ryan and Lindsay learn from each other and make some delicious baked goods along the way. Even if you’re not from Toronto, the setting of the city makes it feel like you’re there.

This was a very cute meditation on moving forward through grief, but with donuts.

That sounds like a terrible description but it’s a genuinely good book focusing on the budding romance between Ryan, an up and coming actor, and Lindsay, the baker he hires to help him prep for a cooking competition show. Both have lost one of their parents and are struggling to move forward in different, yet complementary, ways.

Watching them heal and fall in love was lovely.

This one was a little lackluster for me, and after struggling to get into the story and connect with the romance, I ended up skimming the second half just to see what happened. I think there were a lot of compelling elements to each character's story, but as far as the romance itself, it just felt forced and I didn't really believe the chemistry between them.

Disclaimer! This was an ARC from Netgalley. My views are my own, and I had already pre-ordered the book before getting the advanced reader copy.

Ryan Kwok is grateful for the opportunities he's been given. While his latest movie, a romantic comedy, isn't getting the ravest of reviews, he's fully aware that it's unusual enough for rom coms to star Asian actors and he's lucky to have gotten the chance as a romantic leading man. He'd also like to be famous for more than his abs (which someone's started a Twitter account on behalf of). He's hoping to take some much-needed time off in Toronto, though, supporting his sister who just had her first baby, coming to terms with the loss of his mother, and trying, somehow, to reconnect with his father, who never seems to want to talk or fully acknowledge his grieving children.

Lindsay McLeod is working hard to figure out new flavours and keep customers coming to her donut bakery, while her best friend/business partner is away on honeymoon. Her mother insists on bringing her dates to the bakery, to the embarrassment of both Lindsay and said awkward suitor, not to mention Lindsay's brother, who still shares a home with their mother. Lindsay certainly does not need some clumsy oaf crashing into her and knocking over two dozen of her specialty matcha tiramisu donuts, completely ruining hours of hard work. She doesn't care how handsome his smile is or how apologetic he seems.

Ryan's agent suggests that he do a celebrity episode of the popular show Baking Fail, and he agrees because it was one of the shows his mother really used to enjoy watching. He doesn't want to make a complete fool of himself on air, however, so he's clearly going to need someone to give him some baking lessons. Who better to ask than the very attractive, yet prickly bakery owner he'd love to have an opportunity to see again? If she's giving him baking lessons, Ryan will have a chance to see her regularly and get a chance to get to know her better.

I feel so very guilty about this review. I got the ARC months ago, and finished the book in October, just before its October 26th release date. Only now am I getting round to actually reviewing it, which isn't in any way ideal. The even worse part is that I really enjoyed the book. Jackie Lau is quickly becoming one of my favourite contemporary romance authors. She combines likable leads with great chemistry and usually excellent banter, absolutely amazing descriptions of food and beverages, there's always a fun supporting cast and usually an undertone of something a bit more serious to keep the books from being too frothy and forgettable.

In this book, the more serious subplot is the way both Ryan and Lindsay have to process grief from losing a parent. Ryan's loss is a lot more recent than Lindsay's, but since her mother is now dating regularly again, she's still forced to come to terms with the death of her father. Ryan is also struggling with how to forge a new relationship with his father, without his mother there to act as an emotional bridge. Add to that worrying about his sister, who really seems to be having a hard time as the mother of a new-born boy, Ryan has more than enough things on his plate without also having to worry about being mixed up with other Canadian Asian actors on social media, and concerns that his career isn't going as well as it might because audiences just won't accept an Asian leading man in anything but an action movie.

This is a lovely romance, and I very much enjoyed it. I'm sorry that work stress, depression, corona, and familial responsibilities have kept me from posting a review until now. My normal warning about reading Ms. Lau's books while hungry applies - you WILL want donuts or other sweet treats when reading this book.

Judging a book by its cover: While Ms. Lau normally self-publishes her romances and tends to be pretty good about finding good stock photos to illustrate her covers, this book is traditionally published and therefore has the pretty common cartoony illustrated romance cover instead. While I'm sometimes not a huge fan of these, this one is very cute. I love the background colour, the positioning of the characters, and the playful swirl of the no-doubt delectable scent of the donuts on Ryan's tray.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an ARC!

This was exactly the kind of book I needed and I didn't realize it.

Y’all, I didn’t think I was a fan of romcoms or donuts, and now I think that’s changing. I’ve read more romcoms this year than I ever thought I would (read: more than two). The donuts I’m not as sure about, but Jackie Lau and Stephanie Buttermore’s Instagrams are probably going to change my mind.

The plot of this book was about as addicting as the genre, which is to say: very. The book follows Ryan Kwok, an actor whose latest movie didn’t get the greatest reviews, and Lindsay McLeod, a baker who can’t quite adjust to her supposed adult life.

They meet when Ryan rushes into her bakery, knocking over a tray of specialty donuts and setting Lindsay off after an already-pretty-crappy day. Not a very smooth start to a relationship. But when Ryan is enlisted to be a competitor on Baking Fail, a celebrity baking show, he asks Lindsay to teach him how to bake.

The characters were really well-developed, and while they weren’t very intense I don’t think they were supposed to be. I was surprisingly attached to them.

Lindsay was very relatable in that she acted like she had her life together but was really a mess. I liked her perspective and the way her mindset came across. She was written very creatively but realistically and had a lot of characterization that I thought went above the standard.

Ryan was so much fun to read and I loved that he was such a flawed and normal human, despite being a star actor who won a Golden Globe and had a trending hashtag on Twitter about his abs. It was funny but also really deep to see how different he was as a human with real, genuine problems, as opposed to someone on the big screen, and I thought the portrayal was done amazingly.

Their narrations were so easy to connect to and I really liked reading through their perspectives. It made the romance so fun and cute.

The minor characters were also fleshed out, which added so much more to the book because it made everything feel more important and more interesting.

Vivian was amazing, such a role model and I loved her strength despite the fact that she wasn’t as important.

Alice, Lindsay’s mom, was a powerhouse and I was really into how she got involved with everything.

Melvin...was not the greatest in my opinion, but he added a lot to the story, and I can appreciate that.

Ryan’s dad was honestly a frustrating character, but in a good way. I kind of predicted his character toward the end, but the way he was written was still really good and well-done.

The comedy was also really good. I don’t usually laugh out loud at things and don’t really hold a lot of stock for comedy in books, but I had fun with this one. Take that however you want to.

The romance was the main event, and it was very cute - even though it was fast-paced almost to the point of insta-love. I’m usually not a fan of quick romances like this, but for a romcom and the characters it worked really well for this book. For something that’s less substance and more sweet couple stuff, there’s nothing else to really expect.

I also liked their banter and how well these two connected. When I go into a fluffy romance, I don’t really expect too much nuance, but this book still delivered it. Their relationship actually felt pure and human instead of just surface-level. They connected so well and empathized with each other, and I liked that their relationship depended a lot on communication and really getting to know each other, despite the quick pace.

Also, major green flags. Ryan and Lindsay communicated (to the best of their abilities) what they wanted or expected in the relationship. And RYAN ASKED FOR CONSENT. More than once. He told her to talk to him if he did anything she didn’t want, or if she wanted him to do something. They were open about what they wanted in the relationship and their emotional vulnerability.

Romance usually isn’t my favorite part of a book, but this? The scenes where they’re open about what they expect from each other? The scenes where they’re nothing but themselves? Yes.

One of my favorite parts about this book was the relationships in general. I loved how the characters were fleshed out and given these intricate relationships with family and friends.

Ryan’s family was written with amazing mental health themes and believable conversations. The awkwardness, bordering on tension, between Ryan and his dad was spot on, especially with the underlying layers of grief and strained childhoods. Ryan and his sister got along in a way that I thought was accurate (being an only child, I can’t tell, but I thought it was done nicely.)

Lindsay and her mom had a great family dynamic and I liked the way that played into the plot constantly. The parental, familial and platonic relationships in this book were such a strong bonding force behind everything, which I don’t see a lot in the books I read.

I was also pleasantly surprised at the representation of grief in this book. Both Lindsay and Ryan had lost a parent, and the book followed a lot of Ryan struggling to deal with the recent and sudden loss of his mother.

The mental health themes played such a strong role in the book and I loved how they were so crucial in Ryan and Lindsay’s connections and the emotional content of the plot. This book explored the aftermaths of grief and loss in this tender way that I did not realize was going to hit that hard in a romance book.

My biggest issue with this book was the sex scenes. Like I said, I’m not a huge romance fan in general (my friends might call me out for lying but I don’t see myself as a romance person) but I’m just not there for smut.

This wasn’t even that bad and not as explicit as some of the books I’ve read, but since I’m probably on the asexual spectrum I just had a hard time dealing with the sex. In fact, I didn’t deal with it. I just skipped through the pages. Not sorry.

Overall, this book was just really, really sweet. Pun intended. The amount of baking content in the plot was amazing (quarantine baker here). 50% of this book was cupcakes, donuts, cake, cheesecake and bubble tea, and the rest of it was either adorable romance or surprisingly deep characterization.

I had so much fun with this read. It made me crave like three different kinds of pastries and bubble tea. It made me genuinely feel for the characters, and swept me into the plot, which I didn’t expect but very much enjoyed. I feel like I usually go into fluffy romcom books with low expectations, and I might need to start reconsidering that.

It had such cute potential but I was left disappointed. This felt more like a contemporary due to the lacking romance and comedy (since it’s promoted as rom-com) and was still a great story and idea, but I went in expecting more, so if you’re a big contemporary fan not seeking a major part in the romance, this is for you!

Uh...Donut fall in Love. This book will make you fall in love with DONUTS but not the book itself. Ok hear me out. I love the whole discussion on Asian upcoming actors and the so-called diversity in hollywood movies. I was sold on everything except for the romance. I just couldn't feel the two MCs vibing.

Donut Fall in Love was an adorable, humorous and sexy read. However, there is more than just fluff. Themes also explore the grief of losing a parent and the different ways family copes.

"A baker provides the sweetest escape for an actor in this charming romantic comedy." Romance and donuts? Count me in! Ryan Kwok is an actor, who, after suddenly losing his mother a few months earlier, is looking for some rest. He stumbles into a bakery, and literally into one of the bakers- Lindsay. Their not so meet cute puts things off to a rocky start, but when Ryan enlists Lindsay to teach him a thing or two about baking for an upcoming food competition, the pair grow closer. Lindsay, who lost her father 7 years before, helps Ryan navigate his grief after losing his mother. This book also does a good job of incorporating Asian culture, including the racism that exists in the entertainment industry, and the assimilation into American culture. Lindsay and Ryan, although both Asian, had different experiences and upbringings, and this was a great reminder that being a certain ethnicity is not a monolithic experience. Even though he is an actor, Ryan is really sweet and completely down to earth, and I love the way he protects Lindsay and their relationship. The author also touches on postpartum depression, which Ryan's sister, Jenna, experiences after the birth of her son. The ending caps off with a baking competition, which fans of shows like The Great British Baking Show will enjoy. Ryan and Lindsay are supported by a great cast of characters, from Ryan's best friend who is also an actor to Lindsay's mother who swoops in and saves the day. Thank you @berkleyromance @netgalley for my copy of this book!

⭐️⭐️💫
So. Many. Plot. Devices.
The beginning was fun and flirty and so easy to keep turning the pages. At about the halfway point, I set this down with little interest in picking it back up. But in an effort to finish what I've started, I began reading it again several weeks later. I should have just DNF'ed as it never redeemed itself.
My biggest complaint is that the insta-love doesn't fill out to a more deep/meaningful romance. Otherwise, I won't list specifics (as to avoid spoilers) but it just feels like waaaaay too much is going on so there's a huge lack of focus.
I received an advanced copy from Berkley and Netgalley. All thoughts in this review are my own.

This was such a sweet comforting read, but something was missing. The characters had great chemistry and I loved the representation but I can't put my finger on what exactly was missing from this story. Maybe this is one of those "it's not you, it's me" situations but all in all I would still recommend it to people who love contemporary romances.

I enjoyed this so much! After the death of his mother, actor Ryan Kwok is back home in Toronto to be with his dad, sister, and new nephew. He randomly wonders into Lindsay McLeod’s bakery and knock overs two dozen donuts. When Ryan signs up to compete of a celebrity baking show, he asks Lindsay for baking lessons. And of course…falling in love never tasted so sweet.

I liked how Lindsay and Ryan bonded over their grief of losing a parent; this made the relationship feel really real to me. Ryan’s relationship with his dad was rocky, but I loved Ryan’s dad’s Twitter account and how he trolled Ryan. I also liked that Ryan was a celebrity, but he felt down to earth. I appreciated the pressure on him to represent all Asian actors. I do think I’d struggle his fame with it the same way Lindsay did. I definitely liked Ryan more than Lindsay - which normally I connect more with the female lead storyline. Overall, this was sweet book with a lot of substance. I can’t wait for her next one!

Thanks to @NetGalley and Berkley for my ARC!

This was… not a romcom?
I almost feel bad reviewing it because it’s on the publisher for marketing it as a romantic comedy when it really is more of a contemporary women’s fic. But this is a warning to anyone misled by the absolutely adorable cover and all of the listicles calling it a romcom: it’s not. There is some humor! There is some romance! But neither makes this anything but women’s fic. Which is totally great, but going into a book expecting tons of chemistry and laughs, it was sort of a let down. I’ve read some really great women’s fic lately but I just wanted a break for something lighter and more romance heavy.
The best part of this book is the exploration of Asian identity that plays a major role in Donut Fall in Love. I love seeing romance/wf making space for POC rep that has zero white washing. I also liked that grief is a part of this book and family dynamics in general.
The couple gets together too early for my liking, but to each their own!
Once again, this was just a preference issue and the fact that I did not read any reviews beforehand so I went into it expecting something very different! But in the interest of honesty, I’ll be rating it 3.5 stars. But I will be picking up her next book!
Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!

So...I didn't love this.

First off all, I kept waiting for *something* to happen. It felt like there was virtually no conflict in this book and I was BORED. Secondly, I didn't love the characters. I didn't connect with them and didn't buy their chemistry. I just could not get into their lives or relationship. Lastly, the writing didn't blow me away. This book left me wanting in so many ways! Disappointing.

That being said, I respect authors so much. I know how much work and time and effort must go into getting their book into peoples' hands, so I applaud Jackie for that work and sharing her story with us. It wasn't for me, but I hope it has found its audience.