*Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Crossing for a copy of this eARC in exchange for my review*

Here's the deal—I had high hopes for this book. It ticked off so many of my favorite boxes: dual storylines that eventually mesh, the classic fake-to-real trope, and an unexpected nod to ruisleipä (Finnish rye bread…it’s so good, you HAVE to try it). Yet, I must admit, my initial enthusiasm took a nosedive during the read. Firstly, the secondary timeline blindsided me (I had to double-check that I was still in the same book). Character development fell short, the promising plot often veered off course, and the writing felt like a puzzle missing a few pieces. Around the halfway mark I thought maybe the info dumps had passed, but they unfortunately persisted until the end.

As is customary in many romance novels, the story's climax and resolution unfolded within the final 20 pages, leaving me slightly underwhelmed. Now, let's talk about the intimate scenes—there's just one word that encapsulates my feelings: icky. And it's not a dislike of spice; there was a very uncomfortable quality to them.

To balance the scales, I genuinely believe this story holds significant potential. A touch more editing, a subtle realignment of the storylines, and voila! This could morph into a truly compelling and satisfying read.

I absolutely loved this book!!

Binged it all the way through and could not put it down I loved the characters and the story and just everything about this book.

I want to express my gratitude to Netgalley for giving me a taste of 'Time to Rise.'
The story follows Nora Jansson, who's doing everything to rescue her parents' bakery from bankruptcy. The unexpected twist? A reality show crew, led by the brutally honest celebrity pastry chef Henrik Eklund, barges into her kitchen and her life.

Facing Henrik's critiques, Nora, with her strong character, strives to save her business. Meanwhile, Henrik deals with not just a toxic family dynamic but also rating and popularity issues. The proposed solution from his team? A fake flirtation with Nora. They expect sparks to fly... in front of the cameras.

The relationship between Nora and Henry has a peculiar pace, starting slow and suddenly picking up. What worsens the situation is that they introduce another couple, not mentioned in the synopsis, who takes up half of the book, stealing the spotlight from Nora and Henry and making it challenging to form a deeper connection with the characters.

The resolution feels like the author opted for a fairy godmother approach, neatly solving all the characters' problems before they could take action.
However, it still was a cute and light romance to read for christmas. I enjoyed all the talk about winter and cooking, In that sense the author made a great job, setting the right vibe and giving cozy and immersing descriptions. I swear I could clearly imagine the pastry shop, the little town covered in snow and all the bread while I was reading.

Thanks Amazon and Netgalley for the advanced read!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was light hearted for the most part and I enjoyed the banter. The only criticism I have are the two sex scenes late in the book. It felt contrived. The rest of the book was pretty light hearted and easy so it was a of a start contrast to the detailed sex scenes. It struck me as trying to hard to be a steamy novel but it detracted from the lightness of the stories. There were plenty of dramatic story lines without the graphicness. A simple mention of intimate encounters would have felt more appropriate. Outside of that, I enjoyed the banter between the two modern characters and would read another from this author.

I absolutely loved this book! The culinary setting was perfect. I absolutely loved the banter. And the romance was perfect.

Nora and Henrik! I love them! This book was so cozy and I love the bakery setting and aspects. I was hungry the whole time I was reading! A perfect cozy romance for Christmastime!

This book was fun and had excellent banter. I really enjoyed Nora and could appreciate her love for her family business as well as her dedication to her craft. The book took a little while to get going and tended to be a bit slow at times. I found myself just wanted to skip to the parts of the main characters interacting together with their push/pull energy. But overall, a solid read.

Also, shout-out to the translator on this, the translation work was seamless!

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Crossing for this ARC!

thankyou netgalley for the arc. all reviews are my own!

okay this was so adorable and funny as hell. rtc when i successfully gather my thoughts.