Unfortunately I really wanted to like this book, but it just wasn’t for me. It did have cute banter and a golden retriever mmc and a strong, badass fmc, but the plot just wasn’t very strong. The fmc made a contradictory decision towards the end of the book that made me go, so what was the point of this story then if you’re just gonna go back on what you said? The romance was there but it was also kind of boring and can we discuss how weird it was that the mmc was being harassed in his workplace and all of his friends were making jokes about it as if it’s not a big deal? There were just elements that I found icky and I probably should have just DNF’d it.

This was such a sweet romance book. I really enjoyed this book. It was the first I have read by this author. I will be looking for more! I would definitely recommend this book.

As a self-professed brother's best friend's fan, I absolutely loved this book!! Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy. A Legend in the Baking is out November 19!

Meh.

I didn't not like this one, but I didn't love it. There were a lot of aspects I did like: second chance romance, baking, strong FMC, cinnamon roll MMC. But I just had a hard time connecting with the plot and it felt like everything was shoved in at the end. There was drama in the plot for the sake of drama and not to move the story along.

It may have helped if I had read the first one in this series before, but I didn't and it is what it is now. I think this series is a set of interconnected stand-alones so I don't really think I missed too much reading this one first.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC. My review is honest and voluntary.

“A Legend in the Baking” by Jamie Wesley is the second in the “Fake It Till You Bake It” series. This book can easily be read as a stand-alone. This book follows August, a football player and co-owner of a cupcake business, and Sloane, his co-owner’s little sister and former - well, someone special. In other words, August and Sloane have history. This book starts off with a bang - Sloane getting fed up and quitting her job. Realizing that she needs to pay the bills, she goes job hunting - only to take a job were there’s a ‘contest’ between herself and the other interviewee to see who can raise the most marketing awareness for a brand. Sloane decides to accept her brother’s offer of helping the bakery - especially after August goes viral for a darn great speech he made one day. I really liked the first book in this series, so I was so pleased to be able to read this one. This book had its moments, but it didn’t make me fall in love with the characters and their situations. August is great - little to say, but when he says something, he means it. There’s history between the two characters, so there’s a slow burn … a very very slow burn at times.

🧁 I did not like this book and I’m so sad because how cute is this picture?! Anyway, thanks to @stmartinspress for giving me a sneak peek. This is out the 19th!

🧁 Sooo, not only did I not love this book but it may be a bit… problematic? Two reasons:
- these two start talking when she’s in high school and he’s in college (with a long term girlfriend) and she attends parties and even bases her own college decision on him— she feels to young to be in these situations
- the male MC goes viral for a feminist rant caught on video and women proceed to flood his work place— touching him, catcalling him, etc — felt icky to me

🧁 Beyond that, I just struggled with the plot. Her workplace conflict/challenge felt wildly unrealistic. His conflict both with his divorce and his dad were barely touched on then quickly resolved. None of it worked for me. I should have DNF’d but I didn’t and here we are. 🤣

🧁 This is part of a series so maybe if I’d read the first one and had more backstory on these two I may feel different. If you read and loved the first book you should definitely still give this a try. Again, it’s out November 19th.

This is the second book in a series of interconnected standalones about a trio of pro football buddies who own a cupcake shop. This was a cute romance with the right amount of spice!

Okay - let's jump straight into it! First and foremost, thank you to Jamie Wesley for writing this book, and thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC of the book.

Secondly, I am giving this book a 4.5 out 5. I loved the first book (Fake It til You Bake it), and I was sooooo excited to get my hands on the second book! I really enjoyed getting to know August and Sloane. August Hodges is a pro-football player who loves staying in the background, however, after a very feminist rant that goes viral, he is thrown into social media fame. While Sloane is Donovan Bell's younger sister, trying desperately to stay out her older brother's shadow and make a name for herself. And then after several years of avoiding each other, their worlds collide and force them into close proximity with one another.

What I loved the most was the building up of their chemistry from tentative people with history to like the sweetest slow burn love that one could MUSTER! I was screaming by time they finally both jumped into the deep in together. This book is much more straight forward in comparison to the first, but in a good way. This book covers a sweet, slow burn romance, gentrification, toxic masculinity, found family, healing from past hurt, second chance romance, and a super cute HEA.

0.5 subtracted because I just wanted even more from August and Sloane. I just wanted to be able to experience a little more of their relationship. I just wanted to hang out with them a little more... otherwise, I enjoyed it thoroughly and would recommend this book for folks who love standalone books that are set in the same universe as others, slow burn and second chance romance, super-hot pro football player who's quiet, but kinda a yapper around his girl.

This is an entertaining, well-written, contemporary romance novel. It has an intelligent, likable female protagonist who has a sharp business mind, an engaging and caring football player male protagonist who bakes, family and relationship drama, a touch of humor, a steamy, second chance romance, and a happily ever after ending. I especially liked its message about social media. This is the second entry in Ms. Wesley's Fake It Till You Bake It series, and it can be read as a stand alone. Many thanks to St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin, NetGalley, and Ms. Wesley, from whom I received an advanced reader copy of this delightful novel. This is my honest opinion.

This was such a “tugs at the heartstrings” kind of story for me in terms of some of the self-reflection that both Sloane and August had to walk through. Being a part-time baker myself, this book and the first one have nestled spaces into my heart with intertwining the stories of everyday people. Without saying too much, the intense love connection between A & S was both adorable and infuriating at times, lol. But the burn of it was fun to read!

Not crazy about second chance romance books, but this was pretty good! I don’t even mind that it was a slow burn. The ending felt rather rushed though! Nonetheless, the book was a good time!

I am absolutely in love with this "sweet" series that Jamie Wesley has "baked" for readers. I really enjoyed "Fake It Till You Bake It", but I enjoyed this one even more. Something about Sloan and August revisiting their romance was so delectable. Wesley has crafted two characters that are good independently but a force together. August was empathetic, honest, and loudly supports women.

I look forward to reading Nicholas' story :)

This was a sweet second chance romance, slow burn, medium spice. I feel like the ending felt rushed and wanted a bit more depth to the plot and character development but overall a fun read. Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

A Legend in the Baking is the second book in the Fake It Til You Bake It series, but you don’t need to read the first book to understand it. You can find my review for Fake It Till You Bake it here. Characters from the first book appear in this book, but there aren’t any spoilers from this book for the first book.

A Legend in the Baking focuses on August, one of Sugar Blitz’s owners, and his teammates Donovan and Nicolas. Sloane is a social media wizard and Dononvan’s little sister. August and Sloane have known each other for several years. Because of their history, there are several will they or won’t they moments throughout the book. There is minimal spice until you get around 75% of the way into the book. There is a whole chapter dedicated to nothing but spice.

Besides their history, Sloane and August have something else in common: both have issues with their dad and feel they deserve the love of others. Sloane wants to make it in life on her terms without relying on a man, including her brother. August felt as though he never mattered to his father.

While a third book has not been announced for this series, I hope Nicolas gets his own story. Doesn’t everyone deserve love? In the meantime, I will be on the hunt for my own perfect cupcake shop! But you should read A Legend in the Baking.

The story is back in the Sugar Blitz bakery universe, where quiet, behind-the-scenes August accidentally goes viral. Sloane is a social media guru and tries to help capitalize on the attention to support the launch of their second location.

This was a cute one! Sloane and August have a bit of a history, so it was sweet to get flashbacks to his college years and their present day bakery interactions. It felt like the author tried to cram too many side plots in at times and they all resolved themselves too neatly for the real world.

It’s still an enjoyable slow burn romance and I’d recommend for fans of Farrah Rochon.

Book two in this series, the story of August and Sloane. A brother best friend romance. I liked how it was told from both points of view and look forward to the next book in this series.

This follow up book was amazing!! I am not always a second chance girly but this one was everything! The flashbacks the angst the secret pining I’m definitely purchasing a physical copy! This one will for sure be getting read again.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback! I loved this story more than I expected to! I didn’t realize it would tackle such deep topics. I don’t want to give too much away, but it was an amazing story. I can’t lie—I wanted to shake them both because there wasn’t anything truly keeping them apart! Like, girl, that is a good man, and sir, do you see her? She’s amazing and hardworking!

I loved the FMC because, even though her brother had solutions for her, she was determined to make her own way. I reallllllly want to talk about how she stood up to her boss—I was screaming, Go, girl! They don’t deserve you!

Please read this one!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
3.5 stars
A Legend in the Baking is the second book in Jamie Wesley’s Fake It Till You Bake It series. It works as a standalone, but it’s one of those “if you enjoyed this one, you’ll probably like that one” and vice versa type books, as the friendship and some family dynamics the FMC of this one is the sister of the MMC of the first book).
And I love how this book continues the theme of incorporating positive portrayals of masculinity (absolutely needed right now) through the core group of male friends, all former football players who co-own a bakery. August is a prime example of this, with his passion for the idea that baking isn’t the antithesis of masculinity, and supporting women bakers, although he is also rather private, so he’s uncomfortable with the viral fame that comes with the video of a rant on the topic. I did feel like this led to some incidents of sexual harassment that got brushed aside due to the reversal of the “typical” gender dynamics, with many of his “fans” violating his boundaries in myriad ways, however, and I wish this had been addressed a little more, but I was glad he had a prominent arc about the impact of his toxic relationships with his father and ex-wife.
Sloane was also fairly sympathetic, even if she was a little pushy about August’s reticence toward social media attention, especially at first. I mostly liked their connection beyond this, with it dating for years back to their childhood. Some of the flashback chapters did impact the pacing, however, and I also felt like the conflict was very minor, making this “slow burn romance” feel overly slow and almost pointless at times.
While this book wasn’t as good as the first one, there are still things I enjoyed here. If you enjoy romance centering Black leads, positive masculinity and feminism, and baking, and don’t mind a slooow burn, I’d recommend checking this out.

A Legend in the Baking brings all the deliciousness you’d expect from a sweet contemporary romance featuring football players and cupcakes—sign me up! This is the second book in the Fake It Till You Bake It series, and while you don’t need to read the first book to enjoy it, doing so adds depth to the story.

August, the MMC, is a football player who prefers to stay out of the limelight in Sugar Blitz, the bakery business he shares with his friends and teammates. But his viral feminist rant about the importance of women bakers, claiming that baking cupcakes doesn’t threaten masculinity, is the kind of passion you can’t ignore! Sloane, the FMC and his best friend's little sister, is a social media expert who adds spice to the mix. The tension between them is hotter than a bakery oven, and when things finally heat up, it’s more than worth the wait. This book perfectly blends romance with a dash of humor and heartwarming moments.

Thank you NetGalley and SMP for the advanced copy