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

A fun and cute rom com! As someone who is both a baker and does social media, I loved this story of baker (and football player) meets social media manager.

This one was okay. I wanted to love A Legend in the Baking because I enjoyed book 1 in the series, but something was missing for me which made me not connect with it completely. The slow burn was slowwwww and I am a slow burn girlie but this was a little too slow for my liking.
The “prove yourself” was a bit too much and unrealistic and the characters were okay. It felt like something was missing which made me not connect with it completely but you may enjoy it more! I would still recommend this book to friends who I feel would enjoy it.

Thank you St. Martins and NetGalley for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love LOVE books where the MMC secretly pines for the FMC (it's also great when it's the FMC pining but the MMC is even BETTER IMO). August is so incredibly soft for Sloane and it is adorable. I was frustrated a bit with Sloane repeating the same things over and over as reasons why she couldn't have what she wanted, but obvi this is a romance so it all worked out eventually. Parts of this book honestly kind of dragged and it wasn't as page-turning as others, so that's reflected in my star rating. Still worth the time to read though.

3 stars for A Legend in the Baking. There's slow burn and then there's slowwwwwww burn and this book was the latter. Unfortunately, the romance took so long to take flight that I found I wasn't invested in the romance by the time August and Sloane got to it. Once they did get together the pace was super fast which also felt off for me. I liked the characters though and the title of the book is great!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for this advanced copy. A Legend in the Baking publishes on November 19, 2024.

This was a good read, I was definitely curious about August from the first book and it was nice to get to know him. August is a big jellybean that wants to be loved, and Sloane career driven and has something to prove. This book was longer than it had to be in my opinion, but I was entertained. I loved how Sloane stood on business when it came to her career and didn’t allow the corporate BS to keep her stagnant…oh how I can relate to that!!

This is a great story. August is a pro football player, cupcake entrepreneur and hottie extraordinaire. Sloan is digital content creator, and go getter who has been in love with August since she was a teenager. The plot of the story is filled with plenty of tension and angst as the two characters are forced to work together in close proximity. There are also some funny moments as things spiral out of control. These are two lovely characters that readers will love getting to know.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC of this book. This was an honest review.

A tall, dark, handsome and talented baker, August, captured my heart. His words are few and far between. Having the ability to relate to his personality was what I loved about him. He never thought of himself and had such a kind soul. Im a total SurgarBaeby.

In retrospect, Sloane and August had a complicated relationship, and I couldn't help but think that she was being selfish with her career goals being a social media manager and tasked with handling it for the bakery and forcing August to stretch himself.

Both of them grew as characters. My favorite part of their history was the dual timeline. Ultimately, I enjoyed this story. Particularly when August and Sloane were in the kitchen.

This moves back and forth in time to tell the story of August and Sloane who have been dancing around one another since they are teens. Now August has hired Sloane to do social media for the cupcake shop he owns with his brothers. This is the second in a series featuring the shop and the brothers but it will also work as a standalone. Know that it's a bit of a slow burn as they build their relationship as adults. There's good banter though and how can you not like a romance in a bakery? Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Trope-y but fun. Looking forward to the next one.