A Legend in the Baking had so many things going for it when it came to aligning with who I am as a reader (sports romance = check, baking = check), but the chemistry just did not click for me. Still, I think lots of readers will enjoy this one.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

A Legend in the Baking was a great holiday read (though not set at the holidays). You know how you need a book that you can pick up and return to in between the holiday craziness? This was that fun read. The story of August and Sloane has a fun topical background of bakeries and social media with a bit of seriousness around employment and gentrification thrown in. The characters are good people that you hope will get out of their own way to find happiness together.

The author does a good job of keeping you engaged throughout. Although this is apparently part of a series, it definitely stands alone, and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of A Legend in the Baking in exchange for an honest review. This book is available now.

This book was warm and fuzzy. It provided a different perspective of how athletes see people and move about in life. I enjoyed this book and will continue to read more work from Jamie Wesley.

A sweet and charming romance and I loved the sizzling chemistry between Sloane and August. This was a great addition to the Sugar Blitz series. The story is filled with romance, humor and person growth.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I still haven’t read book 1 however I plan to spend the block soon on that one but book 2 can obviously be read as a standalone it was very cute a little cheesy in some ways the sex scenes were a little spicy but overall I loved this. The pacing was a little up and down but the character development was superb I’m still iffy on August being an ex-football player turned baker but I loved him and Sloane together.

It was hard to get into the story of this book because the writing is very choppy and strange. It felt like a first draft instead of a polished finished project. The use of "skid marks" was alarming.

I like this sweet rom-com series. Is it a predictable romance? Yes, but did I enjoy it? Yes, I did! Football players + cupcakes + finding your perfect career = a win for me!

3.5 stars

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are mine.

The book is perfect for fans of sibling best friend romance and second chance. The book follows August an eligible bachelor and his best friends sister Sloane . Sloane has fallen in hard times and thus accepts a job helping her brother to revamp his bakeries social media presence. There is more than cupcakes baking in the kitchen. It's funny ,explosive and steamy.

Let me begin by saying the cover is simply adorable. This is a really-cute sister crushing her brother’s best friend read. Three NFL players invest in baker with August being the silent partner. August makes a quote about cupcakes and it goes viral leaving his silent partner act no longer silent. Sloane is Donovan’s younger sister who is a social media guru who we read about in book 1 “Fake It Till You Bake It.” Sloane and August share a pass as Sloane had a crush on August making for an interesting reconnection. When Donovan goes to his younger sister Sloane to help overhaul the bakery, she jumps at the chance in hopes of helping her career. Sloane has her work cut out for her as August is still her crush. When things get hot and heavy they both know that they are in trouble. These two are great together. This is awesome read pick up your copy today hope you enjoy it as I did.

I received an ARC via NetGalley and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

August is not the typical partner in a bakery, and he doesn’t hesitate to step up and support his fellow bakers which leads to quite the frenzy. He now finds himself working with his friend’s sister to make the most of the situation to promote their business however despite the events of the past.

For Sloane the opportunity allows her to help the bakery and her career as well. She wants to help and knows what needs to be done even if it means placing August into situations outside of his comfort zone, but it will also force them to face the undeclared feelings between them as well.

Sloane and August have a past that didn’t end well which created some conflict when it came to them working together. Seeing them finally open up to each other was worth the turmoil they needed to overcome to get to that point.

DNF 17%

I really enjoyed Fake It to Bake It so I was really excited to read more in the world, especially when the ending of Fake It leads directly to A Legend in the Baking, but this just isn’t working for me. I don’t really think it’s cute that Sloane would laugh at people asking August to sign their boobs, especially when he’s obviously uncomfortable, and I also didn’t like that people pinching August’s butt isn’t addressed as sexual harassment. I think the premise is really cute, but I’m just not at a point where men experiencing sexual harassment can be minimized or brushed off as jokes.

3.5 stars

The second in the Sugar Blitz story, this book follows the reserved August and the outgoing Sloane, sister of the first book’s MMC. When an off-the-cuff speech by August goes viral, Sloane works to capitalize on the hype and win a job as a social media director. The only problem? Sloane and August have history dating back more than a decade. He broke her heart as a teenager and she’s struggled with that ever since.

The two must work closely together to help raise August’s profile and ensure success of Sugar Blitz Two. I found the first in this series to be a bit of a slow read, and I will say the same of this one. It wasn’t a book that I flew through, but it is a book that I enjoyed.

Sloane and August’s past is told in snippets and there is probably room to see more of the intervening years to see how their relationship continued to be tense. However, the present day scenes demonstrate some great growth by both characters and the payoff is rewarding.

* Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. *

Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5)
Narration: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 (0-5)
Overall: 4/5
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥 (0-5)

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
🤩 The narrators made this one for me—amazing voice expression/acting and totally captivated me from the start.
🤩 Brother’s best friend, colleague, and teammate.
🤩 Flashback chapters are great!
🤩 Cupcake shop and baking together with all the chemistry.
🤩 Yay for the book store not-a-date.
🤩 The steam, the long-awaited pleasure, is very detailed and hot.

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 I think I just prefer my brother’s best friend trope without unrequited love and with all the sneaking around.
💫 Mexican food after having a stomach virus? Nope.
💫 The dates for social media publicity—a great idea but fell short for me.

I enjoyed this read. It was fun, down to earth and real. It showed that communication, vulnerability, and community are continuous important themes to live in.

I enjoyed the writing style for the most part. I would recommend this book. I love an easy book to read and this was one of them.

A interesting contemporary romance about three pro football players opening a cupcake shop in San Diego.
The read was a bit slow with not much humorous moments.
The chemistry between the two main characters, Sloane and August, was enjoyable.
Second chance romance
Family relationships
Regrets
Romance

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was a sweet, cute second chance romance. It was also kind of bland. I didn't realize it was part of a series until I started reading it, but that didn't matter for me. I was able to follow everything well enough. I didn't think it was a particularly interesting story, but it's an easy read if you're in the mood for something light.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

This past freinds to lovers book is the second book in the Sugar Blitz series. In this book we are following Sloane who works in the Social media world and Donovan Dells Brother (who we meet in the first book) and we are also following August who is the third partner at Sugar Blitz cupcake shop. I thought this book was so cute and the banter between the charcters was fun and witty. I also enjoyed seeing some of the characters we met in the first book including Donovan who helps Sloane when she is in need of a job.

August wanted to be a silent partner in his partly owned cupcake shop, but a viral rant about toxic masculinity thrusts him into the spotlight. He and his partners decide this would be the perfect opportunity to increase visibility for their shop and hire Sloane to be their social media manager. August has had a crush on his friend’s sister for over a decade, but now that they have to work together it is even harder to ignore that crush.
Athletes and cupcakes are a combination I never expected and I love! Sloane and August were great together and had wonderful banter and chemistry. I love getting peeks into their past with the dual timeline in this story. What made this book even better was the commentary on toxic masculinity. I was here for it. And of course, this book made me want a cupcake, so treat yourself to one before picking up this book!
The audiobook was narrated by Jaime Lincoln Smith and Nia Serge. I LOVED listening to this story and the audiobook brought the story to life.
Thank you to St Martin’s Press, Spotify Audiobooks, and NetGalley for the advance copies.

In the second book of the Sugar Blitz series, we discover another romance in the making , although in this story we have two lovebirds who have known each other since childhood and know each other's deep dark secrets...or so they think! They secretly have had crushes on each other forever but are afraid to say it as they don't want to ruin their relationship. But, now at Sugar Blitz Cupcake there is an explosion happening...and not from the oven!

What on earth will it take for these two shy paramours to finally realize they are soul mates? Well, a great deal! Both are stubborn and hurt and did I say stubborn? And in this enjoyable, funny and well-crafted story it will all eventually mix together like a well beaten cupcake with plenty of icing on top!

Sloane Dell, whose brother Donovan is a football player and part owner of a cupcake bakery called Sugar Blitz Cupcakes along with two other football players has just been passed over for a job she knows she is ready for at the social media company she works at and spontaneously quits leaving her with no job and no money.

As she goes to the bakery to tell her brother what's happened she finds August, one of the other owners and her life-long crush baking. And he sees her. And of course, the sparks fly. As Sloane tries to find a job, her brother decides he could use a social media genius to assist them as they have decided to branch out. And unfortunately, that is not going so well. So, as Sloane spends more time at the bakery and August seems much more nervous, they both must try and figure out what to do with each other.

Having to work this closely together makes them look back at their past relationship and although they deny the chemistry, it's clearly there. But they must somehow learn to work with each other and try to deny the alchemy. But unfortunately, this is difficult as they encounter jealousy, embarrassment and mistakes.

A Legend in the Baking is adorable, witty, sexy and will have you smiling from start to finish as if you were in the store helping make the cupcakes and figure out how to get these two together!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin'sGriffin #JamieWesley #ALegendintheBaking for the advanced copy.

Such a cute romance story! I would definitely Recommend to more people. I will say that something I didn’t know was that this was book 2 in this world. Not that you’re missing much but still… absolutely loved it, the romance was top tier!