3.75⭐️ rounded up!

Oh how I’ve enjoyed my time in this series! I was excited for this one while also nervous since it’s the 4th book and sometimes a series will lose its steam by this point and after the third book, I wasn’t sure how this would go.

I’m not going to lie, for an age gap romance, i kind of forgot about the difference a majority of the time - Aaron didn’t give 37-year old man vibes to me, especially since he was so.. gooey eyed with Charlotte from the get-go and he often acted like he was the 23 year old, both with her and with the others in his life. His attraction towards her was purely physical while also wanting to be a father figure to her and I do believe they’re a book couple that would eventually break up. Because of this, it was hard for me to really root for them and I got annoyed with him a lot. I did love Charlotte’s relationship with Aaron’s daughter, Sadie, though and understood her reservations about becoming *more* with Aaron, especially when he would kind of say a lot of harmful things about her to other people and was trying to rush things at points in their relationship.

However, I did really enjoy how this book tied so well together with the characters from the other books and that is ultimately why it got the rating it did! I loved Aaron’s relationship with Amelie and Ian (my favorite couple from the series). I loved how his friendship with them included humorous moments as well as heart-to-hearts. The last few chapters shattered my heart and put them back together. And even though his strained relationship with his brother BOTHERED me (I did agree with Logan’s POV mostly though) it was nice to see it extended to this book and I’m glad the situation didn’t just magically fix itself from book 1.

I also really enjoyed the epilogue of this one! It was realistic for a romance book and I loved how it brought everything together!

Let me start by saying: I didn’t expect this book to get under my skin the way it did. This book is chaos — in the best, messiest, juiciest way possible. We’ve got a single dad with a messy divorce, a past full of mistakes, career in limbo, and a reputation hanging by a thread. Then, there's Charlotte. At 23 years of age, she is wild, brilliant, and fierce. Oh, and she’s his BOSS’S DAUGHTER. Who also happens to stream spicy content for a living. I mean.....the level of taboo in this book had me in a chokehold.

Aaron is such a complex, achingly human mess of a man. He’s emotionally knotted, burdened by his past, and carrying more regret than anyone should. He’s not perfect, but the thing is - he tries. Tries to show up for his daughter, to fix his relationship with his brother, to survive his job. And to resist falling for someone he has no business wanting. Watching him walk this tightrope between guilt, desire and responsibility was literal torment. I wanted to shake him and hug him at the same time.

Charlotte, on the other hand, is pure chaos. She’s bold, unfiltered, and she’s got that fierce, IDGAF energy. I respect her so much for the unapologetic way she owns her body, and her choices. She’s been constantly dismissed, neglected, and picked apart, especially by her own mother and still, she shows up as herself. Watching her soften around Aaron, let him in, and love so deeply was honestly beautiful. And her bond with Sadie? So sweet. I really enjoyed their girl nights.

Their romance is complicated— full of tension, restraint, and so much unspoken vulnerability. Charlotte’s fourteen years younger. Aaron works for her mother. She’s a cam girl. He’s a single dad. It’s forbidden in every way, and yet they can't help but slowly move toward each other. However, their relationship isn't just about desire — it’s about healing, safety, and acceptance. It’s two imperfect people choosing to love each other anyway, and I couldn’t get enough.

Also, can we talk about how bold it was to do this in a male-only POV?? I usually need dual POV to really sink into a romance, but reading this fully from Aaron’s head made the whole thing hit way deeper. I felt his panic, his longing, his heartbreak—everything. It’s rare we get to sit this deeply in a male character’s emotional world, and it worked so well for this story. While I did find myself curious about Charlotte’s inner thoughts at times, the way Aaron sees her — with such awe and longing— added a layer of intimacy I didn’t expect.

There might be some minor flaws but at its core, this book felt like watching two damaged people realize they’re worthy of being loved as they are. And for me? That’s everything. Plus, the found-family vibes with Sadie and the rest of the cast made it even richer.Let me start by saying: I didn’t expect this book to get under my skin the way it did. This book is chaos — in the best, messiest, juiciest way possible. We’ve got a single dad with a messy divorce, a past full of mistakes, career in limbo, and a reputation hanging by a thread. Then, there's Charlotte. At 23 years of age, she is wild, brilliant, and fierce. Oh, and she’s his BOSS’S DAUGHTER. Who also happens to stream spicy content for a living. I mean.....the level of taboo in this book had me in a chokehold.

Aaron is such a complex, achingly human mess of a man. He’s emotionally knotted, burdened by his past, and carrying more regret than anyone should. He’s not perfect, but the thing is - he tries. Tries to show up for his daughter, to fix his relationship with his brother, to survive his job. And to resist falling for someone he has no business wanting. Watching him walk this tightrope between guilt, desire and responsibility was literal torment. I wanted to shake him and hug him at the same time.

Charlotte, on the other hand, is pure chaos. She’s bold, unfiltered, and she’s got that fierce, IDGAF energy. I respect her so much for the unapologetic way she owns her body, and her choices. She’s been constantly dismissed, neglected, and picked apart, especially by her own mother and still, she shows up as herself. Watching her soften around Aaron, let him in, and love so deeply was honestly beautiful. And her bond with Sadie? So sweet. I really enjoyed their girl nights.

Their romance is complicated— full of tension, restraint, and so much unspoken vulnerability. Charlotte’s fourteen years younger. Aaron works for her mother. She’s a cam girl. He’s a single dad. It’s forbidden in every way, and yet they can't help but slowly move toward each other. However, their relationship isn't just about desire — it’s about healing, safety, and acceptance. It’s two imperfect people choosing to love each other anyway, and I couldn’t get enough.

Also, can we talk about how bold it was to do this in a male-only POV?? I usually need dual POV to really sink into a romance, but reading this fully from Aaron’s head made the whole thing hit way deeper. I felt his panic, his longing, his heartbreak—everything. It’s rare we get to sit this deeply in a male character’s emotional world, and it worked so well for this story. While I did find myself curious about Charlotte’s inner thoughts at times, the way Aaron sees her — with such awe and longing— added a layer of intimacy I didn’t expect.

There might be some minor flaws but at its core, this book felt like watching two damaged people realize they’re worthy of being loved as they are. And for me? That’s everything. Plus, the found-family vibes with Sadie and the rest of the cast made it even richer.

Highly recommend for readers who love:
✔️ Age gap
✔️ Single dad
✔️ Forbidden romance
✔️ Found family
✔️ Emotionally complex characters
✔️ Male-only POV

Thank you NetGalley, Victory Editing, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

With Cherry on Top is a book where Cole meets Cherry. In some universes, their story can be easy going, two young people fall in love and have great sex. In this universe, Cole is dad to a beautiful girl, without a wife/mother, who is feeling guilty for many reasons, and Cherry is a girl who is manipulated by her own mother, who has an eating disorder.

I think that these added topics add seriousness to the plot and make this book superior.

I can say I loved With Cherry on Top, but it's not my greatest read of the month.

Characters are developing, the plot is unpredictable. I love how one is willing to sacrifice many things for his family. Love how Cherry is trying to ease Cole into believing that he really is not 100 % guilty of past situations.

This is a great read: a mix of light and tense topics.

Love love loved this book most of the romance books I read are always from a FMC so it was it was really interesting have a MMC be the lead and seeing his take especially as a single dad… would highly recommend ESPECIALLY if you love SPICY books!!

this was fucking incredible. i am so happy the communication they had and the ending was extremely satisfying!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC

This was a very steamy book!! 🔥
I really liked these two characters! They're so good together!
With a Cherry on Top is about Aaron and Charlotte, Aaron is a chef who has made a few mistakes in his past that he can't escape from! His relationship has ended and his brother isn't speaking to him and he's also a single dad! In comes Charlotte a model who is also a cam-girl aka the perfect distraction! Except she's also his clients daughter! She is strictly off limits but can he keep his eyes off her? 🤔
We have age-gap, forbidden romance, single dad, found family, male-only pov 🔥
Omg their communication was divine!! I hate miscommunication in books unless it's done right but in this, the communication was chef's kiss 😘😉
Aaron was a non-innocent but innocent MMC 😂 He was so shy around Charlotte it was adorable!! He is a character who has been through a lot and made mistakes but wants to make them right, I loved the development of his relationship with Logan! He had a lot to deal with being a single-dad and making sure Sadie felt all the love as her mum was absent for a while, but he was amazing!! Yh he messed up badly but he is really a good guy! He deserved the best and Charlotte was really a good partner for him! 🥰
Charlotte is such a badass!! She is so confident in herself and who she is but I felt so bad for her! Beatrice was not a motherly figure to her at all and really ruined her, I'm so happy Aaron was there and could help her with what she needed! Her relationship with Sadie was so cute to see!
I will say Amelie kinda annoyed me in this book because of the unwilling to listen to what Aaron was trying to say, the secret keeping between them was frustrating and kinda unnecessary and it was all because of something Beatrice said, who can't be trusted anyway!! 😪
This book had me feeling all the feelings! So much happened in this book but it still flowed and I never felt bored! Although the epilogue had me crying like a baby, it was so happy but so sad at the same time!!! 😭💕
I haven't read the other books but I definitely want to because this was amazing!!
Thank you to Letizia Lorini & Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the arc! 💗

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op & NetGalley for the eARC.


This was the first Letizia book I ever read. It was quite touching to watch Aaron and Charlotte, as well as all of their friends and family, grow personally. I liked watching them both discover how to love and forgive themselves. Although I haven't read the previous books, I would really like to because this one was amazing.

I found a new romance author! This book was especially good. Great sex scenes and lots of real life friend and family yaya. Lots of heart too! It did seem like every sex scenes was interrupted with a crisis, but I’m hooked enough to go back and read her other books.

I love a 'yes, chef' moment, and I am completely unashamed. I will never feel bad for having the hots for a man who can cook! ANYWAY, I enjoyed this so much! It was very sweet (the Mother's Day performance scene got me good) and also VERY spicy (...I couldn't pick just one scene), but it never leaned too far in one direction. While I spent a good bit of the book wondering why it felt like I was plopped down in the middle of a universe (I didn't realize it was book 4 in a series of interconnected standaones, lol), I thoroughly enjoyed the other characters and I will totally go back and read the other books at some point.
I feel like the trigger warnings are definitely necessary and honestly, a lot of the characters would have done well with a lot of therapy. I did like the twist, but the conflict fell a little flat for me. Despite this, I still enjoyed the story overall!
Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op & NetGalley for the eARC!

With a Cherry on Top (Love & Other Recipes)
book #4

Thank you to Letizia Lorini and publishing for allowing me to read this ARC.

3.75-4⭐

Tropes:

- male POV only
- single dad
- forbidden romance
- age-gap
- forced proximity
- found family

This was a fun book to read. I LOVE the characters. They each had their own stories and I love that they all had their own character development throughout the book. They all had their obstacles to get through which was heartwarming at the end.
It wasn't hard to get hooked to the book, but I am used to dual pov's. So that was new and something I did have to get used to.
I did notice there are other character that I did not know. Since this is the first book I'm reading from the series, I would say it most definitely can be read as a standalone. Though personally, I will go back to read the first three. I love knowing the other characters/couples' back stories.

The single dad trope is very fun to read. I have always quite enjoyed reading the trope. The spice was great too.

🌶️
I'm the type of girl to love me some spice. It wasn't awkward at all (sometimes it feels awkward reading spice when it isn't written so well).
Though I enjoyed the amount of spice, I do wish it was more detailed. And by that I mean, some scenes felt rushed or abruptly cut. There was one spicy scene in the beginning where It felt like it wasn't finished and skipped. Kind of like playing a movie scene and it blacks out, then immediately skipping to a different part of the movie. (if that makes any sense). Not to say I didn't enjoy the spice whatsoever.

Definitely adding Aaron to my list of book boyfriends. Something about an MMC that knows what he wants really does it for me. And mix that with forced proximity. UGHHHH CHEF'S KISS 💋 (hehe pun intended).

side note: I enjoyed Kyle. very funny. Added that little je ne sais quoi.

Overall, loved this book. Excited for more to come!!!

I love a book when she’s forbidden, everything he shouldn’t want but they make it work. I love their relationship, it was intense, but great to read. Definitely would recommend!

This one was not for me.
I saw the triggers and thought I could handle it, but I was not able to get through it.

This is a fun forbidden age-gap romance that had a lot of very deep moments.

The disordered eating content in this book is intense and may be triggering for some readers. While there is a general warning included, it doesn't come close to covering how extreme and upsetting those scenes are. I was really personally disturbed by it and nearly stopped reading multiple times.

I was expecting something lighter and more fun. The first half was kind of a mess. It was chaotic, uncomfortable, and full of moments that made me question if I even wanted to keep going.

But I'm glad I stuck with it! Around the halfway point, it really started to turn around. The plot picked up, the vibe got more playful and ridiculous in a fun way, and I actually started enjoying the dynamic between the characters. It ended up being a pretty cute and entertaining story in the end!

🍒✨ Book Review: With a Cherry on Top by Letizia Lorini ✨🍒

Sweet, sassy, and utterly charming, With a Cherry on Top is the perfect romantic comedy to satisfy your craving for laughter, love, and a little bit of spice! Letizia Lorini serves up a deliciously fun story with plenty of heart and humor.

What it’s about:
When quirky baker Lily teams up with brooding chef Max to save their struggling bakery, sparks fly—both in the kitchen and out. With witty banter, irresistible chemistry, and plenty of sugary sweetness, this romance is a treat you won’t want to miss.

Tropes You’ll Love:
🍰 Opposites attract
🔥 Slow burn romance
👩‍🍳 Workplace romance
😄 Fun banter & charming characters
💞 Sweet & spicy mix

If you’re craving a feel-good, laugh-out-loud rom-com with a cherry on top, this one’s your perfect slice of happiness.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#WithACherryOnTop #LetiziaLorini #RomanticComedy #SlowBurnRomance #WorkplaceRomance #Bookstagram #FeelGoodReads #BookReview

💻🍒 With a Cherry On Top by Letizia Lorini 🍒💻
3.75 stars • Love & Other Recipes #4

Huge thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op & NetGalley for the eARC!! 💌

This book felt like sneaking dessert before dinner — forbidden, indulgent, and soooo worth it.
It’s a whirlwind of late-night temptation, family chaos, and camgirl secrets wrapped in the warm arms of a single dad trying to fix his mess of a life.

🍒 FORBIDDEN + AGE GAP + SINGLE DAD?? YEAH, I’M EATING THIS UP.
The moment I saw that Aaron was her mom’s personal chef, I knew things were about to get messy. Then you throw in the fact that he’s secretly been watching Charlotte online? Yeah. Stakes = sky high. And yet, somehow, Letizia makes it all feel raw, real, and surprisingly tender.

Aaron is a disaster in recovery mode — working through guilt, a broken marriage, and trying to be a good dad. He’s not perfect, but god, he tries. And the male-only POV??? A bold move, but it worked. Being inside his head gave the story that edge of vulnerability and restraint that made their chemistry hit extra hard.

Charlotte is fire. She’s sharp, fierce, a little chaotic — and yet there’s so much pain tucked under that confidence. I loved how her story pushed back against judgment. Her relationship with her mom?? A whole other battlefield. But she still stands tall. She still chooses herself. And that? That’s power.

🌶️ The spice? Real. The angst? Delicious. The found family vibes?? My heart.
There’s a rhythm to the chaos that somehow just works. From late-night longing to real-life complications, this book doesn’t pretend the path is clean. It’s messy. Human. Sometimes infuriating. But never boring.

Special shoutout to Sadie — the literal ray of sunshine. And the way Charlotte connected with her?? Don’t talk to me I’m crying.

Read if you love:
🍒 forbidden romances with teeth
👨‍🍳 chefs who are more cinnamon roll than sin
🍒 women owning their sexuality unapologetically
👨‍🍳 messy but deeply human characters

this was the first book i've read by letizia and i'm immediately mad at myself for not discovering hear earlier i'll be honest 😩

i read this all in pretty much one sitting because i just could not put it down, it was such an easy read for me!!

the pov being only from our mmc (aaron) did throw me a little bit to begin with, but i really enjoyed it and thought it genuinely added so much to the story—being able to get inside aaron's mind and gradually learn about charlotte and her heartbreakingly awful life and relationship with beatrice really was such a clever way of writing! ✨

the personal growth between not just aaron and charlotte but all of their friends and family too was so heartwarming, and i loved seeing them both learn to be more forgiving of themselves and love themselves once again 🫶🏼

i'll absolutely be moving on to letizia's backlist now because this was *chefs kiss* the whole way through!!

Aaron Coleman is a single father, having gone through a messy divorce. The last thing he needs is a distraction when he needs to rebuild his reputation. So when he meets Charlotte, who is fourteen years younger, he knows he is in trouble, especially when he works for her mother. Charlotte has a difficult relationship with her mother, and her relationship with Aaron is tenuous. Yet their attraction is hard to deny.
Two troubled individuals and their baggage make for an entertaining read. Charlotte struggles with her demanding mother, who is constantly trying to belittle her. Her relationship with Aaron gives her the courage and strength to overcome her past hurts. Likewise, Aaron has struggled with his past, but with Charlotte, he appears to find some resolution.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is the only book of this series that I’ve read. I enjoyed this book a lot. I loved the characters in this and the plot was really good. The couple was good and I enjoyed the banter. I do enjoy age gap romances This was a fun and heartwarming story.

This was a good story! I enjoyed the plot, found the characters lovable and interesting, and I would definitely recommend this to others!

Thank you to Netgalley and ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and read it in one day. I did think it had more spice than I like, but even with tha I still enjoyed the book. I loved the storyline and the characters in this book. I would still recommend this book.