"There's no virtue in tucking in your hurt. You don't get a medal for it. You just get more hurt and after a while you will have to take accountability for that hurt."

Honey and Spice was my personality for the first half of the year.

Imagine my surprise when I learned there was a second book! Y'all, Sweet Heat gave absolutely everything that I needed it to give 😍

The banter
The lyrical writing
The feeeeels

You know those books that you will absolutely not hear any criticism for? Sweet Heat and Honey and Spice are two of mine. Le sigh. I've easily found one of my favorite books of the year 🥹🥹

The way I absolutely ADORE Kiki and Kai!!!! From the best friends to lovers book to a fantastic second chance romance!
The only thing I didn't care for was the side plot and the side characters. I wanted more of Kiki and Kai and the rekindling of their flame!!!

say hello to one of my favorite romance stories! kiki and malakai have lived rent free in my brain since i read honey and spice in 2022, and to have the unique opportunity to revisit them now is so special. to get to experience their ever-evolving love, and the ways that they’ve grown up in the past 8 years! i love how you can feel their love, even when they’re apart. you know how much i love a second chance romance, and this one just pulls at all of your heart strings, being that you get to experience the start of their relationship, its end, and the start of something new. bolu’s writing is so gorgeous, bringing such vibrancy to this cast of characters, and i’m going to miss them so much (i will be re-reading constantly)!

🎧 weruche opia does an incredible job narrating the series, capturing kiki’s heart and humor in the best ways! if you love audiobooks, highly recommend tuning in!

Title: Sweet Heat
Author: Bolu Babalola
Series: Honey & Spice #2
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: September 2, 2025

I received complimentary eARC and ALC copies from William Morrow and HaperAudio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted

T H R E E • W O R D S

Original • Sexy • Exhausting

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Twenty-eight-year-old Kiki Banjo hosts the popular podcast The HeartBeat, solving romantic conundrums and dishing out life advice. Behind the scenes, though, career setbacks and a devastating breakup have left her hanging on by a thread. As she’s preparing to be the Maid of Honor in her best friend’s wedding, everything starts to unravel, and Kiki is left wondering if she ever had the answers.

Then Kiki finds herself face-to-face with the Best Man, her ex-boyfriend, Malakai—the smooth-talking, absurdly handsome, annoyingly perceptive man who stole her heart and then shattered it. While Kiki’s approaching rock bottom, Malakai’s been on the rise as a filmmaker, and now they have no choice but to play nice until the wedding is over. Both are hell-bent on ignoring the smoldering chemistry between them, but as they navigate the chaos of wedding plans, career ambitions, and Kiki’s growing fears about the future, they can’t ignore the spark that’s only getting hotter.

They just have to get through the summer. So why does it feel like playing with fire?

💭 T H O U G H T S

I was completely shocked when I was offered an ARC of Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola, the follow up to her beloved Honey & Spice, a book I hadn't read. When I accepted it, I wasn't aware it was the second book and followed the same characters. If I had known I definitely would have made an effort to read Honey & Spice before picking this one up.

There was so much good about this story - the banter, the cultural elements, the strong sense of self-confidence, the camaraderie between Kiki and her female friends, and there was no denying the chemistry between the two main characters. I was definitely interested in their story and seeing how things would unfold.

However, I didn't love it as much as I'd have hoped. The main reason being, the entire thing could have used some serious editing. It was 100 pages longer than it needed to be, with lots of run-on sentences and jumping all over the place within a single page. The more wordy it got the more I was taken out of the actual story. And secondly, it had a few too many side plots, some of which never seemed to go anywhere.

The audiobook, narrated by Weruche Opia was okay, yet there really wasn't anything that made it stand out and take it to the next level. I thought the pacing and intonation felt genuine and fit with the plot and characters. It did bring elements of Kiki's character to life.

Sweet Heat landed as a middle-of-the-road read for me. I definitely wish I had known it was the second book in a duology (despite being marketed as a standalone) which would have given me a lot of the backstory to truly enjoy this story. I also think I'd have preferred it to be shorter to have more of an emotional impact. I'd be interested in going back and reading Honey & Spice to get some context.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• second chance stories
• open door romance

⚠️ CW: sexual content, cursing, mental illness, panic attacks/disorders, death, death of parent, grief, alcohol, racism

Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola is one of my favorite reads of the year! I had read Honey and Spice and admittedly didn't enjoy it as much but was willing to give the author another try and I'm so glad I did. While Sweet Heat is a second-chance romance between Kiki and Malakai (the couple from Honey and Spice) this book could be read as a standalone. The author does a great job of taking you down memory lane for Kiki and Malakai's story by not only including flashbacks of their relationship as it took place after Honey and Spice but also little memories from what we got to see of their story as well. I loved the back and forth banter between the two characters and I think the narration of the audiobook also did a great job of bringing that to life. I really enjoyed seeing how these characters made their way back to each other in their adult life and I also found the writing in this book to feel poetic in ways the first one didn't.

I absolutely loved everything about this book! Major thank you to HarperAudio for approving my request.

Weruche Opia did such an amazing job bringing Bolu Babalola’s words to life. I was fortunate enough to be able to read the book while listening to the audiobook. This made me even more emotional while reading because Weruche did such a phenomenal job!

Honey & Spice is one of my favourite romances, and when I realized Sweet Heat was a second chance romance for my babies, I was apprehensive. What do you MEAN Kiki and Kai broke up?! Then I jumped into Sweet Heat, and my fears were assuaged. THIS, my friends, is how you do second chance romance. Miscommunication? We don’t know her. We TALK that shit out. It wasn’t instant- it was raw, and emotional, and an emotional rollercoaster. It was a realistic depiction of the reality of college romance evolving in the real world- the good and the bad. Aside from these two soulmates, we also saw our loveable side characters back again. A thoughtful depiction of grief and mental health and racism with the incredible writing I’ve grown to love from following Bolu on social media the past few years. Gorgeously narrated by the talented Weruche Opia⁣, I’m immediately finding more audiobooks she’s done. Sweet Heat is for sure one of my top reads of the year, possibly ever. Thank you to Harper Audio for the ALC.

Romcom
Second chance
Multicultural

Kiki and Malakai

I like the narrators.. they added to the story and kept me engaged. The beginning of the book eas hard for me but it got better as the story continued.
The banter was good and characters were interesting.
The author s descriptive writing was a high point. The wedding and African culture was well done. I could really picture everything.

The development of the relationship and the way the past and current events were handled by them added a bit of realism.
Overall I enjoyed the story.

I did not want this book to end!

This was one of my highly anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint! I loved Honey & Spice but I loved Sweet Heat even more. Seeing KiKi and Malakai back in action, even if it's just creatively and not romantically, did something to me. When I tell you that Babalola knows banter! It's not many that can do it like her and I as sitting there eating it up. This has to be one of my favorite couples in a book. They just ooze sexiness and culture. You can feel their chemistry. I love the real life issues that Babalola chose to give everyone. This is definitely one of my favorite series now. 5 stars, no notes!

The narration was 5 stars as well. Opia does the whole cast so well including Malakai! It's not that easy to for a female to pull off that male voice but she does and sounds amazing while doing it!

I love, love, love Bolu Babalola's writing. So lyrical, poetic and clever. I also love the characters she writes: obviously Kiki and Kai, but also all the secondary characters. It was a really treat to spend time with this crew again. So obviously I really enjoyed Sweet Heat! But … not quite as much as Honey & Spice. Kiki and Kai's second chances story is a lot angstier, heavier and steamier. I was definitely entertained, but I also found myself so frustrated - there is a serious avoidant vs anxious (but proud) attachment dynamic going on and while it felt totally valid, sometimes it was hard to witness. It was also quite long and a bit repetitive and I found myself getting impatient at times - especially as we had to wait so long to find out through the flashbacks about the original break up.

That said, the story is beautiful, felt very real and had me absolutely swooning at times. While I certainly appreciate the steamy bits, I was surprised to find they didn't all have the emotional depth I would have expected and I was much more invested in the emotional journey our MCs take. That part was gorgeous and complicated and moving!

I listened to an audio ARC and Weruche Opia is once again fantastic - really bringing the characters and the story to life in an exceptional way.

Bolu Babalola has out done herself in the follow up to Honey & Spice. Kiki and Malakai have been out of uni for several years, and their second chance at romance reflects their late 20s lives. Where Honey & Spice is sweet and flirty, Sweet Heat is steamy and passionate. Babalola writes beautifully and always infuses her writing with social commentary and pop culture savvy. This is one of my favorite reads of 2025.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC audiobook.
When I requested, I did not realize this was a part 2, so I picked up the other book and listened to it first.
I enjoyed the story and the chemistry between the characters.
The narration was good but the accent was hard to understand at times. This required a lot of rewinding.

Is this a safe space to tell you that I haven't actually read Honey & Spice? When I requested this book, I missed that it was a second part, it just sounded really good! And it was incredible, the tension and chemistry between these two characters, and the character growth throughout this novel was beautifully done. Will be picking up honey and spice immediately.

The audiobook was so well done, the only thing I didn't love was the editing choice to make the phone calls sound weird, attempting to sound like a phone call, but it was so muffled it didn't really work. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to listen to this audiobook for an honest review.

I knew I needed to read this book when I saw it. I read the first book in the series and it seems that this book carries off where it left off. I really enjoyed the first book and this book was also really good. I did find it a little confusing at first, but as the book goes on I got the questions I had answered. I would recommend, especially to those who have read the first book.

Absolutely loved this one! Funny, tender, heartbreaking. Beautifully written with bold characters, Sweet Heat is a spicy second chance romance I couldn’t put down.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to listen to this ALC.

I love a second-chance romance, but Kiki and Malakai had me screaming in frustration cause I was like "JUST GET BACK TOGETHER ALREADY!! STOP THE ANGST!" I did cry a bit when Kiki's mom told her she needs to put herself first, as the eldest daughter.

3.5 stars for this second chance romance. I enjoyed the story and the chemistry between the characters. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola is a beautiful, heart-wrenching, emotional journey of reflection and reconnection between Kiki and Malakai. I highly recommend this book even if, like me, you haven't read the first book in the series. It's full of powerful, emotional language that so clearly forms an image of the characters and settings. I felt connected to Kiki and Malakai and their feelings and journeys. Although it's heavy and took me awhile to get into, I absolutely loved the story and writing style.

I listened to the audiobook, and it was perfect. The narrator so clearly integrates Kiki's feelings into the narration, from speed to emotions. Her anxiety, love, and frustration come out so well through the narrator's voice. I've never listened to such a beautiful audiobook before, and I will be looking for more audiobooks recorded by this narrator.

Thank you to HarperAudio Adult and Bolu Babalola for this ALC!

5 stars

With Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola i was completely entertained but this is 100% a right book wrong person situation!

I did have the eARC audiobook and the narrator was great and brought the book to life.

Objectively this book is great. It just wasn’t my favorite. This book has/is miscommunication trope-heavy. It’s a second-chance romance and the two main characters and just not on the same page the entire time. The tension was great but I felt a little exhausted by it by the end. If those things don’t bother you, the book is honestly great!

I did enjoy jumping timelines and they had great chemistry and steamy passion. I loved the cultural elements and character development. There was awesome character growth all around.

The plot is unique and interesting.

I do recommend this though because reading is subjective and this was well written and entertaining.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Audio Adult for the gifted eARC Audiobook in exchange for my honest report.

Do you ever read a romance and think it's not realistic for those two people to be together forever?

This is not that story. I am not ✨usually✨ a second-chance romance girly; however, an exception had to be made for my girl Bolu Babalola's sequel to Honey & Spice. When Sweet Heat picks up years later, Kai and Kiki have been broken up for three years, are focused on their careers, and are living separate lives on two different continents, but their best friends' wedding forces them back together as best man and maid of honor. As the book digs into what happened and why, I was going through it—the yearning, the angst, the history here—with Kai and Kiki. There's a real intimacy in this story, not only in the main love story but also in the female friendships. These characters have grown up, and their capacity to love each other has only continued to evolve too.

On a personal note, I'm half Nigerian (but don't know my dad) and love all the cultural context in Bolu Babalola's books. Weruche Opia truly captured Kiki perfectly in her narration. Thank you to Netgalley, William Morrow, and HarperAudio for the eARC and ALC of Sweet Heat! ❤️‍🔥