Cake at Midnight by Jessie L. Star is a good fit for readers who enjoy heartwarming stories about friendship, self-discovery, and the sometimes unexpected paths that love can take.

This book was really sweet. You get to know the characters. I felt like It wasn’t rushed to understand the Story.

My review partner ended up reviewing this one:

I think it was the maybe possible love triangle that intrigued me in the blurb. I am always curious to see how this works out for the heroine. As we learn very quickly, Gio has been hung up on her male BFF for several years. But he frequently takes advantage of her and very early on she puts her foot down and banishes him from her life, at least temporarily. Which was way overdue.

Gio and her best friends Zoe and Declan grew up together and are best friends. They have been through a lot together and now as grown-ups they are attempting to navigate the world. This book bordered on being a little women’s fictiony for me and was heavily focused on Gio’s journey. It clocks in at over 400 pages, but it is filled with a lot of unremarkable events.

The best part of the book was Gio’s relationship with her sexy neighbor Theo. Theo is quiet and a bit mysterious. They develop an odd relationship and soon Gio is going to Theo’s apartment in the middle of the night when she can’t sleep, as she has issues sleeping and he is a workaholic. Their relationship evolves into more than just friends. Theo really cares for her and offers her kindness and caring that men in Gio’s past haven’t offered her. The love they share is not explosive and as a result, the sex on the page is a warmer and more sensual than graphicly sexy.

It’s angsty, there is some back and forth and will they or won’t they figure it out. Declan has a crisis and Gio puts a lot of her energy in it. Theo’s family is weird and terrible, but Gio wants to protect him from it. They both needed to do some maturing before they could enter in to a long term relationship. It’s pretty clear who is Gio’s real match and I think the blurb puts a little too much effort into making it something this book isn’t. If you enjoy new adult and yet looking for something a little more subdued, this book may be for you.

Grade: C

Really loved this - it was such a sweet book (and no, I'm not just talking cake.) Knocked down a star due to the rushed ending, but otherwise a very lovely read.

Cake at Midnight by Jessie L. Star
Publication Date: January 15, 2018
New Adult Romance
Pocket Star


Reviewed by Kini


I think it was the maybe possible love triangle that intrigued me in the blurb. I am always curious to see how this works out for the heroine. As we learn very quickly, Gio has been hung up on her male BFF for several years. But he frequently takes advantage of her and very early on she puts her foot down and banishes him from her life, at least temporarily. Which was way overdue.

Gio and her best friends Zoe and Declan grew up together and are best friends. They have been through a lot together and now as grown-ups they are attempting to navigate the world. This book bordered on being a little women’s fictiony for me and was heavily focused on Gio’s journey. It clocks in at over 400 pages, but it is filled with a lot of unremarkable events.

The best part of the book was Gio’s relationship with her sexy neighbor Theo. Theo is quiet and a bit mysterious. They develop an odd relationship and soon Gio is going to Theo’s apartment in the middle of the night when she can’t sleep, as she has issues sleeping and he is a workaholic. Their relationship evolves into more than just friends. Theo really cares for her and offers her kindness and caring that men in Gio’s past haven’t offered her. The love they share is not explosive and as a result, the sex on the page is a warmer and more sensual than graphicly sexy.

It’s angsty, there is some back and forth and will they or won’t they figure it out. Declan has a crisis and Gio puts a lot of her energy in it. Theo’s family is weird and terrible, but Gio wants to protect him from it. They both needed to do some maturing before they could enter in to a long term relationship. It’s pretty clear who is Gio’s real match and I think the blurb puts a little too much effort into making it something this book isn’t. If you enjoy new adult and yet looking for something a little more subdued, this book may be for you.

Grade: C

It's been a while since I sat down and read a romance novel. I open with that thought because you need to understand why it took me a while to settle in to Cake At Midnight. Expecting a fun and food filled romance, I was instantly smitten with Gio and her glowing personality. However as soon as Declan entered the picture, well, let's just kindly say that I didn't get their connection. This book has a lot more drama than I expected and, while that's not necessarily a bad thing, I felt like it took me a while to really get on board with it.

Before anything else though, let me praise Jessie L. Star for creating such a wonderful character in Gio. Her passion for baking, her deep love for her friends (even when they might not quite deserve it), and her endlessly glowing personality all had me smitten. Gio is the type of main character that we'd all love to be friends with. She's the character who you cry for, cheer for, and yell at all in the same ten minute span. In other words, Gio is a human. I loved her for that.

In the same respect, despite my disdain for Declan, all the other characters feel distinctly human as well. They love, they loathe, they make mistakes, and they forgive. It's no surprise that Theo steals center stage once he's introduced. Starting as the stoic "Nod Next Door", and slowly moving towards someone that Gio genuinely feels for, he was definitely someone that I adored. It's always nice to see a relationship on the page that isn't perfect, and takes real time and work to create. While I didn't agree with all of the choices the characters made in this book, I can say that at least I understood them.

My biggest issue with this story was that it felt slightly too long. The drama that unfolded between Theo and his family, and then between Declan and Theo, started to feel a little forced. That and I'm not sure I was entirely satisfied with Gio's growth by the end of the book. She started as a character who was too willing to let her friend walk all over her, and she ended not too far from where she started. I understand happily ever after endings, I just wish Gio had gained a bit more backbone. I know, it's romance. I'm being nitpicky. Still, I admit that would have made me extremely happy.

Overall, this was a sweet and well-written read. If you're looking for a foodie romance, with realistic characters, add Cake At Midnight to your reading list.

It’s an interesting dynamic to have two best friends, especially when one is male and you have a serious crush on him. In this book the author takes on this delicate balance as we explore the life of a group of friends in Australia.

Dealing with heartache and heartbreak can be tough. But at least there’s always cake to help commiserate over.

The author leads us through old friendships and crushes in this well told story. With plenty of well-developed characters and interest, it’s hard not to get overly attached the story.

The awkward feelings that we tend to have around guys we like is alive and well in this book. Ms Star brought back plenty of memories and feelings I had towards my own crushes at that age. Somethings never change.

But she also deals with the inadequacies we may feel due to our upbringing. That connection we build with friends who become our family whenever our family is not enough or just not capable of support or any engagement in life. She also shares the other side – the rich side of life and how greed and hate can consume everything.

The author managed to craft a delightful read that brings back your own memories of first loves. With intricate detail and plenty of trials, tribulations, and comfortable sweet romance, the story is a fresh look at friends and family. She then served it up with a bit of the bitter taste of life, but gave us a sweet dessert to help you over the rough spots.

giovanna, zoë and declan have been friends through the worst and roughest childhood years. gio's aunt aggie's homey apartment has provided them all with safe haven. and it makes sense why giovanna would fall for declan. except this isn't a friends-to-lovers story. and when declan says he doesn't feel that way about gio he means it.

except he's also a giant jerk who proceeds to take advantage of gio's feelings in the worst possible way. and when gio is forced to face his bad behavior she goes about cutting him out of her life. and suddenly the hot guy across the hall starts playing a larger role in her life than the guy who scowls and nods at her in the morning. theo has his reasons for trying to not get involved, but giovanna's warmth and sweet nature get under his skin.

and when she begins to spend time with him, he finds it's not a distraction, but rather moments to be savored to cure some of his loneliness. he has a lot of good reasons for cutting people out of his life. his family accustomed to picking at his vulnerabilities to further their art and their insatiable need for drama. everyone wants a piece of him except giovanna. but soon he starts to realize that he wants her to want him. even though he knows she's using him as a distraction from her pining for declan.

being with theo gives gio the strength to realize that she's been using declan as a crutch to keep others away. and opening her heart to theo happens almost inadvertently. and so quickly it's hard to believe it's real.

both giovanna and theo have plenty of baggage to work through, and even though they are total opposites, something about their pairing works. like cake at midnight. it might seem like a bad idea. but it's sweet and decadent and delicious.

**cake at midnight will publish on january 15, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/gallery, threshold, pocket books (pocket star) in exchange for my honest review.

4.25 stars--CAKE AT MIDNIGHT by Jessie L. Star is a stand alone, contemporary, new adult romance story line focusing on Australians twenty-two year old pastry chef Giovanna ‘Gio’ Koppelmann, and twenty seven year old acquisitions and mergers manager Theo McKillop.

Told from first person perspective (Giovanna) and third person (Theo) CAKE AT MIDNIGHT follows the building relationship between new neighbors Giovanna Koppelmann, and Theo McKillop.

Giovanna, Zoe and Declan are lifelong best friends who grew up together on the wrong side of the tracks struggling against abuse, neglect and a history of addiction. Giovanna, for all intents and purposes, has had a crush on Declan O’Connor for most of her life, a crush that will quickly dissolve when their friendship is abused one final time. Enter Theo McKillop, Giovanna’s neighbor and the man with whom our heroine will fall in love. Humiliated and stunned by the man she has known most of her life, Giovanna will welcome Theo’s acceptance of her quirky ideas including a ‘midnight witching hour’ wherein Giovanna finds solace in Theo’s company and home-made cake. What ensues is the building relationship between Theo and Giovanna, and the potential fall out when their time together comes to an end.

CAKE AT MIDNIGHT focuses on friendship and family-the dysfunctional family dynamics not only of Giovanna, Zoe and Declan’s present and past, but that of Theo’s eccentric, well to do, and outrageous family whose behavior is fodder for the socialites, gossip magazines, and paparazzi fanatics. Theo has kept his familial identity a secret for most of his life but workplace jealousy, and bitter family kinetics become the breaking point for a man who is unable to let go of the past. While Giovanna accepts all that is Theo including his unconventional and heart breaking family, Theo will struggle with Gia’s relationship to a man who continues to break her heart. The $ex scenes are limited, passionate but mostly implied.

We are introduced to Giovanna’s best friends Declan O’Connor, and beautician Zoe; Gio’s boss Celeste, and co-worker Maya; as well as Theo’s best friend, and executive assistant Ari; Theo’s parents Philomena and Harvey, and sister Lena Leventis; and Theo’s ex-fiance Vanessa. I am hoping the author has plans for future story lines involving Declan, Zoe, Ari and Lena.

CAKE AT MIDNIGHT has a little bit everything: romance and love; jealousy and betrayal; friendship and family; heart break and acceptance. The premise is engaging and entertaining; the characters are charismatic, realistic and dynamic; the romance is intimate and romantic. Jessie L Star writes an emotional and inspiring story about two people pushed together by circumstance, fate and love.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

THE READING CAFÉ: http://www.thereadingcafe.com/cake-at-midnight-by-jessie-l-star-review-excerpt/


GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2247876458


BOOKBUB: https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/2509733959

AMAZON.COM: https://www.amazon.com/review/R3J8PDMZ0SV8RH/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B06ZZWDBNM


B&N: (Sandy_thereadingcafe) posted

CHAPTERS/INDIGO: (Sandy_At_the_Reading_Cafe): posted

Cake at Midnight was one of those books I picked up without any expectations. I've never read anything by Jessie L. Star before, but I like cake and literally all romance novels so I figured it couldn't hurt. I was underestimated this one. Cake at Midnight starts with an unrequited love story but it ends up being about friendship and self-discovery. Plus it's about a taciturn hot neighbor and nothing gets me like quiet hero who has all these feelings boiling just under the surface. Let them out, it's going to be so hot! As the reader, you know that Giovanna and Theo are creating something good together, but you're not really sure how good until the end. I enjoyed this one a lot.

This the first read for me by this author and I can now say, I fan and looking forward for more! Cake at Midnight is the perfect blend about best friends, heartbreak and finding new love.

Gio, Zoe and Declan have been best friends forever. But as they grew older, their lives changed and they tried hard to grow apart. Gio always had a crush on Declan, but he "friend-zones" all the time and she ends up being his go-to friend, when no one else is around.

That's when Gio is crushed and decides she needs to move on.
her mysterious next door neighbor, Theo. The more time she spends with Theo and less time with her friendship with Declan, Gio starts to move on. She learns things about herself with her new relationship.

Don't worry, this isn't a love triangle, but more of a growing up between friends and just staying at that.

Not only did this story leave me craving a big helping of chocolate rum cake, but I need more from Jessie L. Star, like yesterday! Set in Australia, Cake at Midnight is a foodie romance that centers around a trio of childhood friends and a sweet, budding romance.

Since Gio initiated a kiss with her best friend Dec, their trio has been strained. Zoe doesn't speak to Dec since he started taking advantage of Gio's unrequited crush, and Gio can't help but put his needs first. One night he takes it too far and Gio finally sees the light. She intends to cut him off for 30 days in an effort to get him out of her system. Enter Theo: tall, brooding, and incredibly honorable. Gio's neighbor is quite the opposite of Dec and full of secrets. His character adds layers to the plot that kept me intrigued and unable to stop reading.

Jessie L. Star strikes the perfect balance between quirky romance and foodie romance. The foodie aspect is a part of Gio's character that works along with the plot and there isn't too much foray into the technicalities of baking. Theo's family is outrageously scandalous and adds an interesting air of drama. Cake at Midnight is more than I expected it to be. It's a quirky, fun, and humorous read that adds heartbreak as a softening touch. You'll cry tears of sadness and laughter as much as you would from a Kristan Higgins novel!
*ARC provided in consideration for review*

I had some trouble getting started with this book. Once I got into it I did enjoy it, although parts were slow going for me. I wanted a little more spunk and backbone from her, and a little more emotion from him, but overall it was pretty good

Pretty good Australian read but pretty morose. If you’re looking for a fun or uplifting read, this isn’t it. If you want something that’s well written and somewhat dark, give this a try.

I DNF this one. I tried... I am going to be honest. The names killed me. I was confusing people all the time. It just didn't click with me at all...