FLAVOR OF THE MONTH by Georgia Beers is a difficult book to review. On the one hand, it's a good read, even if the plot was a familiar one. The cooking scenes in the restaurant, as well as the baking in the bakery were enjoyable to read. Give me some peanut butter and chocolate pie! But, on the other hand, the characters weren' that believable. I found myself impatient at the amount of angst the two main characters keep wallowing in. And I found it difficult to believe that Emma could forgive Charlie so easily for causing her so much pain. I think that the book could have been much better if there had been less angst, less second guessing by the characters, and much more pie.

I will start by saying I am a huge fan of Ms. Beer and her writing but this particular book just didn't click with me. It isn't that I disliked this book it was just didn't really grab me in that 'can't put it down' way. Maybe I wasn't meant to be the target audience from an age perspective (the main 2 characters are mid/late 20s), and the characters felt a bit flat for me.

I liked that both Emma and Charlie were stand on their own millennial' gals, but the writing spent way to much on Emma's 'I hate her/I love her' monologue in her head. And Charlie, well she made a decision in college that came pack to bite her, but to much guilt was piled on that got a bit much. I did like that Ms. Beer did touch back on some of their history, but I guess it wasn't deep enough for me to really see why both characters were so beaten down by the whole thing.

The other issue I had was the the sub-characters were not flushed out at all, but yet time was put in to bring them in at key moments - Emma's mom was written about a few times as an alcoholic and bitter about Emma's dad leaving but yet by the end there was no understanding of why. Which brings me to Emma's dad, which was used as a catalyst to bring Emma and Charlie together but absolutely no resolution as to why he left in the first place, which could have come from Emma's mom, but that character was dropped 1/2 way through the book.

I did love the colorful writing Ms. Beers puts into the scenery and surrounding area/locations you find the characters in (small town, bakery, location) but it seem with this book more time was spent in that then really developing the characters (sorry).

Again, this isn't a bad book, I finished in in a few days, but it isn't one of those books I put in my re-read pile (these are in my re-read pile: Puppy Love series, Fresh Tracks, Blend).

I love Georgia Beers and have read or listened to almost every one of her books. One of the many things that I like about her work is her characters and the development of them. She does another wonderful job in Flavor of the Month, but this one had a rarity for me. I absolutely disliked the character of Emma. While I understand the hurt that she was going through with Charlie leaving at the beginning, but she carries that grudge for years afterward. She comes across as very vindictive and not a very approachable person. The HEA is there at the end, but I would have been just fine with Charlie leaving again. Emma never indicated that she was willing to forgive.

Overall, the story is very enjoyable and if you have read any of Beers' work before you will enjoy this one as well. While there are a couple of hot sex scenes, the story itself is about Emma and Charlie's relationship and trying to mend fences.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Whenever you hear that Georgia Beers has come out with a new book, as an avid romance reader, you have to get your hands on it as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, this book had a very slow pace and it took me longer than expected to actually finish it.

What I can actually appreciate was the character chemistry and the lack of drama. I guess that lack of drama can always be good as it makes the setting of the book more believable.

Overall, it was good but not Georgia’s best. I often go back to read her books at least twice, highly doubt I will pick this one up again, sadly.

Loved loved loved this book. From start to finish I enjoyed the characters and found myself thinking back over it after I’d finished and started reading another book.

I like both the main characters and loved the talk of connection between them. I’ve been in this situation myself and understand the pull of someone for no apparent reason. I loved the scenes when Em met her family and how supportive Charlie was

I also loved the side characters - Em’s mum, The girls in the bakery, Charlie’s dad and the warmth - or stress - of these relationships was easy to feel

I didn’t realise it was the second Giorgia Beers book i have read but I will definitely look for more. I loved it - and this one even more than the last.

Charlie's life has crumbled under her feet and she has to go home to her parent's place in Vermont because she has no place to live, she's unemployed, and she has barely any money left.

Emma also left and came back to the small town both women grew up in. But, she was back a few years ago, and has a restaurant, EG, in town. She has a bit of a problem with her Mom, but, other than that her life seems pretty perfect.

But, since Charlie broke her heart at the end of college she has not had any significant relationships.

When they meet again, at first it is not good. Lots of tension. But, then they do get closer (hey, it's a romance).

I really liked the baking and the cooking in the novel (and was most definitely hungry after reading it, yummm). It was a fun, and also on occasion thought provoking, novel. Can people really change?

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books.

A small-town, second chance romance from one of the queens of the genre. As always, a novel from Georgia Beers is going to be well-written, easy to read, and star two pretty femmes in their 20s or 30s. And I'm good with that. Flavor of the Month had a few problems for me. What happened to Emma's mother? Did she ever get help? How did she feel about Emma going to her Dad's funeral? How does a 28-year-old without rich parents get a business loan for a restaurant? How does a 28-year-old churn out perfect pie crust after years without doing it? (I consider myself a baker and I can NOT do pie crust.)

Charlie is not the first college graduate to aspire to life in the big city, so that didn't bother me, even if she did leave her family and girlfriend behind. When you're that age you only think about yourself. I did find it unrealistic that Darcy would turn Charlie out with no money though. That seems excessively heartless. I was rooting for Charlie and Emma to reunite. But I didn't feel 100% good about it without an epilogue. Maybe rather than a happily ever after, this is a happy for now story.

This is one of Georgia Beers better books. All her books are good, but this one is even better.

Charlie unceremoniously dumped her highschool sweetheart, Emma, in college for flashy Manhattan, flashy job and the powerful career woman, Darcy. She never looked back. That's until she lost it all.
Five years later she is back to her small hometown broke, jobless, homeless and dumped by Darcy. She gets a job at the bakery right across the street from Emma's restaurant. While embracing her old love of baking pies Charlie tries to mend her relationship with Emma and reconnect with her family and old friends.

The flashbacks of when Charlie broke Emma's heart are angsty. I think Emma was a bit too easy on Charlie considering how broken she was about the betrayal. Charlie still had to work hard to gain Emma's trust again tho. All the while struggling with the decision of staying or going back to the big city.

A book that will keep you reading in one sitting.

Typically, I love all of Georgia Beers' book because I have been a fan since her first book many years ago. However, this book had several problems. Characters are two places at once. Charlie is supposed to be at the bakery, but she is also at a festival. Emma's deadbeat dad that left her and her mother is a racial stereotype. It just seemed too convenient to do this. Also, Emma's mother who is an alcoholic, the situation with her is never resolved. She was a minor character, but had a huge impact on why Emma is in the profession she is in. The characters, in my opinion, weren't very likeable. Charlie is too stuck in the past and complains, while Emma is very bitch, stuck in the past and not a very nice person. I had high hopes of this one, but came away with meh.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've never read a Georgia Beers book that I didn't love. Throw in a small town and I'm enamored. Charlie and Emma were High School sweethearts until they grew apart because of the distance between them. Then Charlie was swept off her feet by the glamorous and successful Darcy. Darcy got tired of her and sent her packing. No place to stay and no money. She comes home with her tail between her legs.
Charlie gets a job as a pie baker in the shop across the street from Emma's restaurant. The story is how they came back together but how they get there is fabulous. Taking a ex back requires a lot of trust which was broken. Georgia Beers did an excellent job conveying the emotions of love, loss and heartbreak. Both Charlie and Emma were very likable characters. I fell in love a little with them both. It also made me hungry for pie.

Georgia Beers writes another charming romance..Charlie fled her home leaving behind her high-school sweetheart Emma for the city life after falling for someone else. Years later she returns home after being dumped. What she didn't realize is that her former love has become successful as chef and owner of the go to restaurant in town. Emma was hurt badly when Charlie chose to step away from what they had. Now that the latter is back, they can't help feeling more alive in each other's presence. Charlie rediscovers her baking skills and slowly earns her way to win Emma over again.

Charlie left her small town to go to college and never looked back. During college, she is approached by Darcy Wells, an influential and successful businesswoman and offered a job to work for her. Excited about the job offer she called her girlfriend Emma to share the news but Emma didn't like that Charlie got the offer because of Darcy's reputation and told Charlie not to take the job. Five years later, after taking the job and breaking up with Emma, Charlie is on her way back to her small town jobless, homeless, and heartbroken. On her return home, she realized just how much she has to make up for her past decisions and feels guilt and shame over the way she left home. Moreover, she is regretful about leaving her first love Emma who lives in Shaker falls and owns a restaurant.
In her acknowledgment, Georgia beer stated that the book was about forgiveness, lost trust and change -whether a person can change or not. The concept was good and would have made for a great book if the main character wasn't so self-deprecating and full of so much shame and guilt, concerning the situation I think it was overdone. In trying to incorporate her concept of forgiveness, change and gaining back lost trust the author put too much pressure on Charlie's character - she had so much to make up for and no one there to support her and tell her that her choices made five years ago was humane.

This book was a 2/5 star read for me because I believe the concepts were not executed properly and needed to be done in order for readers to grasps what the author is trying to say.

This book is vintage Georgia Beer’s. It grabbed you from the first page and keeps you engrossed into you finish the book. The story revolves around Charlie and Emma to friends from middle school until they became lovers in high school with a love they thought would last forever. However during the college years both women were separated due to the different colleges they attended. When Charlie got an offer to go to New York to work with a high end advertising executive, Emma told her a relationship with this woman would not last yet Charlie went and broke Emma’s heart as a result.
Four years later when Charlie feels broken because she lost her job her apartment and her lover she moves back to a small town in Vermont we are one day she walked into a new restaurant and found Emma was there as the owner and chief. The two women have a visceral reaction when they see each other again, Charlie one of sadness and Emma one of her hurt so big she couldn’t seem to forgive Charlie. As the story moves on and Charlie gets a job baking pies ,which she enjoys and is very good at, she again encounters Emma on a daily basis when she delivers pies to her restaurant. Ever so slowly these two seem to find that they maybe could be friends again when of course Charlie gets a job offer in Boston. She’s torn between Boston and moving to a big city for a job she was trained to do or staying in small town Vermont baking pies. What is a woman to do?
This is a wonderful book so well written as you would expect from Beers.

4.25 stars

It's been five years since Charlie Stetko allowed a fancy woman and promises of a big-city life lure her away from her then best friend and girlfriend, Emma Grier. Now, Charlie's been dumped by said woman, forcing her to return home to live in her parents' basement. Her new job at the local bakery has Charlie running into Emma, who now runs her own restaurant in town. Emma hasn't forgiven Charlie for shattering her heart, but as the two fall back into their old ways, Emma finds herself asking if people really can change.

This was a really sweet and satisfying read, and not just because of the amazing descriptions of baked goods that Charlie makes. Both Charlie and Emma are really likable. The narration switches between third person limited POVs for Charlie and Emma, and I really enjoyed the inside look into both characters' thought processes, which is clearly laid out for us. Georgia Beers does a great job of articulating their feelings in a totally realistic way. It makes sense that Emma is reserved towards Charlie at the beginning, and Charlie seems truly sorry for her past bad decisions.

I liked the initial tension between Charlie and Emma, although the switch flips pretty suddenly around the halfway mark. After that, everything falls into place quickly, which meant that I never felt the plot dragging, but I do wish I had seen a bit more lead up to them making up (and out).

There was also a lovely cast of side characters, many of whom I would have loved to see more. The only thing was that there were some side characters that we see for a little bit in the first half and then don't see again, and the subplots that they're involved in feel unresolved by the end of the book.

All in all, an engaging read! I would definitely recommend.

*I received an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

After a heartbreak leaves her without a job and without a place to live, Charlie heads back home to live with her parents. She soon gets a job working in a bakery, making pies and making small changes to the growing business. She isn't expecting to run into her old friend Emma Grier who now owns a nice restaurant in the town. Emma doesn't take Charlie's return well, as it brings up old heartbreaks. Charlie is determined to reignite their old friendship, but the sizzle of attraction burns, and their relationship deepens as they tackle the curveballs life throws their way.

Although I love Georgia Beers, this book felt a little flat for me, it just didn't have that something that made me fall in love with the main characters and their love story. It was still an enjoyable read, I really liked a lot of the secondary character, It think they brought a lot of sparkle to the story, but the main characters I didn't connect to as much. I think because much of their story happened when they were younger, we didn't get to connect to their growing romance. The food in this book was definitely a star!

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed it!

Charlie and Emma were each other’s first love. They started as friends, discovered their sexuality together and their friendship naturally leveled up to a relationship in high school. Once they graduated, they ended up in different colleges and that took its toll on their relationship. Lured by an older successful woman and New York city, Charlie made the decision to end things with Emma, leaving her heartbroken.

Of course, a couple of years later, after she’s lost everything, Charlie has to come back to their small town where they meet again.

The one thing I absolutely love about Beers’ writing is how real her characters feel. They’re flawed, they fuck up, they learn and they grow. Whenever I read her books, there’s always a point where I forget these are fictional characters.

I don’t know if it’s an unpopular opinion or what, but I freaking love Charlie. She’s aware of her actions and their consequences and she accepts it. I love how she’s questioning her past choices and pretty much takes her life back.

I can see how it’d be easy to get back into a relationship with that one person. Once the ice melted between the two, Charlie and Emma pretty much picked up where they left off and it was the sweetest. It’s a very slow burn romance (obviously, they have issues to work through...do they though?) which I’m particularly fond of.

I totally recommend you pick up this book. Great writing, great characters, great food and a tiny little bit of drama to keep you entertained! Can’t wait for Beers’ next book!

3.5 stars
I am a big fan of Georgia Beers stories but I didn't warmup to this one. Probably because I had a difficult time warming up to one of the main characters, Charlie.
Charlie makes a decision early in her life that affects many people close to her in a very negative way. Her lover and her immediate family suffer a lot. And it takes many years and a break up to get Charlie to realize what a hurtful decision she made.
Of course I liked how it ended but I had a hard time with the in between . Charlie was very lucky the ex-lover and family she came back to were wonderful and forgiving.
That being said...the surrounding characters are rich, the dialog is real and the pace is even.
Just didn't get a warm feeling from this one.
But the food and pies sounded good.

A pleasure to read as the writing flows so well. You get to care about both the leads without getting bogged down in the backstories of their friends and family. That’s not to say that the secondary characters aren’t key to the storyline. They’re crucial, but they are kept low key; which is very clever. The ex of one of the women for example is a key figure that is the crux of the story, but she isn’t actually in the book. Similarly one of the mothers and a sister are there to explain the leads motivations and weaknesses, but as actual characters they are barely sketched in and this doesn’t matter because the sketches work so well in the overall narrative.
Meanwhile, I wanted to eat every pie mentioned. Indeed I think it might have been the constant presence of the pies (cherry, please!) that made me feel happy whilst reading the book.

Georgia Beers is one of my favorite lesfic writers. And she can write a good story, there's no disputing that. But, I must be honest in saying that this was, for the most part, not a pleasant read. If I weren't so hellbent on keeping my ARC promises, I would've dropped this at chapter two. Yet, I persisted.

To preface: I'm not into second-chance romances. Unless done in a stellar way, they drag me down with the characters' bad memories as I piece together what made them that way. Give me the excitement and sensuality of first meet-ups any day. This story just dragged me down from the very beginning. While social distancing and being bombarded with pandemic news, I wasn't here for my fiction to make me feel awful, too. I wanted flirty looks and cute ladies kissing!

For the first time ever, Beers has managed to assemble a cast of characters that I didn't really care for. Charlie and Emma were unlikable to me. I think the only characters I actively enjoyed were Lily and Charlie's mother. Sandy, Bethany, and Charlie's father were fine, but they're on the sidelines, anyways.

One of my issues from the beginning was the snideness of the Shaker Falls residents about Charlie's living in the city. People who love you, even if you mess up, are generally happy for when you've made a life for yourself in the city. It's not met with so much resentment, jeez. Were they not able to separate their anger about the breakup with Emma from the city? (Example: jokes about NYC using cabs while Shaker used Ubers. I can't tell you the last time my friends or I caught a cab. Uber or Lyft all the way!) Maybe I'm just extra sensitive as a New Yorker, who sees my city being hit so hard by COVID-19. It's bad timing and that's not Beers' fault.

This book also felt like it left out the reality of social media too much. Yes, facebook was mentioned a bit, but I cannot believe that Charlie, especially with someone as glitzy as Darcy, wouldn't post on social media. If anything, her insta or finsta would be updated often. It's just hard to imagine her not being in touch with anyone, especially since social media alleviates that in a low-effort way. They could've just thrown in a "you don't even post anything online" to make up for it.

Next issue: Am I just a cold-hearted cupcake? Because....uhhhhh.......was Charlie's crime so huge? She didn't pull a Caton from Behind the Green Curtain once her hot rich lady showed up. Charlie broke up. Messed up for Emma? Yes. So horrible that everyone and their mother in the town talks about it like urban legend? Absolutely not. They were two college or fresh-out-of-college people who broke up. Were they supposed to never break up ever? They both moved away and one came back sooner.

Okay, so I get the buyer's remorse of Darcy from Charlie's point of view, but they painted her like Cruella De Vil. Charlie falling in love with another woman would've made sense. Was Darcy morally questionable for dating ingenues within her staff? Uh yeah, but most of Charlie's memories were of Darcy being the worst, which doesn't convince me of the conflict. Like, once she sees Emma, she's consistently bombarded with how amazing she is. How come she couldn't have some problems with Emma's personality mixed in there, too? I found the destiny thing kind of weak and I feel like the transition from coldness to flirting was too jarring.

This is a neutral thing, but Beers and Melissa Brayden are definitely friends (as seen in the acknowledgements). Maybe their editors are friends, too. Because at times, the tone of this book felt Brayden-esque.

Before I go on, there were things I liked about the book. Some really well-written parts. Some quotable lines. I'm fortunate I had to finish this and not a badly-crafted story. The fact that Darcy left Charlie for someone named Tatiana brought the rap song "Thotiana" to mind and I laughed. The concept of a baker and a cook falling in love is adorable. Muffin Top is a perfect bakery name.

Okay, so this may have been my biggest issue and what sealed the deal for two stars: the storyline on Emma's father. We're all familiar with Georgia Beers: lovely writer and her characters and lily white. Very white. And that's fine, I guess, as long as she's putting out a good love story. So, when I see that not only did Emma's Black father abandon Emma and her white mother, he had a whole second family in some other part of the country. Then he died without being involved in her life. Huh?! Beers seems like a smart lady. She knows better than that. To finally involve a Black parent and he's an absent father? What the hell, Beers?

Did Charlie even like the city? It didn't feel like she really missed it. Maybe her tie to NYC was based on Darcy alone? But, that doesn't fit into the narrative of her going for her dreams (something not many people mentioned) in a fast-paced city. I loved her working relationship at Muffin Top and I had not a single doubt that she's turn down Boston.

Lastly, because this rant has to wrap up, Emma's mother.

Um.

Uh...

Did they ever resolve her drinking problem? It started out as a huge part of Emma's life, then Emma brought up having to eventually face her about her father (did the mom even know her ex-husband died?) and it never came up again. If I missed any part of them reconciling or getting her mother the rehab she needed, please point it out to me.

I look forward to Beers back at her best in this next book. Two stars.

There’s always a good reason behind picking up the latest from Georgia Beers and Flavor of the Month is no exception. This book is an interesting take on second chance love where Emma becomes consumed by the dazzling lights of the big city and rich girlfriend to go with it, until she doesn’t. Now back home she’s faced with realizing she made so many bad choices by leaving including completely ghosting her best friend and first love, Charlie. There’s no sparing of Emma’s guilt and embarrassment for what she did, and there’s no shortage of daily reminders of her poor choices. Emma may seem superficial on the surface, but we’re given windows into her humanity in that she isn’t perfect, nor is Charlie or anyone else for that matter. Choices are our own, as are consequences, and how we respond to those is ultimately what makes you a good person in the end. Redemption despite epic stupidity just might be possible after all. I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.