Nico Marshall own her own packaging company, with her sister, and is also a welder who has a show coming up, in addition to creating the packaging for a chocolate store. When she realizes the owner of the store is the beautiful woman she had been crushing from afar in her Thursday train rides, Nico pretends to be an average warehouse worker. Why? She want Sophie to like her for her and not for her money.

First I was surprised that this book was in first person. I would have liked to be in Sophie's shoes for a while. I thought she was a very interesting character, maybe more than Nico, so I would have like more on her.
Second, I thought Nico was a bit too pushy at the beginning, though her intentions were umm good? cute? .... I thought she was a bit too much in Sophie's space, when there was no clear indication on Sophie's side that she was super interested in Nico.
Third, I understand why Nico lied about who she was and how this is basically what the conflict will be between them, but that is a big lie! I was just having a hard time seeing Sophie falling for Nico and Nico not even considering telling her the truth.

Overall, it was a cute story and while I did not agree with everything Nico did, I did enjoy both characters and their chemistry. Definitely, a sweet and light read of a summer romance.

This ARC was provided by NetGalley and Bold Stroke Books in exchange for an honest review.

[Content warnings: manipulation from MC, stalker behavior from MC, mention of past alcohol abuse, mention of loss of parent to cancer, bi-erasure (without being called out), mention of past toxic relationships, graphic sex, pregnancy of side character, abusive main relationship]

Well, that was memorable.

At this point, I don’t care if I sounded judgmental, but Nico is an awful person. There are so many red flags throughout the story, and not only did I not get the chemistry between her and Sophia, I was hardcore against them being together. Plus, there were a lot of things that were oh-so-convenient for this huge lie to work out.

Nico and Sophia’s relationship started with Nico stalking Sophia on the Chicago subway and continued with Nico pretending to be poor when she is actually very rich. And yes, it was stalking when Nico <i>timed</i> their Thursday encounters. I get that Nico doesn’t want people to be after her money so she decided to pretend that she’s poor, but acting poor, actively pretending to be someone she’s not, all the while taking advantage of all her privileges made me very unhappy and angry on top of the whole relationship starting with deception. I wish everything had backfired epically on Nico and that Sophia never talked to her again.

It’s not very believable that Sophia knew Nicole Marshall, Tuft & Finley part owner and creative director, and Nico Marshall, warehouse worker, both work at the same company and not put two and two together. She had also heard Nico’s voice on the phone, seen her on the subway before she planned to play poor for fun. But let’s not blame the victim here. It is just one big awful lie, and by the end of the book, all the anger and distaste I felt toward Nico had made me emotionally tired. I felt resigned and that was a first for me while reading romance. Had this not been in the genre, it might have been exciting to see the manipulation and deceit played out.

Bryant clearly plans and writes well, despite a few confusing dialogues, and I really love that we have a soft butch character (there is also a casual mention of a random they/them character). But having Nico, a creep, as the first-person POV and one of the main characters in a romance is not something I love. My peak enjoyment of the story was laughing at how horrible Nico is, and she clearly does not deserve the lovely Sophia Sweet nor the unconditional support of her amazing sister Trish.

Reading “Scent” felt like reading an anti-romance, and now I need an actual cute romance to balance out all the distress I gained through this read. This might be a good romance if you could overlook the big lie and all the little details, but I couldn’t.

I was honestly expecting a valentines story based on the cover and the release date, so I was pleasantly surprised to have a warm summer read.

I liked that the book had both butch (Nico) and femme (Sophie) lesbians represented. Both Nico and Sophie were well rounded characters and felt very realistic. I loved the cast of side characters, who were fully developed people (shorter books like this often have flat side characters but this book did not have that problem). I am a sucker for food romances, especially chocolate romances, so this was right up my alley.

The only reason this is not a 5 star book is that I struggled with the book being first person from only Nico’s perspective. I did not like being cut off from Sophie, especially after the big reveal. I personally didn’t feel that Nico’s explanation and apology was sufficient so I would have liked to have access to Sophie’s brain to know her though process on the whole thing.

Overall the book was an entertaining short read and I would happily read other stories by Kris Bryant.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Stroke Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

We have all had that random crush on a mysterious stranger who tends to occupy our thoughts without conscious effort. This story revolves around this type of scenario where fate lead to opportunity for more. The characters are well thought out and I found them both endearing. The plot starts out light and easy, but unfolds into more of a slightly dramatic love story with some exaggerated emotions and reactions when it is discovered that the main character has hidden her true identity. As expected, everything concludes in a slightly overly sweet ending with an epilogue showing a glance into the future. I’m a sucker for a good epilogue, and appreciated this one.

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kris Bryant is usually one of my go to authors, but I barely made it through this one.

I knew going in that there was an element of ‘hidden identity’ but had assumed it would be a mix up that was resolved fairly early, unfortunately that is not the case. This features Nico (Nicole) part owner of a packaging company and aspiring artist, and Sophia, who runs a confectionary company with her brother. The company is in financial trouble so Sophia is starting a new line of sweets and needs new packaging, which she is conveniently getting from Nico’s company. She also happens to be the woman Nico is crushing on during Thursday train rides.

Nico has been burnt before by women who want her money and her first real contact with Sophia is at work, but in a way that doesn’t reveal who she really is. She decides to go with this because she embarrassed about how she acted and also because she wants to see if Sophia will want her for ‘herself’ instead of her money. This plan is stupid (and cruel) on about 50 different levels, especially since it’s hard for someone to love you for ‘yourself’ when you’re constantly lying to her. Nico doesn’t just hide her name, she actively lies about who she is, what she does for a living, what she drives, and where she lives. And not for a short time either, she strings Sophia along for the vast majority of the book, and a family member is the one who accidentally reveals the truth.

The book is told from Nico’s point of view, and this is especially unfortunate since she’s not particularly likeable. We also don’t really get to know enough about Sophia, but I do know she deserved better. I’m sure we were supposed to feel bad for Nico at the end, but I didn’t. Multiple people tell her to come clean, but she persists with the ruse as she doesn’t want to lose Sophia. Nico claims she is doing this because of how badly she’d been treated by her previous girlfriends but fails to realise she’s the bad girlfriend here. It’s hard to root for a couple when you don’t believe they should be together. 2.5 stars, rounded up only because it’s Bryant.

This is the first book I have read from Kris Bryant and it didn't disappoint.

The story is told in first person which I think worked well so could understand Nico's point of view but would have loved to hear more about Sophie. I loved Nico's sister Trish and wondered if someone could be so nice and and understanding as her.

The romance was sweet with little angst and all very predictable so no surprises there.

Looking forward to read more of Kris Bryant.

There are some authors you can count on to grab your attention from the first page and Kris Bryant has certainly done that. Scent is well written with likable characters and a storyline that will keep the pages turning. I enjoyed the sweet romance between the main characters and the chemistry they shared will tug at your heart. I found this story to be similar to some of the relationships my LGBTQ students have shared with me so I will be recommending this book to our small but meaningful book group. I look forward to more books by this author.

When I begin reading a novel by Kris Bryant, there are a couple of things I know will occur. I know I will thoroughly enjoy the story, and I also know that Ms. Bryant will pull my heartstrings (and possibly make me cry). She has done this again with her latest novel, Scent.

This is a beautifully written contemporary romance about two women who live in Chicago. Nicole (Nico) Marshall is a successful businesswoman with a promising future career as an artist, but she’s had terrible luck in her past relationships. Then she meets Sophia Sweet on the L train, and suddenly the idea of a new relationship doesn’t seem so bad. Sophia is part owner of a struggling chocolatier shop called Sweet Stuff with past heartache in her life as well. An attraction builds on both sides as the two meet and get to know each other. There is just one problem. Sophia thinks that Nico is a lowly employee at the packaging company Nico actually partly owns, and Nico lets her continue to believe that. She wants Sophia to get to know her as a person, but will Sophia understand when she finds out the truth?

We can all see the mistake that Nico is making, and also where the angst is coming from in the tale, but that doesn’t really matter. This story is excellently written with wonderful characters that are easy to fall in love with. Nico and Sophia are written with depth and realism. They also grow and develop throughout the tale. This is truly a character driven story which is probably why I love it so much.

Reading this novel is like sitting down to a meal of all your favorite foods, with chocolate as the dessert of course. It will leave you happy and satisfied with a smile on your face when you finally close the book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

Rainbow Reflections: http://rainbowreflections.home.blog/

Nicole (Nico) Marshall is co-owner of a packaging company, Tuft and Finley, in Chicago. But her true love is her art and the medium that she is trying to specialize in is welding sculptures. Nico has been taking the "L" train from her art studio to the packaging company and she spotted a woman who rides the train only on Thursday's. She also appreciates the sweet scent of the woman. But after being burned by a couple of past relationships, Nico is too afraid to strike up a conversation with the object of her affection.

Sophia Sweet is a third-generation chocolatier and is trying to keep the family business, Sweet Stuff, operational. Her plan is to create a line of gourmet chocolates to help revitalize the business. Once she has the chocolates perfected she heads to Tuft and Finley to meet with them about packaging and a box design. Sophia meets Nico in the packaging company warehouse where Nico yells at Sophia over a parking situation. Sophia mistakes Nico for a warehouse worker and Nico doesn't correct her. From there the duplicity ensues.

This is a difficult book for me to review since I've loved the sensory series thus far. But Scent started off on such an inauthentic and almost stalker-like note, that it was difficult for me to then transition to any feelings of like or love. Both of the main characters also initially seemed pretty one dimensional with Nico focusing on Sophia's hair, shoes, and hips, and Sophia focused on her chocolates. The first half of the book came across as very superficial to me. Nico and Sophia finally started to get to know one another about half-way through the book. I connected with the characters a bit more in the second half of the book. But one of the final parts of the book prior to the epilogue seemed to resemble the Notting Hill press conference scene too much for my liking. 3 stars

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Nico is a partner in a packaging company. Once a week, on her way home, she notices a pretty woman on her train with a small packet in her hand. As luck would have it, she meets this woman again as a customer in her company. Without further ado, she pretends to be a warehouse employee.
Sophia runs her family's chocolate store and tries to breathe new life into it with her new creations.
Sophia meets Nico under false pretenses and we as readers will find out how Sophia takes it that she has been lied to.
The book "Scent" by Kris Bryant was a sweet story about how outward appearances don't always reflect the truth. Even Sophia's imperfect cookies and chocolates are just as delicious as the perfect ones.
Beautiful story that made you forget about everyday life for some time.

I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for a an honest review.

I’m a big fan of Kris Bryant but this book didn’t work for me at all. It was well written and the main characters were well developed, but I had some major issues with one of the leads, Nico. The fact that she started out basically stalking Sophia, and then lied to her throughout was very off putting. The book was written in the first person from Nico’s point of view, which at times felt very manipulative and creepy. The way she was deliberately trying to lure Sophia in emotionally felt creepy and weird rather than cute. The plot was built entirely on the big lie, which I felt wasn’t actually needed at all.

This is a remarkable book about Nicole, Nico who is an artist and designer and part owner of a thriving business and Sophia a rather sophisticated, ice queen chocolatier. Nico sees Sophia every Thursday on the train and is taken by her beauty, her sophistication, and her scent. Working in chocolates Nicole carries with her the scent of what she’s working on that Nico can smell. Nico falls in love with her without ever saying one word to Sophia. While her sister encourages her to speak to Sophia Nico is afraid because her past relationship ended in disaster as the women she was with only one of her for her money. Then on the day Sophia shows up at her place of business to place an order for new designs and boxing for her chocolates she has a disastrous run-in with Nico who does not realize the woman is Sophia. So Nico decides she will talk to Sophia on the train on Thursday but act like she’s a regular worker at the shop and not a co-owner. Nico wanted people to get to know her as a person rather than as a co-owner of a successful business. You could tell from the gecko that this could only end in disaster.
Little by little as the two women get to know one another they have a musing and fun banter between them, some of which seems like it’s flirting. As they start to date and get serious about one another, Sophia still believes that Nico is a blue-collar worker until Sophia meets Nico‘s father who tells her about an upcoming art show highlighting Nico‘s sculptures. When Sophia realizes that Nico has been lying to her she wants nothing to do with her which leaves Nico devastated. Can these two ever get themselves back together? Can Sophia ever forgive Nico for lying to her? Can Nico do her best to be honest with Sophia and tell her why she deceived her from the beginning. All of this makes for an incredible reading experience because the author does such a great job not only developing the characters but developing a very into plot.

This story has the threat of drama above it all the time and as if drama is not something that excites me. Plus feel it so close and wait for it as you turn each page, I think it hasn’t allowed you to fully enjoy it. Nor did the fact that neither Nico nor Sophia have been very interesting characters, from my point of view, help.

Nico is kind of obsessed with her physical appearance, hairstyle and clothes especially, I found her behavior so weird. And I didn’t like Sophia completely, I even found her shyness unkind and rude. Definitely Nico does much more for the relationship that Sophía, from the beginning to the end, has not been fair in this regard. The behavior of the two women is not justified by any of their previous experiences, although Nico's is more clear but Sophía's is only supposed, don't know much about her past through the storyline.

I would have liked less detail about physical appearance and more about feelings.

Kris Bryant is one of my favorite authors when thinking about a light reading. I was not disappointed when reading this other book of the senses series. I do have a problem when Bryant goes with only one character point of view. I tend to think it compromises the depth of the other character, but it does not compromise the whole story
Bryant writes very well and without doubt achieved the SCENT description that was expected in the senses series.
Looking forward for what she brings us next!

A warm romance, as can be expected from Kris Bryant. I enjoyed reading this feel good book, the main and secondary characters are well-developed and the book never lost my interest.

Nicole (Nico) is a co-owner of a successful packaging business where she is the creative director and she’s an artist in her free time. She welds sculptures and her dream is to break through as an artist. With her first exhibition coming up this dream seems within reach. Her art studio is a short ride on the L from her work and Thursday is her favorite day of the week on the L, as then she will see “her”. The way “she” walks and always smells sweet is the most enticing thing for Nico. If only she could muster up the courage to speak to her….
It turns out that “she”, Sophia, is the owner of a candy shop and is in the process of setting up her personal line of artisan chocolates. She contacts Nico’s packaging business to design and produce packaging for her new line of chocolates.

Both Nico and Sophia are very likeable characters and have believable chemistry. It took me a while to get really good insights in their characters though, as the first impressions appeared to be different from the reality. I’m not sure if this was intentional, but I won’t go into details in case it was.

When Nico and Sophia finally speak to each other, Sophia mistakes Nico for a warehouse employee and Nico decides not to correct her. Due to some bad experiences with her exes Nico wants to make sure Sophia likes her for her and not for her success. Clearly, this will come out at some point and Nico realizes this all too well. This situation is given in the blurb, but I did not realize the large role it would play in the story. While I don’t mind a small lie, and understand Nico’s reasoning, I’m not a big fan of relationships that are formed based on lies. Despite several opportunities to come clean, and everybody pushing her to do so, Nico keeps this part of who she is hidden for a long time. While this creates tension and some angst in the book, it started to frustrate me after a while and I wished it wasn’t dragged out so long.

That being said, the overall writing was very good. It’s written in the first person from the POV of Nico. The pace was constant and the book has interesting secondary characters. Family plays an important role and I especially liked Trish, Nico’s sister and business partner. Nico and Trish are very close and the dialogues were fun and light. I also liked to read about the processes behind the creation of Sophia’s artisan chocolates and Nico’s sculptures and the vivid descriptions of the shape and color of Nico’s sculptures and the scent and taste of Sophia’s chocolates. They even made me long for chocolates, which is quite a feat as I’m not a particularly big chocolate lover.

Fans of Bryant and romance fans in general will most likely enjoy this book (if said point doesn’t bother you), it has beautiful descriptions and is sweet and relatively low on angst.

3 stars. Nico Marshall is the owner of a successful packaging company, and she trying to become a full time artist. When she sees a beautiful girl on the L train, she wants to go up and talk to her but she is too chicken. When that same girl, Sophia Sweet, is hiring her packaging company to do her chocolate boxes, she can't believe her luck. Nico freaks out when she yells at her to move from a loading zone and now is embarrassed to talk to her. Nice starts lying about who she is and never tells Sophia that she is more than just a warehouse worker. Sophia is trying to save her chocolate shop, her brother keeps taking the money leaving the business with no enough to survive. Sophia starts to make a fancy line of chocolates to try to save the company. She can't help but start to become friends with the attractive Nico. Nico starts to spend time with Sophia and is afraid she will go away if she tells the truth.

I enjoyed this novel. The lying by Nico is complicated and frustrating the entire book. I did not like it at all. It seemed to go on too long and it was something that should have been solved earlier on. Otherwise, their dynamic was good. At points, I wished the book was also in Sophia's point of view, since that would have been interesting to read, but it was only in Nico's point of view. Nico at times could have been a little less creepy and weird about her attraction to Sophia. I know it was supposed to be cute, but for some reason , at first I did not find it cute that she was almost stalking Sophia. I would recommend this novel if you enjoy the author and the premise seems to interest you. It was a pretty easy read. .

What happens when the woman you have been watching to months you finally get to meet? However, you do not tell her the truth? This is the basis of this book. Nico and her sister own a packaging company. Nico has been watching this woman for months on the train. This woman, Sophia, arrives at the company Nico co-owns. However, since Nico is working the forklift, Sophia thinks Nico works in the warehouse. Nico does not correct her. The relationship thus begins on lies. When Nico finally tells her the truth, Sophia cuts ties.
Nico is devastated and tries to repair the relationship. Can it be repaired? Or is there no hope?
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“With both hands, she cupped a small white box, held together with a red, silky ribbon as if it were the most important thing in her life, resting on her knees.”

The woman who captivated Nico on the train not only carried a nicely wrapped box every time she saw her, she drew Nico’s senses with her scent.

Nico Marshall, the co-owner of a packing company and an artist preparing for her debut exhibition met Sophia on a train. In order to keep seeing her, Nico worked around her schedule to catch her on the same train, on the same day, every week. When she finally took the courage to approach Sophia, she hid her identity to avoid the same fate her past relationships ended, her partners loving her for her money.

Sophia Sweet is on a quest to salvage her family’s business. A chocolatier who aims to breathe life with her new creations is not sparing a thought for romance. When she warmed up to Nico, she found herself inching her doors open only to find deceit at the foundation of it all.

The characterisation of Sophia was so intricately woven, I did not get enough of her. In the things she did not say but spoke through her actions. You will feel a surge of happy emotions when the characters interact and taste the teasing and sweetness while they go through the “getting to know each other” stage. Highly recommended as a book that reminds and makes you want to go through all the stages of romance again.

I just reviewed Scent by Kris Bryant. #Scent #NetGalley

Nico Marshall is running a successful packaging company with her sister. But her true passion is welding and each Thursday she catches the train to the warehouse where she creates her sculptures. Every week Sophia Sweet, chocolatier, is also catching the same train and Nico's senses become acutely aware of Sophia even before she sees her. Nico's infatuation for Sophia grows. When Sophia approaches Nico's company to produce boxes for a line of chocolate, Nico is determined to hide her wealth and status in the family company from Sophia but her deception could prove her downfall.

I love Kris Bryant, she's definitely one of my favourite authors but I ambled through this book. I think it was because I struggled to connect with Nico and Sophia. I found Nico to be somewhat arrogant even though I'm pretty sure that wasn't the intention, she was just way too sure of herself despite being through a couple of really bad relationships and Sophia's personality was too demure for me...who wouldn't want to get on the back of a motorbike with the hot chick that you were into? Although she redeemed herself somewhat when she finally relented. Unfortunately this book didn't quite resonate with me but am looking forward to Kris Bryant's next instalment.

Oh Kris Bryant. Once again you’ve given us a beautiful comfort read to help us escape all that 2020 has thrown at us. This series featuring the senses has been a pleasure to read.Listen was my favourite until now. The term scent of a woman conveys so many emotions. The sweet scent of lavender and chocolate radiating from someone you are attracted to? Impossible to resist.

Nico’s Thursday afternoon rides on the L train bring her in close proximity to Sophia Sweet, a chocolatier and owner of a struggling sweets shop. Nico is co-owner in a successful packaging and design firm as well as a metalwork artist preparing for her first showing at a local gallery. Her relationships in the past have kept her from dating anyone in years. Her sister Trish has pushed and prodded her into trying once again to find Ms. Right. Trish doubles her efforts when Nico makes fumbling attempts to catch the eye and interest of unsuspecting Sophia. When Sophia seeks out a firm to design packaging for a new line of chocolates she hopes will save her shop, she sees Nico and assumes she is warehouse staff. Preconceptions set, let the romancing begin.

I think what makes Bryant’s books so readable is the way she builds the reader's interest in her mains before allowing them to interact. By the time Nico and Sophia go on their first date (as “just friends”) I was all in cheering on Nico in her efforts to woo the shy and reserved Sophia. The humour spread throughout balances the fears the reader has knowing Nico is making a huge mistake not being completely truthful with Sophia. We don’t know as much about Sophia since the story is told from Nico’s point of view but we know enough to understand her relationship with her grandmother is as close a bond as Nico has with her family. The whole family aspect of the story gave me the warm fuzzies.

This is a sweet and happy sigh kind of read. Perfect for these chilly winter nights when you want to escape the world and step into a caramel infused world where HEAs really do come true.

5 stars

ARC received with thanks from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley for review.