I don't know what to say. This book has a cute concept that was never fully realized. From the start with the really misleading steamboat on the cover (it's not a major plot point and it's only in 1 chapter, why is that the cover?), to the secretive build up around the Really Big Past Mistake that turned out to be mean, but not like criminally so, to the constant navel-gazing by a self-involved, spoiled lead this book just constantly missed the mark. Maybe if I had read the first book beforehand, the secretive treatment for the past story wouldn't have seemed so weird because it wouldn't have been a secret, but in that case I expect it would have been even harder to like the lead. And boy howdy was she hard to like. The constant talk of how she was 'run out of town' over her past mistakes somehow both overplays and downplays the thing she did. She wasn't "expelled from society". She lost her job and was too embarrassed to stay in town and face people. If the book had been set in Claire's hometown with her facing up to her mistakes while helping with the preparations for her sister's wedding, I think this story could have been something memorable. Or, if the authors hadn't bothered trying to make this a sequel and had created an entirely new character for their folding wedding magazine. But they didn't commit to either concept and the book suffers for it.
Probably more like a 2.5 star rating.

Sometimes having high expectations placed on you makes you so things you regret. An unethical choice might ruin Claire's future for good. The story has proven to be a light hearted romcom and made me laugh out loud a few times.

Audiobooks can easily be ruined by a bad narrator - The choice of narrator for this one was spot on ... super articulate and in line with the theme of the book.

This book was the first I've read by Mary Hollis Huddleston and Asher Fogle Paul and I look forward to reading more from them.

#Piece ofCake is a great contemporary romance without spice. The characters are realistic, the storyline flows, and without giving any spoilers I can say I loved all the events and character interactions. This is definitely a feel good romance.

🪴 Southern Weddings and Adversaries 🪴
RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5)
FORMAT: 🎧 Audio (Netgalley ARC)

🪴 Set in the world of weddings, two enemies, Claire and Dominic, find themselves thrown together in a high-stakes, career-altering project. Claire has some secrets in her past which make her relationships with her career and family strained. Can Claire find a way to put her feelings aside, make amends for her past, and find unexpected allies?

This story was full of feel-good moments! A great light summer read!

❤️ The world of southern weddings was a joy to read. I enjoyed the balance of Claire and Dominic working in the wedding world paired with Claire’s sister planning a wedding. Perfect industry insights. The interconnection of her work life and family life was balanced excellently.

Parts of this book did not work for me. I think that the build-up of her “secret” past did not match the intensity of the secret. I also found that once I knew her secret I had a hard time finding a way to like her as much any longer - like maybe I hadn’t seen enough growth to trust her again.

📖 Overall, it was a solid romance read! I loved the main male character and scarfed this story down!

🎧 Brittney Pressley was excellent on audio!

Thank you Harper Muse and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this title before publication day, it was a joy to read and review!

RATING: ⭐️⭐️✨
SPICE: 🫑

I wanted to love this so much.

First off, I listened to this on audio, and I loved the female narrator and the way she told the story. She brought a lot of life into the character and a ton of personality. But still. It wasn’t enough to make me fall in love with it.

Let me start with the good! I did enjoy this book a decent amount. I loved that it had a Southern FMC and I loved the premise of a Southern Wedding blog/reality show and a romance with an enemies to lovers vibe. Unfortunately, I didn’t love our heroine though, and that made the book fall a little bit flat.

Claire is a disowned debutante working at a struggling wedding magazine in Nashville. She was disowned from her very privileged family after she did something terrible, and now has to make it on her own and help keep the magazine afloat. Enter Dominic. Dominic is an influencer and wedding guru from New York who comes to help the magazine out and ends up being given Claire’s idea. Claire instantly dislikes him, but they have to work together to save the magazine.

Dom was great. He was sweet, handsome and charming… and yet I didn’t feel like I knew him or his motivations at all. I didn’t feel his connection to Claire or believe it. Claire is one of the least likable heroines I’ve ever met. She is so haughty and judgmental, and also kind of a spoiled and terrible person. Even her redemption wasn’t that great.

This is also a clean romance, so the burn is excruciatingly slow, and is more like a tiny ember. Which I don’t mind clean romances done well, but like most things about this book, it fell flat.

This book would be good for someone wanting an easy, no spice read, or someone obsessed with wedding reality Tv… honestly the weddings were the best part of this whole thing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really liked it, stuck with me & would recommend

This contemporary romance tells the story of Claire Sommers, a former society girl from Dallas who made a massive mistake that left her reputation in tatters and trust fund frozen. She is currently scraping by working for a magazine, Piece of Cake, the beloved Southern wedding magazine in Nashville that is having serious financial issues.

Claire has a great idea for how to save the magazine, but her boss insists she partner with “The Brides’ Man,” New York native and social media star Dominic Gravino, despite her protestations. Dominic’s East Coast confidence and charisma clash with Claire’s Southern breeding and independent spirit. But in between million-dollar weddings, two-stepping bachelorette parties, and hot chicken fiascos, Claire and Dom discover they make a great team . . . on and off the job.

This was so much fun! Zany at times, clever and funny in other moments. The characters grow and the love story was charming. I read this very quickly because I wanted to find out what mistake could have ruined Claire's relationship with her family and how the magazine would be saved.

The narrator, Brittany Pressley, did a fantastic job, with accents and tone. I had no trouble understanding who was saying what, where, when, and with what expression/intension.

Thank you to Harper Muse, NetGalley, and authors Mary Hollis Huddleston and Asher Fogle Paul for providing me with a digital ARC copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Piece of Cake is out June 20, 2023.

This was a light romance centered around the Southern wedding scene. While enjoyable, I think Brittany Pressley’s narration is was kept me going since neither of the characters really drew me in. Claire is a hard person to like as a leading lady, she was a previously spoiled rich girl that was living in disgrace (as a normal person). She had moments where she grew up by the end but I still couldn’t care too much about her. Dom was an all around good guy but I think I just kept expecting more from him, I honestly thought he would do to Claire what she did to her previous coworker.

I absolutely loved this book. Every bit of it was fun and engaging. The reader was very captivating and made me love the story. I listened to the entire book in one day because I couldn't stop listening!

Unique story line that held my attention. I wanted to find out all the details about Claire’s big mistake. Dom was lovely! I would have loved this to be a dual POV to get his side of things. I would have also liked more relationship building between them. I did appreciate that Claire grew up and found herself as the story went on.
Overall, fun story!
Brittany was fantastic as always!

Piece of cake by Mary Hollis Huddleston and Asher Fogle Paul was fantastic. The humor really made it the perfect Rom-Com for anyone to read. If you are in a slump and need something to get you out of it. I recommend trying this book! The narrator did a FANTASTIC JOB.

Claire Sommers is a Dallas debutante from an extremely wealthy family. However, a mistake shatters her reputation and freezes her trust fund, leaving her struggling to make ends meet as a staffer at Piece of Cake, a bridal magazine based in Nashville.

Adding to her troubles, Piece of Cake is on the verge of closure. When Claire suggests launching a wedding documentary, the magazine's editor, Michelle, takes action. However, Claire is taken aback when she discovers that the "Bridesman," Dom, a good-looking heterosexual influencer known for providing a male perspective on all things bridal, will be her partner on the project.

Initially, Claire greets Dom with an icy reception but warms up to him as she realizes they make a successful team. The pressure and complications they encounter during wedding shoots allow them to learn from each other. Will their combined efforts be enough to save the magazine?

To Claire's surprise, her little sister's wedding becomes the finale for the docuseries, a decision her mother shockingly agrees to without Claire’s knowledge. Not only does Claire have to endure attending the wedding without a date and facing judgment for her past, but she also has to collaborate with the very people she hurt in the past. Fortunately, Claire now considers Dom a friend and appreciates his moral support. The only hurdle is that while he knows she is in a form of self-imposed exile; he just doesn't know the reason yet.

As the wedding celebrations unfold, Claire and Dom find themselves developing feelings for each other. However, Claire's incomplete honesty and Dom's eventual departure when the series concludes and his contract ends create potential obstacles. Will these factors lead to disaster, and can Claire readjust to her former life after Dom has shown her the joys of having fun?

I was provided an advanced copy of the audio version of Piece of Cake in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse.

To me unfortunately it was a miss, I didn’t end up getting attached or sympathizing for the MC. First complaint is that there were too many pandemic references tossed in there. Every time it was unnecessarily tossed in I would roll my eyes. The main characters have a very slow burn romance hiding behind wedding backdrops to make up for the slow burn? I got bored very quickly so for me it wasn’t a must read. It isn’t horrible just don’t think I’d remember it a week or a month from now. 2.5 rounded up to 3 because I’m sure someone with more of a southern belle background not a Yankee like me would like it better.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this audiobook ARC.

I very much enjoyed this audiobook. The story grabbed my interest right away. The vague references to something in the past kept me interested and wanting to find out the whole truth. All the main characters were likable and I found myself rooting for them right from the start. I also enjoy good banter in books and this had that aspect as well. Can definitely recommend reading.

This book totally reminded me of the Gilmore Girls with the way Claire was raised. Claire is trying to save her job and her reputation and keeps running into the past she was trying to forget. Claire has the ultimate plan to save the wedding magazine she works for but someone else is hired to take over her project leaving her as a helper. As annoyed as she was with Dom taking over the project she realizes they are a great team both in and out of the office.

Piece of Cake is my new favorite book. I loved everything about it…the characters, the setting, the conflicts, the weddings, and on and on. Now, I have to read their first novel, Without a Hitch and wait patiently for their third novel!!

It was ok, it felt very forced. I dont know. The whole thing didnt feel right. The characters didnt really feel relatable.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

While I realllllly did enjoy this, there's just something about a full caucasian cast crying about losing their generational wealth over something that a lot of people can't afford.

I guess it's a good read, like I said, I enjoyed it. But eh.

I really enjoyed this one- a quick cute read and the narrator did a nice job keeping my attention. I would definitely recommend. Reminds me of something I would see on Hallmark.
Claire Sommers as she works at the bridal magazine Piece of Cake. In order to save the magazine (financial struggles) she will document several big weddings in the surrounding area’s - but her co-worker, Dom is along for the adventure too.

Piece of Cake by Mary Hollis Huddleston and Asher Fogle Paul was sweeter than wedding cake. I hope this duo is working on their next masterpiece! This book follows a charter from
their previous book. It can stand alone, but the other lends a richer backstory for the main character and is amazing so read or listen first if you can! As a Nashville native this book gets so much right about my hometown others miss. I loved seeing the characters grow and was so invested. This book feels modern and summery and timeless all in one!

2.5- 3 stars

I feel like listening to the audio book for this one deeply impacted why I didnt rally enjoy this one as much as I thought I did. This is more of a personal preferences but I dont really enjoy the book as much when one voice actor voices both characters. Going into the book I was super intruiged by the plot and I felt like the Author did a really good job with it. It had suspense and romantic moments that I really enjoyed at times.
SPOILER ALERT INCOMING!!!!!!!!!!

Towards the end of the book when the book was coming to a close and it didnt seem like the two main characters weren't going to end up together I was strangely relieved and not at all heartbroken. I kind of liked the idea of them maybe growing apart and doing what they both needed to and then POSSIBLY getting together in another book (COUGH, i think these two need a second book following their relationship because I really enjoyed their chemistry.) but then they did eventually get together the last line of the book and I felt content but not head over heels happy. All in all, i thought it was a cute, fast read. I enjoyed all the characters, the plot and the romance between the two characters.

If youre looking for:
- Sister friendship
- workplace romance
- current pop culture references
- cute, fast read
- no spicy
- happy endings