Time to Rise follows Nora, trying to save her family business by way of reality TV. Stories of family loyalty and the ups and unpredictability of reality TV gets me every single time!! Fun & light .❤️❤️❤️

I wasn’t expecting this to be a multi-generational story and was pleasantly surprised.

While I predicted the connection between the two main characters long before the end, I still enjoyed how it played out.

I would recommend this others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
⭐️⭐️
I really wanted to like this, but sadly I could not get into this book. I was hoping it would feel more like a Hallmark Christmas movie between a small town patisserie owner and a celebrity baker, but I mainly just was frustrated with both the plot and the romance. Our FMC Nora is incredibly grating and stubborn, and the MMC Henrik’s family drama was just depressing. I was shocked that this ended up being dual-timeline, and honestly I think I liked that aspect of the story more. I didn’t find their relationship believable, and most of the story was spent on descriptors of the town and the pastry items, which got repetitive. I really struggled the get through this book and hoped for more.

With cake icing, Nora must save the family bakery from bankruptcy even if it means opening its doors for a reality show.
A kind of enemies to lovers of sweet spices, I think what has stuck in my mind about this story is that it is really two stories, first we have Nora and Henrik, who are what the synopsis mentions and who become a ship mobilized by the marketing team of the program, but that with each coexistence becomes something more, and here the surprise story, that of Tuula and Nils, who in the past also lived a romance and we will see how they are connected with our main protagonists.

I'm a fan of a great setting, and I think this one has a very good one.

So if you like food or cake stories and reallity shows you know this is the book for you.

This was so cute and fun! I loved the setting and the characters. The baking show element was fun and I enjoyed spending time in this world and would love to read the rest of this series as it's translated!

This is the first book I’ve read by the author and I rated it 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 stars.

The story is of a small town baker who is running a bakery her grandmother ran before passing it down to her mother. She then obtained ownership when her mother passed. Her prize recipe is a sourdough bread, the mix first created by her grandmother.

Due to the economy and options in current day, the bakery isn’t doing well and the main female character is struggling keeping it open. She’s unable to pay back her loans and finds herself asking for another one.

Her best friend, knowing her struggles, enters her bakery into a popular baking reality show which has a pretentious and often harsh host. Her original hesitancy quickly changes when the bank tells her they can’t extend her loan without a plan to immediately increase revenue.

While taking part in the filming the main female chatter and host learn more about one another and begin to view the other differently.

The story also flashes back to the grandmother who is a widowed young mother in 1945 who took her children and fled during the war. The small town in which she flees to doesn’t view her Finnish background positively making her own story wrought with challenges.

While I liked the overall the story, there were multiple sections where I found myself becoming easily distracted. The last book I read immediately hooked me and kept me on the edge of my seat but I didn’t experience that with this book. However I will definitely check out future books in this series and from this author!

I adored this and really hope more works by this author get translated! It was equal parts baking, behind the scenes baking reality show and nuanced, understated yet steamy romance. Nora was such a relatable character and Henrik had the best energy. If you like enemies to lovers (although enemies may be overstating it a bit), give this one a try!!

Time to Rise comes out next week on September 17, 2024, and you can purchase HERE!

Although her opinions often irritated him, he appreciated her honesty. She was direct without being nasty or supercilious-something he wasn't used to. This kind of honesty was new to him, and it meant a lot to him.

He looked at her. He couldn't imagine what it was like not to have any family. He and his siblings had a complicated relationship, but at least they were there. And his mother meant the world to him. Life really wasn't fair, and he hoped he would be able to provide some support to Nora, who was all alone.

I really enjoyed reading Time to Rise which tells two different stories that are intertwined. One although reflecting the horrors of WWII shows the force of love to build up a new reality and a family in spite of prejudice and solitude. On the other we have Nora who struggles to leave her past behind in order to reshape her life and her business. Participating in a TV show was not what she wanted neither was she looking for a long term relationship especially with her enemy Henrik. Time to Rise is a romance that talks about family ties, power disputes, lack of familial love, friendship, and the importance of remembering and giving place for the good and the bad things from the past without letting them overwhelm you. It has fun parts, others that describe serious bullying, and beautiful descriptions of a small town in winter. Highly recommended!

Thank you to the author, Amazon Crossing and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This rom-com starts with the classic enemies to lovers trope, but with several twists. Our heroine is hellbent on keeping her family's bakery going, although business is not good and she is more or less insolvent. Enter our hero, with a camera crew tagging along to film a reality show - he is a celebrity baker from a well-known baking family, who helps struggling bakers to get back on their feet. Problematic is that our heroine's best friend signed her up for the reality show, and our heroine is not pleased at having someone tell her what to do and change to make her business better. The stubborn hard-headedness shines through clear as day, and the reality show is not going well. We also get an inside look into the family of the hero, where all is not as it seems - lots of distressing dysfunction there, and our hero is struggling to strike out on his own.

At the same time, a parallel storyline is developing, about a young Finnish widow who fled with her two young children to Sweden after WWII. She finds work in a local bakery, and slowly also finds love with the son of the baker's family. Very interesting historical background for those of us not so familiar with Scandinavia, about the animosity toward the Finns in that time period.

The pacing seemed a bit uneven at times, and it is a bit mystifying at first why this parallel storyline turns up - but the ending resolves this mystery in a very satisfying way. Overall, a lovely cosy read with a bit more depth than you might expect from a rom-com.

Time to Rise is the first part in the TV24 series, which will be a series of standalones. As the title is hinting to, this book is about a bakkery that needs to be safed. Even though autumn has yet to start, this book takes the readers to Christmas in Sweden. What will this book have in store for it's readers?

Nora didn't want to be featured in Let's get baking, but she didn't really got a choice. It was either doing this TV-show or close her families bakery forever. Nora doesn't like Henrik around in her bakery, making them true enemies. Henrik needs to save his TV show, but what if he can gain the public over by a enemies-to-lovers feature? The two of them have a love for baking, but can they find love for each other as well?

I really loved the baking aspect in this story. Nora really loves the bakery, which she inherited, even though she can't keep it running. Henrik also really loves baking, since his dad also is a bakker on TV. In addition, both Nora and Henrik have their own stories to tell. Therefore there is enough depth in the characters as well as development for both of them.

I really loved the POV of Tulla as well. And though I didn't really get why it was in the story, the ending makes it all clear. Helene Holmström has a really nice writing style. She really took the readers to this cute village in Sweden and I could feel the Christmas magic through the pages. I really enjoyed reading Time to Rise and am looking forward to the other parts in the series. Therefore I hope those will be translated as well.

3.5 stars ⭐
Thankyou to Netgalley, the Author and the Publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Time to Rise by Heléne Holmström is a sweet slow burn.
An updated story that is translated from Swedish to English.
I enjoyed this story. The characters were fun and the writing wasn’t bad.

This was a fun enemies to lovers reality baking show competition dual timeline romance set in Sweden. I enjoyed the backstory and getting to know more about the present day baker's family in the past and the way it ties into her love story in the future. It's always fun to root for an underdog trying to save a family bakery too. Good on audio and recommended for fans of books like The holiday swap by Maggie Knox. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review! I look forward to reading more in this series soon!

This book although had a lot to like was not for me, it was all a bit confusing with the other couple, which to be honest took a bit of relevance away from the main couple and the story didn't quite click, I finished it because I wanted to see where it was going but unfortunately it wasn't to my liking.

thanks to netgalley for the advanced digital copy of this book.

Time to Rise by Heléne Holmström is a delicious enemies to lovers romance with a wonderfully wintry setting with festive vibes, and is perfect reading in the run up to Christmas.
Nora is a third generation baker who has been running her family's bakery since the death of her mother several years before. She has strong ties to the business and the community but is definitely stubborn and set in her ways, and completely unwilling to make any changes to the way the business has been run for decades. Times have changed however and what worked in her mother's or grandmother's time doesn't have the same relevance today and the business is now facing a financial crisis. Her only hope of saving it is to appear on a popular reality television show.
Celebrity pastry chef Henrik has attained heartthrob status on foot of his show which visits struggling business and helps to turn them around. He may be handsome but he can be scathing in his criticisms and happy to play up his rude persona to keep viewer numbers high.
This pairing seems like a disaster in the making, and of course at first it is, both Nora and Henrik struggle to connect with each other and sometimes even to remain polite. Selling a fake romance to hook the viewers seems like an impossible challenge but both Nora and Henrik know that if they are going to save both the bakery and the show they will have to make it work. As they get to know each other a little better and Henrik starts to understand why Nora is so against change, sparks begin to fly and the chemistry sizzles. Henrik even starts to trust Nora with the truth behind the celebrity image.
This was a really cute read. I loved Nora as a character and was really rooting for her to be able to save her family business. The Swedish setting was so well described, I loved hearing about all the Christmas foods and traditions and I have to warn readers that they will not be able to read this book without craving all kinds of delicious pastries and goodies. I found the historical timeline fascinating, I didn't know anything about Finland during the second world war so seeing the experience of someone forced to flee their home and settle in another country where they were not always made to feel welcome really made me think, sadly that experience is still true today with several ongoing conflicts around the globe.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Recommended: sure
For a holiday/baking themed story, for enemies to lovers with tenderness and family themes, for a little tv celebrity reality show trope

Thoughts:
There are several aspects of this story that you can guess from pretty early on. Some of the connections between them were clear as day to me as a reader. It felt a bit like the saying about how in a play if a gun is in the scene it's going to be shot -- otherwise why include it? There were some aspects that showed up for both of them or their family's history that was like, okay clearly here's where they intersect. That was fine though, as it also gave us a little kernel to look forward to. A moment I knew was coming when they each discovered the connection and felt moved by it.

It was also pretty obvious how the final conflict regarding the TV show edit / premiere and such would go. Like 100%, probably even just from the premise of them being on a reality TV show together you can guess some of what they'll fight about. xD But still, it was done and it mattered. I didn't begrudge it for being a bit standard fare within the trope.

Family was a big theme, especially the different ways they approach and feel about family. Their connection is defined by it in a lot of ways, both in the barriers and bindings of it. It was fairly stressful to have to read about Henrik's crappy family and the way they manipulate him and each other. On the other hand though, it also brought some compassion to his character and understanding for some of his faults.

There are some legitimate reasons that they have to face to potentially be together, even beyond the "enemies to lovers" thing. When they each have a dream that requires being in a specific location and those places are not the same, who is due to make a sacrifice? Or should they choose the other dream over the person? It's one big aspect of the story, and is a really legitimate problem that people could face. I appreciated that time was given to discuss it and make it feel like a true weight on both of them.

Overall I enjoyed this read as it had cozy baking and Christmas vibes, with a little dash of reality tv show celebrity drama. Plus the setting is wonderful as are the little touches into the past.

Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Crossing for a free advanced copy. This is my honest review!

I ultimately did not finish this book- I just couldn’t get into it. I found the FMC to be too stubborn to the point of being too much. I didn’t connect with any of the characters.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I don't bake or watch any of the cooking shows/competitions, so that was a little overwhelming for me. So much talk of baking, and sourdough starter, wow. I'm not saying it was a bad thing, just a lot for someone who isn't familiar.

The two main characters both played their parts well. The sweet, innocent woman everyone loves. And then mean, grinch-type man everyone loves to hate; kinda.

If baking and cooking shows are your thing then you should definitely read this book!!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A cute and rollicking romance about two very ambitious people and how they met in the middle. Great little insights into the local culture - it was refreshing to read a book not set in the US.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me an E-ARC of this book.

The parts I enjoyed from this book is the scenery description and the pastries, but that's all.

The book pace is quite slow, and the double time line can be a bit confusing since it was never mentioned in the book description. Both main characters are well structured but quite annoying, the plot starts being somewhat interesting till halfway through and the romance between Nora and Henrik is simply boring, I couldn't connect with them or their non existing chemistry.