Thank you to Amazon Crossing and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An enemies-to-lovers/fake-turned-real romance, this book tells the story of bakery owner Nora and the famous reality tv show baker Henrik. Aside from enjoying these story tropes already, what I really enjoyed about this book was the pacing of the romance. I recently read a similar fake dating trope where it felt like it moved too fast. The slower pace allows me to become more invested in the couple. I also enjoyed the historical interludes that told us some background from a baking perspective but also told a romance of its own.

The main drawbacks for me would be that while I enjoyed the overall pace, the end seemed a bit rushed. Additionally, I didn’t like the last plot point just before the epilogue. It didn’t feel like it brought value to the story and in fact almost made the work leading up to it seem pointless which I found frustrating. Lastly, I would have preferred a better way of showing that two characters are texting with one another. It was not only inconsistent, most of the time it didn’t stand out as being that different from regular paragraphs. If there weren’t other context clues, you might not realize they were texting.

Not really a pro or a con, but with all the talk of cookies and baked goods throughout the book, I would have been thrilled to see some of the recipes at the back of the book.

Nora owns and runs the oldest patisserie in Vastervik. It holds memories of her grandma and parents who passed it down to her and who are no longer with her. Her best friend surprises her by signing her up to be part of the popular reality show Let’s Get Baking, a show that helps revive struggling bakeries. Nora doesn’t like to admit she’s struggling and definitely doesn’t want to change the bakery she grew up in.

This enemies to lovers romantic comedy set in a small town during the holiday season will melt your heart. I especially loved the dual timeline and the second parallel romance that is portrayed.

I think readers who enjoy reality tv, romantic comedies, christmas stories and baking will really enjoy this book. And like me, I think they will be inspired to bake some sourdough bread.

3.75 ⭐️ I really liked the idea of this story, the characters, and the setting. I don't know much about Sweden but I do know that I love a small town romance. Pair that with the bakery/tv show plot and Christmas vibes and it has to be a recipe for success (pun intended). Unfortunately, Time To Rise just wasn't quite everything I was hoping for.

Starting with the pros, I actually really enjoyed the two different timelines following Tuula/Nils and Nora/Henrik. It was fairly obvious who Tuula/Nils were from the second flashback but getting to see their progression and ultimately find out how they ended was still satisfying and in the end, I think the better romance. Now that is not to say I didn't like Nora and Henrik's story because I did. I just found the enemies-to-lovers to feel a little rushed. To go from hating each other to suddenly in love was a little much. The baking/Christmas aspect was also great even though I had wished to get a little more of that portion of the story.

Now on to the cons. My biggest issue was the pacing. The first half (if not a little more) of the book felt incredibly slow. It wasn't until about 60=65% of the way in that I felt like the story was picking up and actually holding my attention for more than a chapter at a time. I don't know if it was the tv/production setting that was slowing it down or the not really enemies to lovers arc that felt like it was dragging or what but I just wasn't invested from the get go. Unfortunately, the end also felt incredibly rushed. The patesserie burning down only for Nora and Henrik to rebuild it together felt like a little too much almost?

All in all, I enjoyed this book and would recommend if I was asked about it but it's not the best book I've ever read.

Unfortunately, despite the promise of a reality television plot line, this book did not hit for me. There are two timelines throughout the book, and while they're connected, I didn't feel particularly engaged with either of them. The tropes utilized were very underbaked (pun intended!!!) like well, I hate you, but you're pretty so ~love you~ and I just don't swoon over that.

I really loved how Nora & Henrik went from enemies to lovers. The family connection and dual time-line were fun. I felt for Tuula and her children throughout the past flashbacks.

3.75⭐️ (rounded down to 3)

I want to thank NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Time to Rise follows Nora as she does everything she can to try and save her family’s patisserie, even if it means working with Henrik and his tv show to do so.

I loved the setting for this book. I don’t know much about Sweden to be honest, but the idea of this little family bakery in a small town was just really cute. The Christmas traditions shown were interesting too, as I don’t know a lot about Christmas in Sweden. I liked the chemistry between Nora and Henrik, how they had an ‘enemies-to-lovers’ thing going on. The romance did feel like it was rushed towards the end of the book, but I still enjoyed it.

My main gripe with this book is the completely separate story that’s included throughout that isn’t mentioned at all in the description. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed those parts (more than the main romance actually), but at first I was really confused by them because I hadn’t been expecting it at all. These chapters also appeared after something dramatic happened in the main storyline, which really pulled away from those moments and their impact. The ending of this side story was sad, but it did make for a satisfying ending for the book altogether.

The formatting of the book needs to be sorted before publication, as it starts with texts being italicised and then that stops, but there’s also a section entirely italicised when it shouldn’t be.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The history of Nora's great-grandmother was the most interesting part of the book, even though its ending was known for the beginning. Additionally, I liked how being part of a celebrity family business affected Henrik and his relationship with different family members.
However, the main plot was way too chaotic. I was lost in what exactly was happening in the show's production. Moreover, the ending felt rushed and it wasn't entirely convincing.

I really enjoyed “Time to Rise” there was family drama, romance, Baking and a strong female lead. Hedrick is a celebrity her who goes in and helps struggling bakeries and Nora’s shop is definitely one struggling. It’s been in her family for years and just can’t compete with the more trendy coffee shops around town. But when her shop is chosen for their winter special she is not happy. There also is the interesting story of their grandparents love and why they. Didn’t end up together. I admit, lots of drama but good story and wonderful character developments it is translated from Swedish so some of the sayings or way they talk to each other gets lost on me but easy enough to follow along.

A super sweet romance. I am absolutely weak for novels set during reality shows. The main romance between Nora, a bakery owner, and Henrik, a celebrity baker, grew from hate at first sight to one of mutual respect and love. Both were struggling with how to honor their family businesses while trying to succeed as individuals.

There was also a really touching secondary romance that was shown as flashbacks.

I enjoyed the book overall but there was just so much happening in it and there were a lot of other characters that kind of took the focus away from the two romances and the personal journeys of the main characters. I read this as an ARC.

Time to rise was a delightful book set in a small bakery that is thrust into the spotlight by the owners best friend applying to a tv show on her behalf.

It is funny and heartbreaking in places and a true delight to read. I was unable to put it down and having the 1940’s backstory look backs were fantastic.

I was pretty sure I knew what I had signed up for: an enemy-to-lover trope, an easy romance to enjoy. I liked that the trope was even mentioned, that some of the characters were aware that it was exactly what they intended to mimic.

There were two things though, that I found a bit problematic. The first one is the double timeline. One understands pretty early the link there must be between the two but it just kept interrupting and it lessened my enjoyment of each story in the end. The second one is the tempo of the enemy-to-lover trope. It felt a bit rushed to me. I cannot stand you, but you are so gorgeous I cannot resist you? That did not feel right to me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC so that I could give my honest review!

Huge thank you to netgalley for giving me an arc of this book.
This book has a lot of different troupes like:
- Enemies to Lovers
- Highlights friendship
- Brothers having one another backs

The only main thing I didn't really love as much was that the book character DON was very sexist especially about how women should look and it was very disgusting to read and it annoyed me to the point where I was like do I wanna carry on and finish reading this book, I managed to finish reading this book until the end, another thing was the constant unwanted emojis and the unhappy ending but apart from that the book was good.

Time to Rise was so much fun! It follows Nora, a small-town baker trying to save her struggling bakery and Henrik, a reality-tv celebrity baker who both meet while filming a segment for Henrik's show "Let's Get Baking".

It's an enemies-to-lovers story and I really enjoyed the multiple perspectives. It also has chapters that are set during 1945 in post-war Sweden that show the history of the family sourdough recipe and how the bakery came to be. This was a great light-hearted read and I always love reading about the food industry. The descriptions of baked goods and bread were delightful.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-ARC!

This was a gorgeous read, the love story romance was superb, the story keeps you wanting more as the chapters go on, the characters are fab, honestly a very very good book

I thought that I would read this book about a love brought about trying to influence people into believing that people making a TV show about baking could be in love. However, Nora used a show called "Let's Get Baking" to pull her bakery out of debt. She was introduced to Henrik Eklund as the shows host and immediately thought that he was an arrogant man. Through many scenario's he finally becomes in love with her as they tell him to belittle her. He finally tells them he doesn't want to do that with her any more and they believe him and change the program to his new view. This is what Helene has made the books view to be and it is meaningful to say the least. I recommend this book to anyone who likes love at its best.

Great book, an easy & light read. I've never been the hugest fan of dual timeline books, but I did think it fit well here and I kept waiting with baited breath to figure out how it all tied together.

this was quite literally a treat to read!
Nora and Henrik's chemistry was palpable to me right away, even after they clash quite significantly.

these characters are both facing their own issues, Nora struggling with keeping her bakery alive, Henrik with his imposing family sabotaging his every step. what I really enjoyed was that there wasn't much miscommunication between the two! I enjoy the trope every now and again, but I liked how Nora and Henrik's relationship troubles didn't entirely rely on that.

the only thing I personally didn't enjoy as much was the secondary romance in the book that I didn't expect and quite frankly, wasn't as invested in. I didn't really need the way those two stories were connected, but it didn't influence my opinion in how fun a read this was.

thank you netgalley and AmazonCrossing for the arc!!

As someone who loved baking shows and sweet romances, this was a great read for me. I loved the banter between the characters! They had great chemistry. I actually really enjoyed the reality tv aspect of the book which can be a hit or miss with me. I think this will be a great addition to romance readers TBR

4 ⭐

I received this as an ARC via NetGalley! This is a RomCom set in Sweden, following a famous TV baker and a baker from a small town who is struggling to keep the generational family business alive. This story was so unique, because there's also a dual narrative set in 1945 that weaves the background of the sourdough starter that plays an important role in both the character's lives. The book is translated from Swedish, so there are a few grammatical discrepancies, but the integrity of the book remains the same.

Firstly a big thank you for NetGalley for providing me an eArc to read!!

Overall I definitely liked the storyline. It was interesting, uplifting, not over dramatic and had enemies to lovers. I loved all the mentions of winter and the Christmas traditions with the focus on food and baking which reminded me of my own ones.

I’m not the biggest fan of dual timeline books tough because I think it always takes away the spotlight of the main couple and it wasn’t any different here. I often enjoyed the flashback scenes more and felt a deeper connection to them than the actual present romance story between Nora and Henrik. Their relationship was very fast paced and unbelievable especially towards the end and also the sex scene felt very rushed. Also I didn’t feel connection to any of the side characters. Furthermore I didn’t like the storyline with the dysfunctional father of Henrik at all. I just wasn’t the biggest fan of some of the writing in general.

But I still enjoyed the book. It was a fun, uplifting romance book I’m just not sure I’m a fan of the writing.