A sweet as sugar romance, it has all the good feels and I just adored it. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

Lips Like Sugar is the second book in the Bluebird Basin series. I cannot get enough of these characters. The story is refreshing, exciting and emotional. I will forever recommend this series to anyone who needs a great plot with a side dash of spice and romance. This book in particular touches on many real life topics and does a great job exploring them throughout the entire story.
Thank you to Jess Hardy and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.5⭐️ rounded down

A Mature romance, 53 year old Cole Sanderson is a former drummer in a band, and currently a grandpa. He meets 50 year old Mira, a single mom running her own bakery and taking care of her mom who’s has early onset dementia.

Song references were A+.

My only issue - Mira came across as way to immature at times.

What I love? “Romance readers age up, so romance stories should age up, too.”

Lips Like Sugar by Jess Hardy is the second book in the Bluebird Basin series, but can absolutely be read as an interconnected standalone. However, why you would want to pass on the perfection that is Come As You Are is beyond me. One of my favorite things about the series is that it follows couples who have already led a life, but they fully embrace a second act. The conflicts feel true to life, rather than a young twenty-something not knowing what they want.

Lips Like Sugar follows baker and busy mom Mira Harlow and her romance with former drummer Cole Sanderson. Their relationship starts as instant attraction, but I never felt like it was instalove. There was an undeniable spark and Jess Hardy built on that and crafted a truly beautiful romance. There was one scene in the rain that had me ugly crying, but this book is absolutely worth it!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

3.5/5⭐️ but feeling generous rounding to 4.
Firstly I’ll acknowledge I’m definitely not the target audience however still found this book really enjoyable. Strange but I had “pour some sugar on me” on repeat in my head while reading this book.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Jess K. Hardy truly is unparalleled in crafting romances about adults over 50. This story is sexy, fun, and sweet as hell, which is honestly what I’ve come to expect from this author! I love that this was a continuation of the Bluebird Basin series and really gave me the same heartwarming vibes as Come As You Are did, but it can totally be read as a stand-alone for someone brand new to the author!

I was given an ARC by Netgalley and and Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op. All opinions are my own.

This is a good book. The two main characters are Mira and Cole. Mira runs the local bakery. Cole is a drummer and producer at his studio. Cole has to come to town for his best friend’s wedding. Mira is having a conversation with her ex when Cole comes into her bakery, she made up a fake boyfriend so Cole goes along with the story. They go to the wedding together. They develop feelings for each other. They fall in love.

Lips Like Sugar by Jess Hardy is book two in the Bluebird Basin Romance series, and Mira and Cole completely stole my heart. I'm an elder millennial (40 is on the horizon), and while I love all kinds of romances, sometimes I get a little exhausted with all the perky young protagonists. I don't relate to the boundless energy and the effervescence of youth like I used to. Hardy and her Gen X romances are like a breath of fresh air--a mom with a teenage son and way too much on her plate? THAT I can relate to. I love seeing people in their forties and fifties get the love stories they deserve. No matter our age, connection and desire and friendship and attraction are still important parts of being human--even if our bodies and our lives look a little different than they used to.

Mira is juggling parenting a teen, running a bakery, and caring for her mom, who is in the early stages of memory loss. And then when her ex comes into the bakery with his new wife, she just snaps--and that's how she winds up kissing a stranger and taking him as her date to Ashley and Madigan's wedding. Cole is an ex-rocker and former bandmate of Madigan's, and his life has been feeling a little stagnant. He may be older now, but he's still up for some fun--so he says yes to Mira's "fake long distance boyfriend" scheme. Their fun weekend shenanigans lead to a genuine connection, but can their fledgling romance survive long-distance and actually work in the real world?

I adored Ashley and Madigan in Come As You Are, and honestly, Mira and Cole's story was just as good--if not better? I can't pick a favorite. You can't make me. They're both incredible.

This series gives me such wonderful warm fuzzies. I can't wait to see what Hardy delivers next. WE NEED MORE GEN X ROMANCES! Thank you. That is all.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Cole and Mira were introduced to readers back in 2021! They were side characters that you wanted more of and three years later, Jess delivers their story!! It was a long wait, but worth it!

Mira is a busy, career driven, single mother who is doing the best she can. Of course life would bring her ex and his new wife back into her life at the worse possible moment…and is attending the same wedding as her. Caught off guard, she does what any level headed, rational, sane woman would do. She kisses the first man she sees in her bakery and lucky for her, he plays along, saving her some massive embarrassment.

Cole is a former punk drummer, in town for same wedding as Mira, is in the right place at the right time. Being pulled in for a kiss by a total stranger, has him landing in a fake relationship to help her save face, while they both deal with real life.

Jess has always been able to capture later in life MCs so well. She reminds people, as they get older, they don’t just stop living, but are still in need of love, attention, and romance. She never shies away from writing her characters as many are. Just because one gets older, doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy life even more. Cole and Mira are deep, but dealing with problems of aging parents, older children, and life that is relatable to those in the same boat. It was wonderful to go back to Bluebird Basin and I hope Jess gives us more in this series soon!

As always review trigger warnings before reading.

Tropes:
🥁Musician MMC
👩‍🍳Baker FMC
🥁Single Parents
👩‍🍳In Their 50s
🥁Spicy
👩‍🍳Amazing Banter
🥁Fake Dating

Jess K Hardy is an expert at writing older romances and I love her for it. this was a delight and the development of love was beautiful!

Book: Lips Like Sugare
Author: Jess K Hardy
Rating: 5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I have officially found a new auto buy author for me! I am just obsessed with her writing style! 😍

This was such a good book.

I was hooked from the very beginning and devoured it in a day!

First of all, I absolutely love the characters from book one, so to figure out that this one was based off of the MMC from book one's best friend ... & band drummer 🥵 I got so excited!

I was happy to have amazing characters from book one back, and also to meet all the great ones from this one!

I love the age of the characters, the growth, the love, and all the issues that were discussed!

I hope we get another one from this world.

You get:
• Musician MMC
• Baker FMC
• Single Parents
• In Their 50s
• Spicy
• Amazing Banter
• Fake Dating

I highly suggest you pick up something by this author! This one is available on Amazon through KU, ebook, paperback, and audio book!

I absolutely loved the first book in this series and could not wait for the second. This is a new author for me and she hit it out of the park both times. I love the older more mature characters and their version of a love story.

There is so much about this book that I enjoyed. Jess Hardy is a great writer and her characters and stories are necessary for the romance genre. I love that she is writing older main characters that are living realistic lives and how that even as we age we still want love and sexual intimacy. Cole and Mira are two great characters, and I loved their chemistry and relationship development. I loved revisiting the previous couple in the Bluebird Basin series. I think that this installment could be read independently but that reading the first in the series would give you better background for the setting, characters, and increase your enjoyment. There were a few plot points that were introduced and not fully explained and/or wrapped up too quickly, and I did not like the third act conflict, but overall I really enjoyed this book and will recommend it to other readers.

Mira Harlow is going, going, going all the time with her bakery and taking care of her 14-year-old son and her mother. When she is working on bakery items for an upcoming wedding she is caught off guard by an ex and when he introduces his fiance to her she kisses the man standing next to her who just happens to be Cole Sanderson who is a drummer and was a drummer for a popular band. This just sends emotions and people talking into a whole new page of the small town. Now the two of them need to find out how to make it work or not because they each have feelings for each other but don’t know how to express it. A good book with wonderful characters.

Another cute Gen X romance from Jess. I loved the diversity (older characters, Cole is bi-sexual, Mira's son is pan), as well as watching Cole and Mira fall in love (also, Cole falls first, which was extra bonus points). If you liked her first book, you'll enjoy this one.

I just love reading Jess Hardy books because it’s refreshing to read love interests that are older than 25 haha! I appreciated the glimpses of previous characters from the first Bluebird Basin book and hope there are many more to come! I mean, a drummer ex rock star and a baker? How do you go wrong with that!

As the second installment in the Blue Basin series, Cole and Mira are EVERYTHING. Their relationship starts out entirely too smoothly and it’s an absolute delight to witness them yearning and eventual deep attraction to each other.

I can not wait for more by Jess K Hardy as their older romance books have been beautiful and scratches an itch I have for them.

This is an interesting romance. Mira and Cole's romance starts most peculiarly. To show her ex that she's moved on, she lies and says she has a date for their friend's wedding. When Cole walks into her bakery in the middle of that conversation, he becomes part of her lie. What starts as a fake relationship quickly becomes real, but will it be possible to survive the distance and the obstacles to the relationship they're dealing with?

What a wonderful addition to the Bluebird Basin series. Mira is a baker in a small mountain town doing her best to care for her mother, raise an amazing son, take care of her business, and try to age gracefully but alone. But when her ex-boyfriend comes to town with his new wife for a wedding they're both attending Mira is not so content to reveal she's still unpartnered since their breakup. But romance fate steps in and she gets a wedding date out of Cole the best friend of the groom and a sexy rock-n-roll drummer to boot. Cole is not without his own baggage helping his daughter with his new grand-baby, living in another state with a thriving business, and a lingering ex-wife who will always be in his life if not ever his lover again. The romance that blooms is a lovely and sexy slow-burn. Mira and Cole become long-distance friends as they consider whether it will ever be possible to become lovers and when opportunity puts Cole back in her small town the two have the chance to discover if it's possible to have love in the midst of all their personal complications. If you're looking for a romance with characters with time and life experience who still bring the sexy this book is for you.