I am really enjoying this series. First we had Donovan's story. Now we have August's story, which also involves Donovan's little sister, Sloane. There is a past history between them that hangs between them. Watching them rekindle their friendship and seeing how they interact throughout the story is so much fun. The chemistry is hot as well. Highly recommend this and can't wait to read Nicholas's story.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely.

While this was cute it was also kinda tired. But I did enjoy Sloane’s personality and the spice was a good flavoring!

More. More, more, more, more, more. We need more books like this. We need more authors like this. We need more stories like this to be told. We specifically need this author to write more and more and more. Because this was a great one! I’m typically not a fan of second chance romance but this one was done so incredibly well. I really the characters, they were dynamic and wonderfully human. The spice was well written - the whole story generally was. My biggest issue was the pacing. The back and forth between the main characters dragged on for a bit too long and then when they finally got together it felt like a spicy sprint to the end. It just didn’t feel well balanced and it felt like the spice was being crammed in just to have it, not because it furthered the relationship or story. But otherwise, super pleased with this one!

I was nervous when I realized it was part of a series and I hadn’t read the first book, but you can read this just fine as a standalone. I fell in love with the bones of this book from the start: football player x baking?! Maybe because it reminds me of my fiancé who played football all his life and through college, and he also loves to cook and bake… this was such a beautiful story of speaking out against toxic masculinity and standing up for women, especially in the Black community. If you enjoy romance tropes of childhood friends to lovers or brother’s best friend, this is the book for you. My issues with this book revolved around the writing style, mainly in the dialogue. I just felt like the characters were speaking like how you’d type up an essay rather than being more casual. I also felt like this was such a slow burn, with nothing spicy happening until over 70% through the book, so the ending felt a bit rushed. Despite this, I really did enjoy this story and all the topics it touched on in a truly poetic way!

A fun second chance romance with lots of crazy social media shenanigans.

August Hodges works mostly behind the scenes at Sugar Blitz Cupcakes. But he ends up accidentally going viral when his impromptu feminist rant is shared online. With a second location in the work, he and his partners decide to capitalize on the publicity. Sloane, his best friend's younger sister, agrees to help as a way to get her a chance at her dream job. However, Sloane has been haunted by August since they were teenagers, and leaving their past in the past turns out to be harder than either of them expected.

I've really enjoyed this series and the setting of a cupcake shop owned by 3 football players. The first book in the series, with Donovan as the leading man of the trio of owners, was fun and this one was as well. The friend group and how much they all support one another is great.

I did have a bit of a hard time getting into this book. Mainly Sloane and August are both very closed off, so it takes a bit to really get to know them and get excited about supporting them. It did get better as the story went on, but it did also impact the pacing a bit.

Overall, if you enjoy foodie romances, sibling's best friend romances, or second chance romances, I definitely recommend giving this book a read. It's perfect for a beach read or for cozying up with a cup of tea.

This is the second book in what I hope will be a trilogy about three professional football players in San Diego and the cupcake bakery that they started in the first book. This book is about August, who is a fullback, and likes to work behind the scenes. Sloane has had a crush on August since he and her brother Donovan became college roommates and teammates their freshman year of college 12 years ago. This is quick read about the power of believing in yourself and the love others feel for you.

Unfortunately I really wanted to like this book, but it just wasn’t for me. It did have cute banter and a golden retriever mmc and a strong, badass fmc, but the plot just wasn’t very strong. The fmc made a contradictory decision towards the end of the book that made me go, so what was the point of this story then if you’re just gonna go back on what you said? The romance was there but it was also kind of boring and can we discuss how weird it was that the mmc was being harassed in his workplace and all of his friends were making jokes about it as if it’s not a big deal? There were just elements that I found icky and I probably should have just DNF’d it.

This was such a sweet romance book. I really enjoyed this book. It was the first I have read by this author. I will be looking for more! I would definitely recommend this book.

As a self-professed brother's best friend's fan, I absolutely loved this book!! Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy. A Legend in the Baking is out November 19!

Meh.

I didn't not like this one, but I didn't love it. There were a lot of aspects I did like: second chance romance, baking, strong FMC, cinnamon roll MMC. But I just had a hard time connecting with the plot and it felt like everything was shoved in at the end. There was drama in the plot for the sake of drama and not to move the story along.

It may have helped if I had read the first one in this series before, but I didn't and it is what it is now. I think this series is a set of interconnected stand-alones so I don't really think I missed too much reading this one first.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC. My review is honest and voluntary.

“A Legend in the Baking” by Jamie Wesley is the second in the “Fake It Till You Bake It” series. This book can easily be read as a stand-alone. This book follows August, a football player and co-owner of a cupcake business, and Sloane, his co-owner’s little sister and former - well, someone special. In other words, August and Sloane have history. This book starts off with a bang - Sloane getting fed up and quitting her job. Realizing that she needs to pay the bills, she goes job hunting - only to take a job were there’s a ‘contest’ between herself and the other interviewee to see who can raise the most marketing awareness for a brand. Sloane decides to accept her brother’s offer of helping the bakery - especially after August goes viral for a darn great speech he made one day. I really liked the first book in this series, so I was so pleased to be able to read this one. This book had its moments, but it didn’t make me fall in love with the characters and their situations. August is great - little to say, but when he says something, he means it. There’s history between the two characters, so there’s a slow burn … a very very slow burn at times.

🧁 I did not like this book and I’m so sad because how cute is this picture?! Anyway, thanks to @stmartinspress for giving me a sneak peek. This is out the 19th!

🧁 Sooo, not only did I not love this book but it may be a bit… problematic? Two reasons:
- these two start talking when she’s in high school and he’s in college (with a long term girlfriend) and she attends parties and even bases her own college decision on him— she feels to young to be in these situations
- the male MC goes viral for a feminist rant caught on video and women proceed to flood his work place— touching him, catcalling him, etc — felt icky to me

🧁 Beyond that, I just struggled with the plot. Her workplace conflict/challenge felt wildly unrealistic. His conflict both with his divorce and his dad were barely touched on then quickly resolved. None of it worked for me. I should have DNF’d but I didn’t and here we are. 🤣

🧁 This is part of a series so maybe if I’d read the first one and had more backstory on these two I may feel different. If you read and loved the first book you should definitely still give this a try. Again, it’s out November 19th.

This is the second book in a series of interconnected standalones about a trio of pro football buddies who own a cupcake shop. This was a cute romance with the right amount of spice!

Okay - let's jump straight into it! First and foremost, thank you to Jamie Wesley for writing this book, and thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC of the book.

Secondly, I am giving this book a 4.5 out 5. I loved the first book (Fake It til You Bake it), and I was sooooo excited to get my hands on the second book! I really enjoyed getting to know August and Sloane. August Hodges is a pro-football player who loves staying in the background, however, after a very feminist rant that goes viral, he is thrown into social media fame. While Sloane is Donovan Bell's younger sister, trying desperately to stay out her older brother's shadow and make a name for herself. And then after several years of avoiding each other, their worlds collide and force them into close proximity with one another.

What I loved the most was the building up of their chemistry from tentative people with history to like the sweetest slow burn love that one could MUSTER! I was screaming by time they finally both jumped into the deep in together. This book is much more straight forward in comparison to the first, but in a good way. This book covers a sweet, slow burn romance, gentrification, toxic masculinity, found family, healing from past hurt, second chance romance, and a super cute HEA.

0.5 subtracted because I just wanted even more from August and Sloane. I just wanted to be able to experience a little more of their relationship. I just wanted to hang out with them a little more... otherwise, I enjoyed it thoroughly and would recommend this book for folks who love standalone books that are set in the same universe as others, slow burn and second chance romance, super-hot pro football player who's quiet, but kinda a yapper around his girl.

This is an entertaining, well-written, contemporary romance novel. It has an intelligent, likable female protagonist who has a sharp business mind, an engaging and caring football player male protagonist who bakes, family and relationship drama, a touch of humor, a steamy, second chance romance, and a happily ever after ending. I especially liked its message about social media. This is the second entry in Ms. Wesley's Fake It Till You Bake It series, and it can be read as a stand alone. Many thanks to St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin, NetGalley, and Ms. Wesley, from whom I received an advanced reader copy of this delightful novel. This is my honest opinion.

This was such a “tugs at the heartstrings” kind of story for me in terms of some of the self-reflection that both Sloane and August had to walk through. Being a part-time baker myself, this book and the first one have nestled spaces into my heart with intertwining the stories of everyday people. Without saying too much, the intense love connection between A & S was both adorable and infuriating at times, lol. But the burn of it was fun to read!

Not crazy about second chance romance books, but this was pretty good! I don’t even mind that it was a slow burn. The ending felt rather rushed though! Nonetheless, the book was a good time!

I am absolutely in love with this "sweet" series that Jamie Wesley has "baked" for readers. I really enjoyed "Fake It Till You Bake It", but I enjoyed this one even more. Something about Sloan and August revisiting their romance was so delectable. Wesley has crafted two characters that are good independently but a force together. August was empathetic, honest, and loudly supports women.

I look forward to reading Nicholas' story :)

This was a sweet second chance romance, slow burn, medium spice. I feel like the ending felt rushed and wanted a bit more depth to the plot and character development but overall a fun read. Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

A Legend in the Baking is the second book in the Fake It Til You Bake It series, but you don’t need to read the first book to understand it. You can find my review for Fake It Till You Bake it here. Characters from the first book appear in this book, but there aren’t any spoilers from this book for the first book.

A Legend in the Baking focuses on August, one of Sugar Blitz’s owners, and his teammates Donovan and Nicolas. Sloane is a social media wizard and Dononvan’s little sister. August and Sloane have known each other for several years. Because of their history, there are several will they or won’t they moments throughout the book. There is minimal spice until you get around 75% of the way into the book. There is a whole chapter dedicated to nothing but spice.

Besides their history, Sloane and August have something else in common: both have issues with their dad and feel they deserve the love of others. Sloane wants to make it in life on her terms without relying on a man, including her brother. August felt as though he never mattered to his father.

While a third book has not been announced for this series, I hope Nicolas gets his own story. Doesn’t everyone deserve love? In the meantime, I will be on the hunt for my own perfect cupcake shop! But you should read A Legend in the Baking.