I absolutely loved the cover of this book that is displayed on Netgalley. It displays colorful food, lipstick, friends/family, and alcoholic beverages which is a recipe for fun! I enjoyed all of the bits about culinary and all of the fun things she baked. I did however have a few things that I disliked about this book.

Ruthie is the main character who doesn't seem to know what she wants to do in life. Her grandmother passes away and leaves her $62k behind. Ruthie decides that she wants to enroll in culinary school since she has always had a passion for cooking. She meets a classmate named Jeff and they instantly hit things off as culinary partners and potentially more. Ruthie learns shortly after meeting Jeff that he is taken. Does that stop them? Nope. That is one of the biggest issues I had with this book. I really don't enjoy reading about cheating or flirting with someone when they are already taken. While Jeff's definition of cheating is only sex, Ruthie doesn't seem to have any morals as she is head over heels for Jeff and will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Jeff does break up with his girlfriend and chooses Ruthie in the end and they have some spicy moments together. As Ruthie finishes making some cakes for a competition, Jeff realizes that a jar of his special white powder has gone missing and he panics. Jeff explains to Ruthie that he has a drug problem and has relapsed and that she has unknowingly made icing with cocaine. This felt so left field and just such a huge red flag that she should have dropped him there. However, she continues to be desperate and wants him so badly that she says they should stay together while he goes to rehab. Jeff makes a rule that he is allowed to write letters to her, but that she can't respond. Ruthie is fine with that until she realizes that Jeff has also managed to steal $30,000 from her bank account. She can't seem to get the money back because she accidentally told him her password to her bank account while she was drunk. With a password like Snickers, her favorite candy bar, I almost felt like she deserved that life lesson. With all these red flags, her family still gaslights her into thinking that maybe they are meant to be. Her family tells her not to worry about money and that they have never seen her as happy as they have when she is with Jeff.

As Jeff is in rehab, Ruthie gets a call from a previous man that she met on vacation in Thailand named Dean. Before Jeff, Ruthie was head over heels for Dean also and couldn't imagine life without him despite their short relationship. Dean and Ruthie hook up again and start dating. Somehow Ruthie knows nothing about him and realizes he is a vegan and that is almost the end of the world for her. Since she is a cook and loves to use raw milk and raw cheese in recipes, she feels as if she can't look past him being a vegan. I felt that this was super shallow of her and if you really care about someone you can have different opinions and lifestyles and still make things work. She slowly got over her issue with him being vegan and continues to focus on buying a bakery that she has been working at for the past year. Dean gets an amazing job offer to become a doctor in another city and tells Ruthie she has to come with him and that she can open a shop near there. I do admire that she finally stood up for herself and told him that she wasn't open to doing that and was going to be taking over the bakery she was at. Dean was wrong to just assume she would pack things up and go where ever he went without discussing things with her first.

Jeff finally manages to get out of rehab and claims that he is such a better human now and him and Ruthie can live happily ever after now. Ruthie does have a bit of common sense and doesn't fall for his shenanigans. Jeff says he will spend the rest of his days trying to win her back. He does at least pay her back $10,000 of the $30,000 he stole from her. Not with his own hard earned money though of course. He had to take a loan from his family who is helping him pay his debts to all of the people he owes money to.

Thank goodness her friends finally decide to step in and remind her that men aren't everything. They save her from destroying her life anymore than she possibly has and that is the best part of the book for me. Realizing that both of these men are extremely toxic and that she is better off right where she is and focusing on her own goals. Thank you to Netgalley, ECW Press, and Amy Rosen for an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion.

This was a pretty good book! Our main character does have a ton of things going on in her life, and she’s struggling with balancing them all. I like that the book was pretty lighthearted, and it had a little bit of romance and a lot of different themes. I like the themes of friendship, growing up, work life, balance, and relationships.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!