I haven't read the other books in this series but found that you could read this one as a "stand alone". It's an easy read, perfect for a cold winter's night.

This was an OK book. It is slow, so you need to keep that in ind. Was also a really clean sweet book, they only kissed and that was at end of story. I know that Zac and Lacey were attracted to each other, and they did spend a little time together. However, I don't buy the ending.

Baking for Keeps is my favorite of Bachelor Bake-Off series so far! I got that tight-knit small town feeling in this story, without the over-the-top-nosiness from the elder members of the community.

Lacey and Zac, the main casts here, were polar opposites in every way. The story was told from their alternate POVs, giving voice to both thought and feeling; which often at odds with one another. The gradual swap in manners both on Lacey and Zac felt genuine. Although - once they owned up to their feeling - the relationship accelerated swiftly; way too swiftly in my estimate.

What I love most were how people's life story intricately connected others's and in time would also affect our MCs. It's so cleverly and touchingly woven, and brought all the feels and emotions in me that it made that swift change I mentioned earlier quite acceptable.

This is a nice introduction to Jessica Gilmore's writing and a lovely entry to the series. I'm gonna continue on to the next books and hope to get as nice a story as this one. If not more! :)


Advanced copy of this book is kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Baking for Keeps is a heart warming small town sweet romance. Lacey & Zac seem like such complete opposites. She grew up traveling constantly & he grew up in a small town where everyone turned their backs on him. She was happy to settle down with her aunts while he was glad to see the last of the small town.

The chemistry between Zac & Lacey was easy to see & feel in the writing. The characters were well developed & believable. The supporting characters added so much to the story! What interconnecting threads! They each ore attached by an event in the past! The atmosphere of the small town was very realistic with the feelings of family & looking out for/caring for each other. I really enjoyed the switch of roles as Lacey was a horrible baker & Zac started to really enjoy it & was good at it.

If you are looking for a good, clean romance that pulls you into the story, you really need to read this one. I'm going to go checkout some of the other "Bachelor Bake Off" stories!

another winner for this series. this was so enjoyable with a lot of sub plots that all came together at the end .A very satisfying read.

“Baking for Keeps,” book 4 of the highly engaging series Bachelor Bake-Off, finds Marietta-native Lacey Hathaway teaming up with visiting software guru Zac Malone. But, it was a strange team-up.

With both of them not knowing how to cook, it was up to Lacey’s two aunts who are well-known confectioners to mentor them. The catch – there is a side bet between Lacey and Zac that heats up whatever was between them.

At first glance, “Baking for Keeps” is a rom-com with enough laugh out loud funny moments to make the classification true. Yet, there are also many moments that tugs at your heartstrings – times that you just want to hug either Lacey or Zac or both of them at the same time. They are more similar than they realize, yet they wonder why they feel that way about each other.

A sweet story with lots of surprises, “Baking for Keeps” should be read during lazy weekend afternoons when you can savor its lyrical prose and enjoy Lacey and Zac.

“Baking for Keeps” is Rated T for Teens. There are no sex scenes in this book.

Very enjoyable read! I really liked these characters. Lacey with her outgoing easy way and Zac's lone wolf persona are a perfect opposites attract couple. As with the other bachelors Zac is roped into the bake off. Having no skills for baking he definitely needs help and Lacey is the woman to help him. With more than just baking too! This is book 4 of the Bachelor Bake-Off series but each of these can be read standalone. I highly recommend this one.

Overview:

This series, set in Marietta, Montana concerns the participants in the Bachelor Bake-Off which is being organised to help finance ‘Harry’s House’, a house where it is planned children can go, take part in activities, learn key life skills and be helped with their studies. A safe place for them all being created in memory of Harry Monroe, a first responder who was tragically killed whilst endeavouring to help an elderly couple. Each story in the series has one of the bachelor’s participating in the bake-off as the focus.

My Review:

This is the fourth novel in this series and stars the very taciturn, insular, Zac Malone and his antithesis, the bubbly, open, warm and friendly Lacey Hathaway. Zac has travelled to Marietta on business, expecting to stay for a few months whilst sorting out the financial records and software for the town hall and training up the staff to use it. His company specialise in such transactions and Zac is the boss. He usually stays in a hotel whilst working away from home but this time his assistant has booked him lodgings in the home of two feisty elderly ladies who are fantastic bakers. This would be fine. He can maintain his reclusive behaviour, eat, sleep and work in his room and really not have to socialise at all. Well, that’s what he hoped originally. Fate has other plans in store for him!

Lacey lives with her aunts, having settled with them after a childhood spent travelling around the globe with her musical parents and brother. Now she’s thoroughly enjoying her job as the manager and a DJ at the local radio station. She’s also eagerly anticipating the return home of her brother who has agreed to participate in the Bachelor Bake-Off . . . Have you guessed it? Her brother lets her and his aunt’s down so they need to find another Bachelor quickly - and there’s one right under their roof! They manage to persuade Zac to participate but he has a major condition of his own - inept baker Lacey must also learn to cook the required dishes! Is this a recipe for disaster - or a delicious dessert topped with a sprinkling of romance?

This is a delectable tale, with great main characters who bring out the best in each other and a plot which pulls threads from community interactions, interweaving them to create a emotive tale of Marietta as well as their romance. It is another heart warming romance in this delicious series and I have no hesitation in highly recommending this - and all the other books in the series that I’ve read so far! I can’t wait to read more in this series. Whilst the books have the same overview, the stories are actually written so they can be read as a standalone or in any order.

Many thanks to the publishers for gifting me a copy of this novel, via NetGalley, with no obligation. This is my honest review.

Making the documentary of the bake off has one of the main characters finding out the Lodger is more than just someone living under the same roof... Could it be Love....

Zac and Lacey are kindred spirits in a way. He never wants to feel rejected or abandoned again and so he refrains from ties and bonds of any nature. Lacey feels like she doesn't belong with her family because they prefer to travel the world and she wants to stay grounded. So she goes through life being friendly and helpful but she too doesn't make connections.

Her brother backing out of the Bachelor Bake-off and the convenient presence of Zac as the current house guest at the Crooked Corner turns into a chance to re-evaluate their circumstance. And the cause is a good one, Harry's House, a place for children and teens to turn to for solace, comfort and a general break from their hard live.

What follows is a series of kitchen "disasters" romantic innuendos and a whole lot of soul searching.

I'm really enjoying this Bachelor Bake Off series, even though it has driven me into a baking frenzy. And understandably today it was an apple cinnamon cake because that's what reminded Zac of Lacey...
This series is sweet, clean, and has that Marietta family focus on them, at least on the books I have read so far.
I enjoyed that in Baking For Keeps the author brought forward more about the Harry's House, that the money is collected for, and in a practical way showed how it could change a young person's life, what the impact of the house could be in the community.
Zac Malone came from outside Marietta, and I liked that there's new blood coming into the town. Zac was a serious, goal-oriented person. He has a kind and caring heart if he just gives it a freedom to get attached. He had it tough when he was a teenager, and promised himself to make a better life, and that goal in mind he had lived his whole adult life. He was not the settling down type, he was not going to share his life with anyone, to get attached, he was not going to get rejected and hurt like that again.
Lacey Hathaway's family lived the nomad life from one music show or concert hall to the next. She had always longed for a home and have found a place where she feels that, with her aunts. Lacey is always ready to help others, she has a heart of gold. Talking to others and making them feel comfortable around her comes naturally to her, but sharing her inner thoughts and personal life isn't something she is comfortable with. She hides behind the bubbly and cheerful exterior, still holding others at the distance.
I liked Lacey and Zac together, the connection and chemistry between was just right. The things they did around the town reminded me why I love visiting Marietta so much. The conversations they had, the way they challenged each other to be more, to step out of the comfort zone gave an in-depth look at them, and their development through the story.
If you like stories that are adorable and delightful, that will make you smile and sigh, that are clean in content with tender and gentle first steps into the relationship, (and that just might give you the urge, desire, and craving to bake,) you are going to love Baking For Keeps.
~ Four Spoons

This was a decent chick lit. The premise was that they needed bachelors to participate in a money raiser to build a youth center. Enter an out of town visitor who is willing to participate and add a very clean romance. Not bad for what it was.

Baking for Keeps by Jessica Gilmore is another book in the Bachelor Bake-Off Series that takes place in Marietta, Montana. Each book is able to be read as a stand-alone or you could read them in any order.

I would say that Zac is not a warm personality that I thought would be hard to like. However, there is a loneliness about him that pulls at the heart as I got to know him better as the story progressed. Lacey and Zac seemed like opposites but they began to have common ground in the story besides the obvious attraction between them. I was expecting but loved the switch up in the roles concerning the bake-off as well as the supporting characters in this book.

Jessica Gilmore is a new author name to me but her characters fit right at home in Marietta. I enjoyed her style of writing, the characters’ alternating perspectives as well as the character growth from the beginning to the conclusion of the short novel.

I happen to love the time of year when we’re once again introduced to some handsome bachelors in Marietta, Montana and are allowed into their romantic moments. Baking For Keeps brings us an unusual couple. Two travelers at different times in their lives. One who prefers the road filled with people and familiar places. The other is running from the past and believes that there is only one person to trust, themselves. Both are somewhat broken, neither truly realizes that fact or at least acknowledges it. But one chance business trip, one no-show brother, the magic that can only be called Marietta and a lighthearted baking competition for a good cause will shake up the balance for Zac and Lacey. Now we simply have to see on what side the scales will tip.

I liked Zac and Lacey. One standoffish man who needs no other person to be close to will find himself smack in the middle of a town that knows no stranger, a family that is as warm, and down to earth as the delicious creations that come from their kitchen. Zac is a nomad, moving from place to place for his business. This time, as the owner, he had to step in and do a project himself. He may be back in a small town that brings back painful memories, but that doesn’t mean he has to take part in any of it. Lacey has found her place in Marietta. After a childhood of the nomadic life traveling with her family of musicians, she’s content with her job at the radio station and her home with the aunts. As we spend more time with Zac and Lacey we’ll begin to see the cracks in their beliefs of being perfectly content as they are. As Zac begins to loosen up his intense desire for alone-ness, Lacey will start to realize that she’s floating, waiting for something that will magically appear without any effort or participation on her part. Their attraction to each other is a slow awakening to possibilities, but the risks are huge – they have to decide if loving someone else is worth the risk, because there is no guarantee in life but the journey can be sweeter with the right person at your side.

The “Marietta Universe” has become so defined now, that most of us who live in that small town (through the numerous series) can feel quite protective of it. A story set in Marietta has some living up to that cannot be denied.. I was…impressed… with Ms Gilmore’s first entrance into Marietta. She got the feel of the town, the sense of community, the small nuances that – well, matter, to a long time reader. I certainly hope she makes a return visit there very soon for I love when an author “gets” an established community and slides right in like an old comfortable front porch swing. I admit that I’ve read some stories set in Marietta that did not have that feel, at all… and that always saddens me a bit. Those are compliments within that paragraph *grin* and I really hope to be reading more of Jessica Gilmore’s works in the near future.

I would recommend Baking For Keeps to any Romance reader who loves a good story, believable characters and a secondary character cast that pull it all together in a natural way.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Great book. It had a slow buildup, but characters you couldn't help but root for. I personally liked the side bet that Zac and Lacey made with one another. This was the first book I have read by this author, and I would definitely read more. I received an ARC, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review, which I willingly did.

This book was wonderful. sweet and heart warming. and perfect for those who love clean romances and those set in small towns. I am so happy I got a chance to review this book!

A sweet treat of a novella!

This is one heartfelt love story I couldn't put down. I loved Lacey and Zac and Lacey's gorgeous aunts. I loved the way the hard shell Zac had built around his heart slowly crumbled away as the town of Marietta Montana worked its magic on him, and I loved the way Zac made Lacey question her comfortable life. I loved the scene in which Lacey and Zac kissed for the first time. Heartstosppingly perfect! This is a sweet romance which kept me hooked throughout. Just lovely!

This is my least favorite of the series so far. The characters had no spark, no chemistry. I haven't ever read this author before- maybe she want totally into the whole "bake off" idea, but I like think it's a unique premise.

Another sweet story set in Marietta, Montana. Lacey is the manager of the local radio station. Zac comes to town to audit the city books. When Lacey's brother fails to show up for the bachelor bake-off she talks Zac into taking his place. A fun story, and the competition takes another view when Zac challenges Lacey to a smaller contest just between themselves. Naturally there is a HEA, and the growth of both was fun to read about. Highly recommend this book and author and series. This is book 4 out of 5, but can be read by itself.

Zac Malone and Lacey Hathaway are complete opposites whose current lives are influenced by their pasts. Zac is a loner who prefers not to make connections or rely on anyone. Lacey craves familiarity, surrounded by people she knows and loves.
When Zac’s job brings him to Marietta, the only place available for him to stay is a room at the B&B run by Lacey’s aunts, who also have a small baking business they run out of the house. Preferring sterile hotel rooms, Zac’s plan to keep to himself is quickly blown out of the water. Lacey is content with her life and excited about her involvement in the Bachelor Bake-Off. When her brother backs out of his visit to Marietta and participation in the Bake-off, Lacey and her Aunts are scrambling to find a replacement for their Sponsorship. Zac is intrigued by the way the people of Marietta are actually working together to help those in need, unlike the town he grew up in. His only condition: Lacey has to learn to bake with him, and participate in a mini bake-off before his actual competition.
I enjoyed Lacey and Zac. Their intereactions were fun and Lacey was a genuinely likeable person whowas ccontent with where she was in life. Each challenged the other’s view of their life and saw that they could have more than they realized, and that sometimes being a bit of a nomad or having ties to people or places is not such a bad thing.
This was a well-written story packed with interesting characters. The bake-off and its goals were front and center, and I had fun with the mini competition between Lacey and Zac. The secondary characters were enjoyable as well, and I loved Lacey’s Aunts and their place in the town. This was a very enjoyable read and a great addition to both the Bachelor Bake-off Series and Marietta.

Jessica Gilmore's Baking for Keeps is the fourth in the Bachelor Bake-Off series. Lacey and Zac are opposites that fit together wonderfully. I liked both Lacey and Zac. There was more depth than might be expected in such a sweet romance. I enjoyed learning more about Zac and seeing where their relationship was headed.

The Bachelor Bake-Off series has been a fun series to read. I'll be sad to read the last in this series.

Lacey had traveled all over the world with her parents when she was growing up, but for her home is in Marietta. Zac avoids making friendships and engaging in relationships with others, so when he finds himself in the small town of Marietta and part of a bachelor bake off he doesn't exactly know what to make of the situation. Lacey and Zac begin to develop a bond while he is staying at her aunt's B&B and their feelings for one another grow. No longer afraid of his feelings Zac and Lacey fall in love.

This was a good read and fit well with the other books in this series. Great read.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley!

This book was a quick and cute read. Lacey and Zac both struggled with expectations and hurts from their childhoods, but understood that those experiences could be standing in the way of a brighter future. Both characters were likable, and their relationship felt natural. Interesting, but somewhat predictable, resolution. The parts of the book discussing recipes and cooking were fun and never felt forced or overdone. I look forward now to reading other books in the series. Recommended read.

This series was an ok read for me. Each one was kind of the same.

‘Opposites attract’ is what this book is about. On one hand we have Zac, who likes to keep to himself and cannot wait to get away from Marietta once his business is done. On the other hand, we have Lacey, a bubbly and charming girl who has only known the community life of Marietta. With Lacey’s brother backing out at the last moment, Lacey needs to find a bachelor to step in and save the day. Zac would have probably not cared otherwise but the bake off was for a cause even he could not ignore. But he sets a condition that if he has to learn to bake, then so does Lacey. With their paths crossing, and spending more and more time together it gets harder to ignore the chemistry between them. But is this attraction enough to keep them together forever? Especially when Zac’s time in Marietta is coming to an end and it is the only home Lacey has ever known.

I loved this story because of both the characters and their dynamics. The characters of Zac and Lacey are well developed. They are simple and complicated at the same time. And irrespective of the fact that their personalities are so poles apart, they make a couple that is easy to believe in. They are the anchors of the book. Apart from that the author has an easy going narrative and constant flow of the story also make the pages keep turning. The climax was predictable and expected, however that doesn’t take away much from the reading experiences.

This is the fourth book in the story but can be read as a standalone. A sweet romance that is good for a couple of hours of entertainment.

This story has so much potential but goodness it was very wordy and slow. The aunts were great and the mini bake off between them was fun, but it could have used more fun and flirty times between them, it was just depressing and it had a very sad and lonely undertone to this book.