A Sweet Mess

Oh my gosh! This book is soooooooo amazing and wonderful and I wish I could read it all over again, it was so good. A Sweet Mess follows Aubrey who owns a bakery in a small California town and is super talented, who has one night stand with the dreamy Landon. Unfortuntately it turns out that Landon is a food critic and has some harsh criticism for Aubrey and her bakery after he visits and is served a cake meant for a small child's birthday. With his review out in the public, Aubrey's success stalls and Landon, realizing what effect his review will have attempts to help Aubrey get back her public favour by offering her a job on his friend's cooking show. What follows is a sweet, steamy romance of two people who do their best to resisting their attraction and fail spectacularly.

I loved the concept of this book when I read the synopsis but somehow I still pleasantly surprised by this book. Aubrey was a lovely, well rounded character and I loved how the author worked in her past while also making her fully capable and self sufficient. Competence porn at it's best! Aubrey is hysterical as well as and there are so many good one liners that she has, both externally and in her internal monologue.

Aubrey is so relatable and I wanted to be best friends with her as well as eat her food. The food description in this book are too die for and I wanted to make and eat all the things that Aubrey makes.

Landon is also a great, rounded character - I loved him and his attraction/love for Aubrey but struggling to like him as well in his big headedness. Landon goes on more of the emotional journey in this book, which I really enjoyed watching him try to work through his past to get to the point where he feels deserving of Aubrey.

Spoiler Alert****
The only quibble I have with this book is the plot point that is inserted toward the end when Aubrey finds herself pregnant. Generally I am not a fan of the surprise pregnancy trope and was a little disappointed to find it in this book. HOWEVER, this is one of the few books that I felt handled it really well. Aubrey doesn't fall apart or wallow in self doubt forever. She decides to move on and gets on with her life and sets up a wonderful support system and I loved how she got on with it. I was frustrated that she wasn't honest with Landon about her pregnancy though the justification makes sense. It's just always an issue with me when the couple fails to communicate.

The chemistry between these two sparks off the page and made me want to consume this book as quickly as possible. The descriptions of the food are incredible and has my mouth watering. Overall this book is so stellar. It's stayed with me even months later; just thinking about it makes me want to re read it. I can't wait to share this book with everyone I know.

Lee’s “A Sweet Mess” is a delightfully fun delectable romance. A refreshing story featuring a small town talented baker and renowned food critic sheds light on all that is absolutely delicious, fun and extremely challenging about being immersed in the world of food. The characters are engaging, thoughtful and complex and reflect perspectives from the Korean American experience. The romantic tension is both charming and heart rending as the characters work through balancing competing professional agendas and intense personal chemistry. I highly recommend “A Sweet Mess!”

An enjoyable romance with wonderful descriptions of food and sweets. The romance was interesting although it had several tropes I’m not a fan of. I like the characters and setting.

Very fun! Love the dialogue, the female lead is absolutely stunning and down to earth. I love stories about bakeries, and this is so sweet.

I absolutely loved this book! The characters were amazing and so relatable. The location and endless food descriptions had me dreaming of a future vacation. I just didn’t want this book to end. Thank you NetGalley for another wonderful read.

A delicious read! I loved the plot and premise of this.It was an easy read, and so much fun beginning to end. A perfect romance book to take your mind away while also making you hungry. The chemistry of the two protagonists is sexy and fun and you can't get enough of.

Jayci Lee's tale of love, sweets, and one nasty culinary review is both entertaining and full of delicious food porn that won't make you gain weight. One mistake of a cake intended for a little girl's party, leads jet-setting culinary critic Landen to write a scathing review for the bakery of the woman he met and made love with, Aubrey, without knowing her identity as the baker. Landen wants to help her, but fears for his and her reputations if he retracts the review and their fling comes out. But in helping Aubrey, Landen can't keep himself away and fears he may be falling for her, and for a settled life. I can't wait to read other book by Lee, and I appreciated the diversity of the characters.

This was a sweet story about two foodies who find love. I really enjoyed the writing style of this author. The characters seemed realistic and even when their decisions infuriated me, I understood them.

I thought that the actual food show and public fallout would play a bigger part in the story line, so that was a surprise, but the direction the story went in worked.

The descriptions of food were so vivid and it sounded delicious!

This book was too cute!! Full disclosure, I would love to start my own bakery one day, so I was just way too into the concept here, for starters. 🙂 Aubrey is an absolutely incredible baker living in the small town of Weldon and running her bakery, Comfort Zone. Business is booming, and she’s planning to expand into a new location. At the same time, food critic Landon ends up stranded in the town of Weldon, and writes a devastating review of Comfort Zone…because he was given a six-year-old’s birthday cake by mistake (honestly, he was SO HARSH. Wouldn’t you ask why your perfectly normal cake had gummy worms in it before putting someone nearly out of business???).

Meanwhile, Aubrey and Landon – not knowing who the other is – spend an incredible night together. As you might’ve guessed, things get pretty complicated from there… Landon is desperate to undo his mistake without ruining his reputation as a food critic, and ends up getting Aubrey a spot on a cooking show that pays enough to get her back on track. But this also means being in close quarters for three whole weeks.

I just thought this book was flipping adorable. Jayci Lee writes her characters really well, and has a great handle on their inner monologues that really sell the story to you. The plot was just a joy to read, I could hardly put it down despite having a mountain of college homework to work through. 🙂 Once the plot gets real dramatic I just could not stop myself, haha.

I loved the relationships between Aubrey and her family and friends, which were evidently really strong bonds that added to the warm feeling of the book. I didn’t find the main characters to contain the level of depth I particularly associate with the best-of-the-best, but I still really enjoyed this one. It was just a happy, feel-good read. Easy-peasy.

I highly recommend picking up a copy of A Sweet Mess when you can!