Published by St. Martin's Griffin on July 14, 2020
Genres: Fiction, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Multicultural & Interracial, Contemporary, Asian American
Pages: 320
Format: eBook
Source: ARC
Jayci Lee delivers “a perfect balance of impeccable wit, laugh out loud hilarity, and off the charts chemistry. A Sweet Mess is a sinfully decadent romantic comedy.”—New York Times bestselling author Helena Hunting
Aubrey Choi has been content running her highly successful bakery Comfort Zone and with its first expansion taking up all of her time, dating has been the least of her priorities. Then a one-night-stand with gorgeous Korean hunk Landon Kim makes her want things she didn’t think she had time for. Too bad it turns out he’s a celebrity food critic whose scathing review of Comfort Zone goes viral and nearly destroys Aubrey’s business—and her fond memory of their night together.
Landon tries to clean up the mess he made by offering Aubrey a spot on the new celebrity cooking show he’s producing. She agrees to use this as a way to save her bakery and her reputation—no thanks to him—but vows to guard her heart. Now Aubrey and Landon find themselves sharing a villa in California wine country, which is a guaranteed recipe for disaster. For the next three weeks, baker and critic will tempt each other as they struggle to resist admitting that they have all the necessary ingredients for love.
“A rich, vibrant romance that’s a feast for all the senses.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blakely
Includes Delicious Dessert Recipes!
Aubrey and Landon were an adorable mess of a Korean-American couple that had me experiencing some serious culinary envy right from the start. Seriously, the food descriptions were probably my absolute favorite element to the story beyond the intense chemistry between the two lovebirds. I found myself snacking while reading and lamenting that I didn’t have any of those decadent ice cream sandwiches on hand!
A Sweet Mess uses a pretty standard one night stand, enemies, then lovers formula that works well. Both characters have compelling backgrounds that read as authentic and give readers plenty of reason to like both Aubrey and Landon as a couple and separately. Best of all, this is a diverse cast with wonderful friendships with all the banter you could want between the couple and others. I really did have fun reading the first half of the book.
The biggest issue I had: this story uses a trope that I always pass hard on. I can’t share really share it without giving a bit of the plot away but it’s not something that will bug many other readers but just happens to exist on my “No, Thank You” list. It’s just one of those reader hang-ups that I have.
Overall, this was a sweet, decadent read with great characters and friendships. The romance is sweet and spicy and it is clear the author adored their characters. I would absolutely read more of Jayci Lee’s work in the future.
Recommended for: Lovers of steamy romances, one-night-stand turned second chance romance, and unexpected pregnancy trope.
*I voluntarily read an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
