Allen Jameson had it all—the perfect house, the perfect partner, the perfect life—until his partner, Gary, died suddenly, leaving him alone in the real world, where life isn’t so pretty and people make mistakes. Now Allen is the owner of Sweet ‘n’ Sassy Cupcake Shop, a cute boutique downtown, where he invents delicious flavors like strawberry and French meringue. Between working long hours and making special orders, Allen barely has time to think.
Then a hunky contractor walks into his shop looking for a treat. Allen and Byron Bannigan are total opposites, but they’re perfect together—salty and sweet like Allen’s signature peanut butter and chocolate ganache cupcakes. But as Allen struggles to juggle his business and his boyfriend, he learns he can only handle so much. He may have to choose between the cupcakes in his store and the cupcake in his bed.
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Dreamspinner Press
Okay, now, here we have Allen, who is the one man bakery owner. He makes cupcakes and quite well if his regular’s have anything to say about it. He was just looking for something to do after losing his partner of 10 years a couple years prior. Gary, was 30 years his senior and Allen took joy in taking care of him. We don’t see any of their relationship because the story takes off when hunky construction man Byron or “B” as he’s called; comes in and is instantly taken with Allen.
Because we didn’t see Gary or how his relationship worked with Allen; we only see it from how Allen describes it; and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the way Gary’s friends treated him or the way he thought of himself when something didn’t go right. He was constantly putting himself down and thinking the worst of himself and really the bad things that happened were due to the people he trusted; one in particular that I really wish would have gotten a karmatic kick in the teeth… He didn’t and I didn’t think it was fair; although I will say it worked out for the better for Allen; I didn’t like seeing him get away with being such a nasty person.
Now, let’s talk about “B”, or “Bit” as he was sometimes referred to, a.k.a. “Byron. He was the epitome of patient and understanding; he was thoughtful and selfless, he just wanted to spend time with Allen and once he did and started seeing how run down and exhausted Allen was for trying to take on too much himself, he really tried hard to help out as best as he could. He was incredibly understanding and I can’t imagine it would be easy being the follow up of a long term partner that passed away. Gary was everywhere and for a new relationship he was brought up A LOT….. It didn’t bother him though, he understood. He also was subjected to ALL Gary’s friends; most of them not worth getting to know, they were critical and condescending towards Allen and I didn’t like that either. I wasn’t even sure how to like Issac but he eventual redeemed himself, I felt like. I just felt like he was up in Allen’s business and the things he sometimes said were hurtful and he was completely off… he didn’t know what he was talking about and I can’t stand when friends give horrible advice when they don’t know what they’re talking about. I’m glad Allen didn’t listen and he stood up for his relationship with Byron. Byron deserved that because he was pretty close to perfect; especially when it came to all things Allen. He really cared for him and let it show in his actions. For once, Allen was the one being taken care of instead of the one taking care of someone else.
I really enjoyed this sweet little story; sometimes I felt the dialogue was a bit cheesy; I don’t like the whole “lover” pet name, it sounds like bad porn.. It makes my skin crawl, ick… but some feel that way about “honey” or “baby” so maybe it’s just me….. It definitely put a damper on the steamier scenes for me and I literally winced every time it was said. Other than that, I really enjoyed it and wouldn’t mind a follow up about these two 🙂
*Let me say I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
4 pieces of eye candy
