Always the Baker, Never the Bride

From Goodreads:

Thirty-six-year-old Emma Rae Travis has been baking specialty cakes and melt-in-your-mouth pastries at The Backstreet Bakery in historic Roswell, just outside of Atlanta, for the last six years. But here s the rub about her job as a baker ... Emma is diabetic. When she tastes her creations, it can only be in the most minute portions. Emma is considered an artisan for the stunning crème brulee wedding cake that won her the Passionate Palette Award last year, but she s never even had one full slice of it.
When Jackson Drake hears about this local baker who has won a prestigious award for her wedding cake artistry, he tells his assistant to be sure and include her in the pastry tastings scheduled at his new wedding destination hotel the following week. And for Jackson, that particular day has started out badly with two workmen trapped in a broken elevator and a delivery of several dozen 300-thread-count bed linens in the wrong size abandoned in the lobby. But when the arrogant baker he met a week prior in Roswell stumbles into the dining room with a platter of pastries and a bucketful of orders, he knows for certain: It s going to be a really rotten day.
Can these two ill-suited players master the high-wire act and make a go of their new business venture? Or will they take each other crashing downward, without a net? And will the surprise wedding at The Tanglewood be theirs?

My Take: 
This one had it all: romance, laughs, family drama - and food. ;o)  Seriously, this book had me glued to my Kindle. Jackson Drake was the perfect hero in that he was a little bit flawed - still hanging on to the memories from the wife he'd lost years ago - and certainly not welcoming to any ideas about religion of any kind that would say that it was okay that she was gone and that God had a plan for his life without her. He's compassionate and understanding with Emma, handsome, more than a little over his head... and just all around wonderful. 


Emma is talented, loaded with family issues, and has more than a little space between her and God as well. I loved seeing how much stronger she became over the course of the book. She didn't start off insecure but she ended in a position of strength and confidence that I think a person can have from knowing who God made them to be.  

Together these two had a great romance. It had some wonderful kisses, some heated exchanges, those moments when you wonder will he/she? And I learned a whole new term/idea about what makes men do the things they do sometimes in dating/relationships. I'll leave you to discover that one for yourself when you read the book. 


This is one of my favorite reads of the year. It is very well written and I loved all the inserted sections that had everything from mouthwatering recipes to tips on wedding favors. Add in the extended families and all their eccentricities... I wouldn't hesitate to suggest this book to any of my friends. :o)