Review by Booklist Review
When Sloane Dell finally has had enough, she quits her manager job in social media and heads straight to Sugar Blitz Cupcakes, the cupcakery her older brother Donovan owns with two of his teammates from the San Diego Knights. Instead of finding her brother, though, she comes face-to-face with August Hodges, the Knight's fullback--Donovan's business partner and her longtime crush. After an online feminist rant about women bakers, August goes viral and female fans turn out in droves to see "Sugar-Bae," as he is soon dubbed. Sloane has vowed to make it on her own and not rely on family, but she needs to create a successful campaign to prove herself to a prospective employer, and Sugar Blitz Cupcakes needs a new social media manager. While Sloane and August have great chemistry, this is a slow burn. A fun twist on the culinary romance with both characters reliving a lot of past regrets and discovering the need to work on themselves if they are to find their happily-ever-after, Wesley's second in the series follows Fake It Till You Bake It (2022). Recommend to fans of Talia Hibbert.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Wesley delivers a delectable mash-up of rom-com tropes in her adorable follow-up to Fake It Till You Bake It. August Hodges is a cupcake-baking professional football player who co-owns a bakery with his friends. He finds an unwanted 15 minutes of fame when he calls out a customer's sexist behavior, a moment that is filmed and goes viral. Now women all over San Diego are crushing hard on the man they've come to call "Sugarbae." Meanwhile Sloane Dell, hardworking social media manager and little sister to one of August's best friends, is in-between jobs and in need of a project to impress a potential employer. Fate thrusts the two of them into a working relationship as Sloan finds ways to translate August's sudden boost in popularity into cupcake sales. They've avoided addressing their mutual attraction for so long that neither is sure how the other feels, but the more time they spend together, the harder it is to deny their chemistry. Their present relationship is enhanced by flashbacks to past interactions, giving their emotions some heft. Readers will have no trouble rooting for these two to fall in love. (Nov.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
It's an average day at Sugar Blitz Cupcakery until normally reserved August Hodges, football player and co-owner, is filmed delivering an impromptu verbal smackdown to some disrespectful customers. The footage of his speech, praising women as the backbone of the baking industry, goes viral, and it couldn't happen at a better time. Sugar Blitz is opening a new location, and the other co-owners want to capitalize on the publicity, even though the taciturn August prefers being behind the scenes. Social media manager Sloane Dell agrees to pull August out of his comfort zone and make him the face of Sugar Blitz. She typically avoids being around the man, who broke her heart a decade ago, but the publicity campaign will give her career a much-needed boost. The chemistry they had when they were young is still there, though, and it gets hotter every moment they spend in each other's company. VERDICT This fast-paced second-chance romance from Wesley (Fake It Till You Bake It) is sweet and hot, with a sexy cinnamon-roll hero and a determined, strong-willed heroine.--Heather Miller Cover
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A football player who owns a cupcake shop unexpectedly goes viral and deals with complicated feelings for his best friend's sister. August Hodges may be a football star, but he's happy to stay behind the scenes when it comes to Sugar Blitz, the cupcake shop he runs with Donovan Dell and Nicholas Connors, his best friends and fellow football players. But when he's caught on camera defending cupcakes and women and the appropriateness of football players owning a bakery to some sexist bros, that all changes. Unsurprisingly, women love a football player with a feminist side. Now, he's known as SugarBae, and he can't escape the crowds that come into the shop to meet him. With Sugar Blitz opening a new location, August's partners know they need to capitalize on his 15 minutes of fame, so Donovan wants to hire his little sister, Sloane Dell, to manage their social media. What Donovan doesn't know is that August and Sloane have a complicated romantic past that led to a broken heart for Sloane; she has no intention of spending her work hours around August, or riding her brother's coattails, but spearheading a social media campaign for an up-and-coming company could help her get the job of her dreams. She agrees to help out, which means she's now spending lots of time taking videos of August--and realizing that her feelings for him never really went away. The more time they spend together, the harder it is for them to deny their feelings for each other, but they'll have to figure out if they're ready to be vulnerable enough to take a second shot at love. August is a picture-perfect romantic hero--a football player who owns a cupcake shop and is secure in his masculinity. The obstacles in Sloane and August's way never feel insurmountable, though--there's a gentrification plot line, in particular, that feels underbaked--and their journey toward a happily-ever-after doesn't always feel urgent. A sweet romance with a very slow burn. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
