TW: loss of a parent
A rom-com involving donuts? Count me in!
Ryan Kwok is a movie star who just moved back to Toronto to help his father and sister following the unexpected death of his mother. Lindsay McLeod is the co-owner of Kensington Bake Shop, where she makes delicious confections. Ryan and Lindsay meet when Ryan walks into Kensington Bake Shop, drawn by a memory of his mother. While lost in the memory, Ryan steps into the bake shop and knocks into Lindsay who was been carrying a batch of her newest creation: matcha tiramisu donuts. Lindsay has no idea who Ryan is but she’s pissed that two dozen of her donuts are now lying on the floor. Needless to say, Ryan and Lindsay don’t exactly start out on the right foot.
When Ryan gets asked to be a participant on the celebrity version of Baking Fail, he enlists Lindsay’s help to teach him the basics of baking. After a little bit of persuading, Lindsay agrees. As Lindsay and Ryan spend more time together their attraction for each other grows, but Lindsay must decide whether she’s able to deal with Ryan’s life in the spotlight.
This was a sweet book, pun totally intended, but it also explored a lot of heavy topics including coping with the loss of a parent, navigating complex family dynamics, postpartum depression, and dealing with racial stereotypes in the film industry as an Asian-American actor. I honestly was not expecting the book to get that deep just based on the cute cover and my cursory reading of the synopsis, but the fact that these topics were explored, or at least touched upon, made the story more well-rounded and realistic. It was a bit of a slow burn, but it was worth it in the end (as you can tell from the thread count rating below)!
THREAD COUNT RATING: 800
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