I like this story a lot, but there are some things about it that keeps nagging me. The beginning had the makings of a fun roller coaster ride of emotions with a combination of a high-stakes competition and the charged attraction between Shannon and Maya's despite their differences. However, the story fell a little flat. I like the chemistry between Shannon and Maya and was even nervous about them getting caught. I also was a little anxious during the competition scenes. Unfortunately, that's where it ended for me. There wasn't enough build-up of emotions to make some components of the story feel believable. You only know Maya was a player by word of mouth, not actual scenes. Shannon does not come across as a middle-aged woman, and Maya's emotions about her miscarriage did not fee real. I wish there were more scenes of the competition to get my adrenaline going. Also, I didn't like the interruption of Shannon and Maya's storyline for Jori and Sawyer.

Edit: I'm changing my ratings to 4 stars. Its been a few days since I read Maya and Shannon's story, and I'm still thinking about their journey. I'm going to add this book to my reread list. Maybe I'll view it differently.
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Romance set in the world of reality TV cooking shows ... more

In many ways this was a typical lesbian romance piece of fiction. It's the story of Maya, a famous chef who makes cakes mostly. She was the first season winner of a reality show called 'For the Love of Cake' (hence the title I assume). Seven years later she gets asked back to be one of the mentors to the new contestants on the show.

Shannon is one of those contestants. And she gets chosen to be on Maya's team. Of course, there are sparks right away, but also lots of stuff that complicates their story too. Like the fact that they're mentor and mentee on the same show, or the fact that there's a bit of an age difference (Maya's younger, Shannon's older). Or both their pasts that still have somewhat of a psychological hold on them.

One of the ways this was an atypical lesbian romance fic was the 'B' story in the novel. It was slightly bigger than the usual subplot, but it wasn't as bit as the main plot either. It was Jori and Sawyer's story. Jori's runs the bakery where Shannon works, and Sawyer's family owns and runs the restaurant next door as well as being Jori's life partner. WE get to see more of their life than usual. Sometimes in these novels there are prominent secondary characters who are in committed relationships together, but, they almost never get a fully fleshed out story like these two did. It was definitely interesting and different.

I liked the story, even if it did make me hungry as I read it. Oh so many cakes that sounded oohh so yummy. A fun, light (well, topic wise, not richness of pastry wise) read.

I got this advanced galley through Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books. ( )