
GIFTED / Today I am so happy to bring you my review for the first book in the series I fell in love with. A Sweet Mess came out long ago (actually, it was last year, but when you are a reviewer who should review books prior their release, a year is like a decade), and although I do feel sorry for being late when it comes to reviewing it, I am also glad I waited (even though I can’t call it a choice) because I could read the sequel right away.
A Sweet Mess came out on July 14th 2020 and it has 306 pages. I want to thank St. Martin Griffin and Netgalley for my copy.

About the book:
FROM GOODREADS /
Bake a chance on love.
Aubrey Choi loves living in her small town nestled in the foothills of California, running her highly successful bakery away from the watch of her strict Korean parents. When a cake mix-up and a harsh review threaten all of her hard work and her livelihood, she never thought the jaded food critic would turn out to be her one-night stand. And she sure as hell never thought she’d see her gorgeous Korean unicorn again. But when Landon Kim waltzes into her bakery trying to clean up the mess he had a huge hand in making, Aubrey is torn between throwing and hearing him out.
When she hears his plan to help save her business, Aubrey knows that spending three weeks in California wine country working with Landon is a sure recipe for disaster. Her head is telling her to take the chance to save her bakery while her heart—and her hormones—are at war on whether to give him a second chance. And it just so happens that Landon’s meddling friends want them to spend those three weeks as close as possible…by sharing a villa.
When things start heating up, both in and out of the kitchen, Aubrey will have to make a choice—to stick it out or risk her heart.

Review:
I think it’s a good thing to go into books with low expectations, because then you might end up really liking it.
Let me tell you a story about my reading experience with A Sweet Mess.
Months and months ago, I saw it on Netgalley as READ NOW. Then life got in a way and blablabla, and I picked it up a year after it’s release (feel free to judge me, I don’t mind) when the reviews were already out there, and many of them weren’t so generous.
I picked up the book with low expectations, thinking I would be bored most of the time, and boom, I was having an awesome time, fell in love with the writing style (especially with dialogues between characters which I found meaningful and deep at times, but more often just entertaining) and I got attached to characters whom stories made me understand where they came from.
This is a romance in which characters get together and then separate because if conflicts and miss communication (or lack of it to be fair) so I do understand why it wouldn’t be appealing to a part of romance audience. To me, it was done right and I enjoyed following their journey to each other.
There were some smut scenes but they weren’t too explicit. However, I wouldn’t recommend this to minors.
Right after finishing A Sweet Mess I went into The Dating Dare, and guess what: I loved that one even more!
I guess Jayci Lee should find her spot on my list of authors who’s work I am eagerly anticipating.
