Sugar Rush
Author: Donna Kauffman
Publisher: Kensington
Pub. Date: January 1, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0758266347
Pages: 336
Digital Price: $8.69
Print Retail Price: $14.00
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Devil’s Food. . .Angel Cake. . .Red Velvet. . .Praline Crunch. . .Lemon Chiffon. . . How’s a woman to choose?Luckily, the members of the Cupcake Club are about to taste it all. . .
When baker extraordinaire Leilani Trusdale left the bustle of New York City for Georgia’s sleepy Sugarberry Island, she didn’t expect her past to follow. Yet suddenly, her former boss, Baxter Dunne, aka Chef Hot Cakes, the man who taught her everything pastry, wants to film his hit cooking show in her tiny cupcakery. The same Chef Hot Cakes whose molten chocolate brown eyes and sexy British accent made Lani’s mouth water and her cheeks blush the color of raspberry filling–stirring all kinds of kitchen gossip, much of which Lani wished was true. . .
Lani’s friends are convinced that this time around, Baxter is the missing ingredient in her recipe for happiness. But convincing Lani will be a job for Baxter himself. And he’ll need more than black velvet frosting to sweeten the deal. . .
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REVIEW
“What happens in Cupcake Club…stays in Cupcake Club?”
These are the words that Leilani Trusdale is learning to live by. After leaving her high-stress job in New York and moving to the small Sugarberry Island, Lani is learning a new way to live. Her life is her own and the stress of working in a famous restaurant is behind her. Lani has opened her own cupcake bakery and is living the American dream. Everything is going well until Baxter Dunne comes to town and turns her whole world upside down.
Baxter Dunne comes to Sugarberry to get back the one person that calms him down. The person that makes him feel centered and grounded – Lani. He knows that she won’t be one hundred percent excited to see him, but he has to try and convince her to come back to New York. He doesn’t believe that she could really be happy running a cupcake bakery when she was a celebrated pastry chef.
These two have intense chemistry and have trouble staying away from each other. Lani and Baxter both had feelings for each other while in New York that neither of them acted on. Now that they are on the island together and not working together these feelings begin to be explored.
It took me awhile to warm up to Lani. She is so anti-Baxter in the beginning that it is hard to get passed her reactions to him. Baxter, although arrogant is a likeable character from the first. I enjoyed the bantering between them and their heated exchanges.
I enjoyed the secondary characters in the book – Charlotte and Alva especially. Their “Bake and Bitch” sessions added so much to the story. I loved the way they brought out something softer in Lani.
The writing is fantastic and the story moves at a good pace. Donna Kauffman books are usually a hit or a miss for me and Sugar Rush was definitely a hit!
Rating: 4 (Very Good)
Heat-Level: 3.5 (Sensual/Hot)
Reviewed by Carrie
Loved the delicious cover. Makes me want to bake all day, instead of working. However, this book doesn’t feel like my type of read. It’s hard to imagine the scene I want to transpire in my mind, as I do when I read an historical, and yelp–a paranormal romance. LOL. Thanks for the great review, Carrie. 🙂
Agree with Mikki — the cover is very eye-catching!
“Bake and Bitch”, sound like some fun characters to read about! Now I feel like a cupcake…
I want a cupcake!
Thanks for the review. I don’t think I have read any of her books. This one sounds like fun. The hero sounds hard to resist.