Queen B’s Decree: I remember meeting August in the first book and wanting his story. A quiet, socially awkward guy who seems like a grump but is really a marshmallow? Sold. In fact, if you look at my last review, I said AND I QUOTE “I need August’s book STAT.” I rest my case.
But to my surprise, I did not expect a brother’s best friend trope, with mutual pining over a decade. Talk about a tortured and angsty slow burn. Sloan was a little difficult to like at times; it felt like she was so hyper focused on getting this new job that she completely disregarded personal boundaries and lacked empathy.
While I enjoyed their friendship reblossoming, I wasn’t a huge fan of the back and forth. Both Sloan and August were guilty of this—it took forever for them to actually communicate and discuss their feelings.
One thing I cannot move past is the sexual harassment August receives when he first becomes “Sugar Bae.” Women are literally patting his ass and touching him without his consent…and no one cares? Sloan even uses social media to entice those women into the bakery, by using August as a dangling carrot. It was just…gross and I am disgusted that it was treated more like a jokey rom com moment rather than educating.
Despite my dislike of certain moments, I still enjoyed this in audiobook format. Jaime Lincoln Smith and Nia Serge do fantastic and really bring these characters to life.
Book: A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley
Series: Fake It Till You Bake It #2
Genre: Contemporary
Plot Devices/Tropes: brother’s best friend