A Legend in the Baking (Sugar Blitz 2) by Jamie Wesley -review, excerpt & giveaway
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 19, 2024
August Hodges was supposed to be the silent partner in Sugar Blitz Cupcakes. Emphasis on silent. That is until his impromptu feminist rant about how women bakers are the backbone of the industry and baking cupcakes isn’t a threat to masculinity goes viral, making him the hottest bachelor in town. With a new location in the works, August and his partners decide to capitalize on this perfect opportunity to help cement their place in the community. But the hiring of his best friend’s younger sister, the woman who has haunted some of his best dreams for years, was as much of a shock as his new-found fame.
Social media manager Sloane Dell fell hard for her brother’s best friend the moment she met him more than a decade ago, but that teenage infatuation cost her dearly. Still, she accepts her brother’s request to revamp the bakery’s social media presence to take advantage of August’s newfound popularity, knowing it’s the big break her fledgling career needs. She’ll just ignore the fact that August is still August, i.e. sexier and sweeter than any man has a right to be. And that he drives her crazy with his resistance to all her ideas.
They vow to leave the past in the past. But when an explosive make-out session makes it clear their attraction burns hotter than ever, Sloane and August are forced to reconsider what it means to take a risk and chase your dreams.
As they’re both about to find out, all’s fair in love and cupcakes.
•••••
REVIEW:A LEGEND IN THE BAKING is the second instalment in Jamie Wesley’s contemporary, adult SUGAR BLITZ erotic, romance series focusing on professional football players and business owners Donovan, August and Nicholas. This is San Diego Knights fullback, divorcé and co-owner of Sugar Blitz Cupcakes August Hodges, and twenty-nine year old, social media manager Sloane Dell’s story line. A LEGEND IN THE BAKING can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.
Told from omniscient dual third person perspectives (Sloane and August) focusing on two timelines, A LEGEND IN THE BAKING follows the building relationship between our story line couple. After a rant defending femininity and masculinity goes viral, August Hodges finds himself at the mercy of the internet but when Donovan Dell’s sister is hired to help control the social media content, August Hodges finds himself facing the woman who stirs all of his urges, a woman whose heart he destroyed years ago. Enter twenty-nine year old Sloane Dell, his best friend and teammate’s younger sister. As Sloane attempts to navigate and control the online media explosion surrounding August Hodges, our couple find themselves facing another type of vitriol when Sugar Blitz Cupcakes sets about to open a second location.
The world building focuses on the past and the breakdown of a dysfunctional family unit: the incident that pushed Sloane out of August’s life, ; the fall-out and of a marriage, and a career going nowhere fast. As August’s defense of femininity goes viral, so too does his popularity with the women, and the explosion of interest in Sugar Blitz Cupcakes.
The relationship between Sloane and August is a best friend’s younger sister, unrequited love. Sloane has been in love with her brother’s best friend August for as long as she can remember but Sloane was always treated as the little sister but the heart wanted something more, and August was about to destroy any hopes for a happily ever after. Working with August brings Sloane up close and personal with the fame and fortune of a professional football player, the fame of being pulled in several directions. The $ex scenes are limited but passionate and intense.
The secondary and supporting characters are energetic and entertaining including the return of Sloane’s brother Donovan Dell, and his girlfriend Jada Townsend-Matthews, and football player and Sugar Blitz co-owner Nicholas; August’s ex wife Melinda DeJesus; August’s father Dale Hodges; football fans and angry neighbors.
A LEGEND IN THE BAKING is a story of family and friendships, relationships and love. The premise is edgy and entertaining; the characters are animated and determined; the romance is spicy and spirited.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
Sloane Dell beamed at Candace, her boss and the director of marketing at Organic Chemistry, who was seated across the glass desk from her. Sloane had put in the hours, the less-than-desirable assignments (which sometimes included literally scooping up dog poop) as a social media assistant at the organic pet food company for the last three years. But it was all for a good cause. The promotion to social media manager was about to be hers. Finally.
Candace’s head was bent down as she reviewed Sloane’s work file, no doubt cataloging all the metaphorical gold stars Sloane had received from colleagues over the years.
Sloane is the best! Sloane is such a team player! Sloane comes up with the best, most innovative ideas! We couldn’t survive without her!
Okay, maybe that last one wouldn’t be in there, even though it was true. She wasn’t cocky, but she loved her job and was good at it.
Sloane’s smile spread as Candace lifted her head, her eyes narrowing slightly. Her bright pink lipstick had started to bleed in the right corner.
Concentrate, Sloane! Now’s not the time.
Candace cleared her throat and adjusted the black frames that always seemed to be slipping down her nose. “Thanks for coming to see me, Sloane. I wanted to let you know we enjoy having you here at Organic Chemistry.”
Here it came. The big promotion. Sloane’s chest swelled with hope and excitement. She was already starting to think of all the ideas she wanted to implement to further the company’s goals, the student loan payments she could increase . . .
“. . . believe you still need more experience before you can move up to the manager position.”
“Tha—” The rest of that word petered out as Candace’s words sank through Sloane’s body like a lead stone, anchoring her to the stiff leather chair.
What the fuck?
Only the self-control she’d learned to assert over herself even through the most trying of times stopped her from blurting out that way-too-real question. Instead, she went with the much more sedate, more “professional” “Excuse me? Could you repeat that, please?”
Candace sighed and pushed up her glasses again. “Yes, it’s true. We agonized over this decision, but don’t feel putting you in a position you’re not quite ready for is the right move. It can only hurt your career.”
Such bullshit. Over the past two years, she’d put in countless hours for this company, come up with several campaigns that went viral, tripling their social media followers and directly correlating to an increase in sales, only for her immediate supervisor, the assistant director, Daniel, to take the credit. She’d let him get away with it because Sloane was a team player. And now her generosity had officially blown up in her face.
What a bunch of horseshit. Cow shit. Bear shit. Whatever excretions from whatever animal you could think of.
But she had to play the game.
After all, this was corporate America, where fakeness ruled and Black women were often punished for having the unmitigated gall to be both Black and female, so she was going to smile and play the game with the sunshiney-est smile possible. It was the only way to reach her ultimate goal of receiving the promotion she most definitely deserved. “I appreciate you looking out for me.”
Candace pressed a hand to her chest, the pink shade of her polish perfectly matching her lipstick, because appearances were always important. Her beady little green eyes gave off earnest vibes. “Thank you so much for understanding that this was such a tough decision for us. We agonized, but truly think this is the best for you.”
“I quit.”
Sloane froze. Wait. Who said that? The voice sounded familiar. Wait. She, Sloane Renee Dell, had said that. Sloane’s chest filled, not with panic, as she’d initially assumed, but a sense of rightness. Damn right she quit.
Candace’s mouth had fallen open in pure shock, her eyes bugging out behind her very tasteful, yet very expensive frames.
Sloane rose as a sense of purpose surged throughout her entire body. “I deserved that promotion. You know it. I know it. Everyone in this office knows it, and I’m not going to let you gaslight me into thinking it’s my fault you didn’t offer it to me. Consider this my resignation letter. I won’t need two weeks.”
Sloane whirled and strode confidently out of the office. With laser focus, she headed to her little cube—because offices were reserved for managers and directors and the like and not little pesky assistants who apparently didn’t deserve promotions. She quickly collected the few personal items she kept on her desk—the framed photo of her mom and siblings, her lucky shamrock plushy—and headed for the elevator.
Bethany, who worked in accounting, blinked when she saw Sloane. “Where are you going, Sloane?”
“I quit!”
Perhaps she’d said that a little too loudly, because heads began popping over the top of cubicle walls like the creatures in the Whac-A-Mole arcade game. She regally nodded at them all and gave them her best Duchess Meghan wave as she glided down the hall.
Her best friend, Felicia, the admin assistant, gave her a questioning look as she passed the front desk. Sloane shook her head but didn’t stop. Later. She would explain later. If she stopped now, she’d end up screaming at the top of her lungs about the injustice of it all and wind up being escorted off the property by building security.
Reality didn’t hit her until she was behind the wheel of her Mazda. Her vision went hazy for a second as she sucked in unsteady breaths.
Oh, God. What had she done? She had bills to pay. Student loans to whittle away at. She couldn’t quit a good job without another one lined up. But she had. She pressed a shaky hand to her abdomen. That mocha latte she’d treated herself to as a midday snack and pre-promotion celebration was now curdling in her stomach with the fury of sour milk.
But if the powers-that-be didn’t have her back, did she really want to work there?
No. She. Did. Not.From A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley. Copyright © 2024 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
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