Recipe for Love

Jupiter Tides, Book 1

Nora Henderson is of the opinion that chocolate cures almost everything. Which, among a few other reasons, is why she opened her bakery in the small town of Jupiter, Maine five years ago.

People come from miles for her chocolate peanut butter cupcakes. Customers almost come to blows over the last almond croissant. Some even say her chocolate chip cookies help ease the burn of heartbreak.

Nora's life is good. On the surface, at least. Underneath the frosting and the sweet décor of her bakery is a broken engagement, doubt, and anxiety spirals.

In short, Nora Henderson is a mess.

Not someone Rowan Derrick would ever be interested in. He's the gruff veteran who owns a construction company, who broods his way around town and can wear the crap out of a backward baseball cap. He stars in almost every one of her fantasies. She expected him to stay there, to remain her imaginary boyfriend and customer...nothing else.

But Rowan Derrick has had his eye on Nora for a while. Little does she know, she stars in every one of his fantasies too. And now that the beautiful baker is no longer engaged, he's going to make her his.

Contains mature themes.

©2022 Anne Malcom (P)2024 Tantor

DNF

I went into this book genuinely excited—I love a good slow-burn with tension between the main characters. But unfortunately, this one just didn’t land for me.

The biggest issue was how repetitive and drawn out the scenes became, especially when it came to the main female character’s anxiety around the male lead. As someone who actually deals with anxiety, I understand those feelings—but the way it was written felt excessive. It was like every interaction dragged on forever, circling the same thoughts and emotions without moving the story forward.

At a certain point, it stopped building tension and just became frustrating. I found myself thinking, “Okay, we get it… can we move on now?” 😅

Because of that, the pacing felt painfully slow, and I eventually lost interest. I really wanted to love this book, but it became too redundant for me to stay engaged, and I ended up not finishing it.

If you enjoy very detailed internal monologues and slow, repetitive emotional buildup, this might work for you. But if you’re looking for progression and momentum in the story, this one may feel like a slog.

narrator and story was all over

her doing the guy part was not good and the story was all over the place im sorry