By: Gabi Rutherford

Kat Varland has baked chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry cupcakes in her aunt’s bakery for years. She has wonderful ideas for delicious cupcakes, but her aunt writes these ideas off as “weird,” so Kat continues to bake chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry cupcakes for her aunt while she experiments with new flavors in her own kitchen. After Lucas Brannen, Kat’s best friend, signs her up for a televised baking competition, Kat begins to realize her dreams of moving away and starting her own bakery, as well as winning the competition’s grand prize: a year-long internship at the world’s most prestigious bakery, located in New York. However, Lucas has his own dream: marrying Kat and staying in their small town. Whose dream will come to fruition, and whose dream will crumble like a dry cupcake?

Betsy St. Amant does a wonderful job of crafting both the characters and the storyline of this novel, managing to share both characters’ thoughts and perspectives without mixing them. She creates characters that are sure of their abilities but are also humble and kind. The story is well paced, and the competition portion of the storyline keeps the reader on edge. The ending of this novel is fairly predictable, but there is one little twist.

I truly enjoyed this book, and I ended up reading all of it in one day! The growing relationship between Lucas and Kat had me hooked, and the main characters had great relationships with other people in the story as well, which added to the quality of this book. The competition had me feeling just as tense and nervous as the characters. While this novel is classified as a romance, I would say that it is also a story about self-discovery, friendship, and overcoming the thoughts and ideals of others. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys any of these topics.