Sweet Confections by Danyelle Ferguson

According to Rachel Marconi chocolate heals all wounds. That and throwing darts at pictures of her ex-boyfriend. Burned by yet another bad relationship, Rachel decides to reprioritize her life, putting her dream to compete on a Food Network Challenge on the top of her list and dating at the bottom crossed out in red sharpie. But what's a girl to do when a certain sexy guy keeps asking her out? Cue in Graydon Green, a former pro hockey player turned restaurant owner. After a lot of persistent and humorous teasing, he finally convinces Rachel to commit to a date. Just when things begin to warm up, threatening notes directed at Rachel arrive. When her bakery is vandalized, Graydon's protective streak goes on red alert. Is it her obsessive ex-boyfriend stalking her? Or maybe a challenger trying to sabotage the competition? Either way, Rachel is definitely going to need more chocolate - perhaps drizzled over ice cream and devil's food cake.

I liked this one. I enjoy books that are based around bakeries, restaurants or things like that. Makes for a fun setting. I thought the book started out strong, I was sucked in right away. I liked how Graydon and Rachel meet for the first time, gotta love the hero. I liked Rachel, she seemed like a genuine character and one you could easily like and relate to. I liked her relationship with her BFF, her family and Graydon. I liked Graydon, he is somewhat of a celebrity, being a retired pro hockey player. That aspect of his life didn’t play a big role though; he just seemed like a normal guy. I did love the reaction from Rachel’s family when they meet him for the first time though, that made me smile. I thought they had a nice relationship; it was nice that they built on a friendship. Which is a nice change from the insta-love in most romances. I thought they had good chemistry and just a sweet relationship. The mystery was pretty good. I had my suspicions from the beginning, but it was fun to see how everything played out. It added a nice element to the story, so it wasn’t a total romance, but had a little more depth to the story. It’s nice that the story takes place over a longer time period, which helped establish their relationship and build the suspense.

Overall, a fun read and one I would recommend. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for what Ms. Ferguson comes up with next. Oh, I liked that there are recipes in the back, I just wish we could see some pictures too. I'd love to see the cake they did for the baking challenge. :)

Content: Clean