Title: Tempting Talk
Author: Sara Whitney
Series: Cinnamon Roll Alphas #2
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2020

Jake and Mabel are a great couple who work really well together – they both feel a connection from the beginning. And, although they are instantly attracted to one another, they work on building a friendship before diving into bed with one another. I’m always a big fan of a relationship that starts as a friendship and evolves into something more – the instalove, whilst cute isn’t always for me.

There was enough drama in this story to make me not want to put it down, but not enough that my emotions got heavily toyed with. I loved the simplicity of this story, and the enjoyment I got every time I turned the page. It’s also nice to read a story that is a pleasant read sometimes – life can get hectic, and I love that reading Whitney’s stories give me a nice diversion from the insanity of daily life.

Jake’s demisexualtiy was an interesting part of his person – I don’t actually think that I’ve read a book that features a demisexual. And I even had to look up what that term meant. I love when a story gives me a bit of an education about someone else’s lived experience, and the term demisexuality definitely did that for me. Yet, the fact that Jake was demisexual helped to add to the story, instead of interrupting the flow.

In continuing with the trend of different aspects to a character that I wasn’t expecting – I’ve never read a story which features a radio host. I mean, I grew up listening to morning radio in the car, and I never really gave any thought to what it was like to work in the field. The fact that Whitney worked as a morning radio host for a short time made learning the ins and outs of this career all that much more interesting and realistic. I absolutely loved this, again, new learning experiences always make me happy.

Mabel’s friendships with Dave and ultimately Thea were absolutely fantastic. I love good, strong, healthy friendships in stories – and it was Mabel’s that really helped to not only bolster her, but also the rest of the story. Particularly her friendship with Dave – they are the ultimate best friends and were really quite adorable.

Image source: Kobo

Title: Tempting Fate
Author: Sara Whitney
Series: Cinnamon Roll Alphas #5
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2022

I always love a good second chance romance story. Particularly those that feature a couple who were separated by youth and circumstance. But, the fact that although they were separated, they were able to become amazing adults. Of the type that they maybe wouldn’t have been able to if they hadn’t gone their separate ways in the first place. Plus, this is a Cinnamon Roll Alpha story. And they’re just generally cute anyway – big manly, grunt men who are actually totally adorable and smitten when in love.

At the very beginning of this story, Faith’s parents are cast as the villains of the piece – they separated Faith and Leo through some not-so-nice actions. And as a result, Faith has been estranged from them ever since. I like that, instead of continuing to cast them as the villains, Faith is able to find a way to move on with her family. That their actions, although seriously wrong, were actually based in good intentions. And that, even if they are a bit broken and silly, her parents are able to own up to their mistakes and try to make amends. It’s a bit of a departure from other stories of this vein, were the catalyst for the break up is often incredibly villainized and unloveable.

Although I really liked Leo as the male lead, I mean, cinnamon roll alpha, come on. I did find him a bit of a hard headed fool at times. He doesn’t really treat Faith all that well at the very beginning. And, although its understandable why he’s such a dick, it does make it that little bit harder to connect. And I feel like, as a result, it takes Faith that little bit longer to actually trust him and move forward in her relationship with him. Having said that, many of his actions are kind of understandable, so you can’t hate him. And, he is a fun lead to read about. Particularly with his career background and personal goals – making the world a better, more sustainable place.

Normally I don’t love mean girls, or any kind of story that perpetuates how nasty women can be (and are often taught to be) to one another. However, I absolutely adored how Leo’s sisters go to bat for him. They’re not overly nice about it, but, the moment he tells them to back off and that Faith is back in his life – they do. It’s the perfect blend of sticking up for someone you love, but also respecting their decisions. And, ultimately they return to being good friends with Faith and making her welcome into their family yet again.

I knew that there would be a final barrier to Faith and Leo’s relationship in this story. And, I kind of figured it would have something to do with privilege and money. But, it was actually quite a bit nastier than I had anticipated. And very heartbreaking. I love how it actually kind of blindsided me. Although, since this is a happy romance, it all still worked out beautifully in the end.

Image source: Amazon

Title: Tempting Taste
Author: Sara Whitney
Series: Cinnamon Roll Alphas #0.5
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2020

There is something disgustingly delicious about Erik the lumbersexual baker. I have pretty major images of a Viking-type God man who is shy, adorable, and bakes amazing cakes. Perfect for the imaginary boyfriend, but in reality? I’d probably go up like 3 clothes sizes…

In life and in literature, I’m not a huge fan of drama queens. They always seem like way too much work. But there is something about Josie that it’s just impossible not to love. In fact, I love the scene where Erik’s best friend laughs hysterically at him for falling for a drama queen. Her high passions and his steadfast patience are the perfect match. And probably a little too similar to my own relationship for my comfort. So let’s not pull too closely at that thread…

The match of marketing and baking works perfectly in this tale. Its that perfect business partnership made in heaven that really doesn’t happen in real life. I love how Josie starts out trying to prove how amazing she is at marketing, and ultimately decides that she wants to keep at it because she believes in Erik. Erik’s willingness to go with the insanity that Josie throws at him just makes it all that much better.

I picked up this book because it fit prompt for a reading challenge. And I was a bit Leary. I mean, the series is called Cinnamon Roll Alphas. It felt like it could be a little bit on the nose. But it was actually perfectly named. Erik is truly a cinnamon roll. Plus there’s actual baking of cinnamon rolls… all of which made this story beautiful, yummy and delicious.

Image source: Goodreads

Title: Tempting Heat
Author: Sara Whitney
Series: Cinnamon Roll Alphas #0.5
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novella
Year: 2019

Tempting Heat was an absolutely too cute novella. Admittedly, I read Tempting Taste first, so I knew exactly what was going to happen. Even more so than the usual boy meets girl knowing. Ut that didn’t detract from the fact that this was just way too damn cute.

I love stories which don’t feature an instalove, but a reuniting of past loves. The fact that it’s fixing up mistakes and miscommunications of the past? Yeah, this most definitely hit all of my happy points. Again, way too damn cute. It didn’t necessarily paint Josie in the best light though. So I’m glad I read this second.

I love that although there’s instant attraction in this, there’s a whole lot of time spent on the relationship building. Romances that build on a foundation of friendship and mutual understanding make me way too happy. As is probably obvious from this review… I got all the cute and happy feels from this novella.

Having already read about Josie, I can’t wait to sink my teeth into the story of Finn’s brother, Jake. He makes just enough of an appearance in Tempting Heat and Tempting Taste to colour me intrigued…

Image source: Goodreads