Krishna
Start of the Cupcake Lovers series of romances by the author. (Hence the cover)
Story? There is not a lot.
Chloe calls Monica, bitter that her boyfriend Ryan broke up two years after she moved in with him over her parents’ bitter objections. Monica invites her over for a ‘change of scenery’.
Meanwhile, Devlin Moore and Luke, his brother are living in Sugar Creek, where Chloe is headed. Rocky is their sister. Devlin inherits his dad’s company but dad is still there in retirement, micromanaging everyone. Chloe has been hired by Devlin’s grandma to help her.
She meets a handsome stranger in the grocery store when Monica had left her to go do some work. Unsurprisingly it is Devlin. Devlin has investigated her already and knows about her failed relationships, multiple changes of career etc but is surprised to see her so attractive.
She is irritated by his bossy nature. But Chloe seems to get along well with the grandma. Grandma chose her specifically because of her impulsive nature, after talking to Monica, whom she knew already. When grandma and Chloe go rubber tubing without life jackets, Devlin reaches the place, being tipped off, livid but has to save Chloe who had lost her clothes and was drowning. He kisses her next time they meet and says ‘We are now even and can get back to the job’, infuriating her.
She gets stopped by the police for reckless behaviour and gran socks one to the police officer who groped Chloe while ‘frisking’ her.
The gossip is that Devlin and Chloe have sparks flying. Her dinner party goes so well that she becomes the star of the group. They try to enlist her to the cupcake sale to teach Tasha, the insufferable girl, a lesson.
Now she gets caught again on shoplifting charges but Dev behaves uncharacteristically by kissing her in the shop when they were alone. Makes no sense.
They have the cupcake party and Chloe discovers that Daisy has been taking medications, possibly with alcohol.
They unravel all the mysteries. As in these stories everything is tied up in a neat knot: Chloe’s relationship with her father, mysteries of Daisy, jealousy of Tasha and the unseating of her as President of the Cupcake Lover’s club and Devlin’s spying on Chloe – all come tumbling out. The only thing that is unresolved is Rocky’s relationship with both Adam and Jayce, her childhood crush.
Also the hinted at issues of Devlin’s first marriage are revealed. It has its moments where everyone catches everyone else in awkward moments, or interrupts the most sexy moments. Also, it has some real nice moments where Tasha sends Chloe deliberately into a storm where she almost dies and is rescued by Devlin.
Nice to read.
6/10
– – Krishna