When I think of romance, I think of books just like this one, that gives all the feels and satisfies every romance junkies' heart. This is a perfect book to snuggle up with on any day.

Unfortunately I had to purchase a new Kindle device and could no longer access this book. I will come back and review if I read this in the future.

I never truly managed to get into this book. I tried valiantly, but it wasn't for me in the end. I was frustrated by the characters and the writing style really put me off. I was hoping for a romance that made me want to eat cake and I ended up with a romance that had me wanting to do anything but read it. Even cakes weren't enough to help me enjoy, and I love cake!

I think the problem was I never truly liked Landon. I know you don't have to always fall in love with both characters in a romance, but he rubbed me up the wrong way from the start and that really impacted the rest of the book for me. He never did enough to redeem himself for me.

A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee

I was looking forward to reading this book when I read the synopsis.

It was quite a fast paced read and was a reasonably enjoyable and quite humorous read.

However I felt part way through it seemed to lose its way and became very predictable. A little disappointing for that reason

This was a wonderful book. Full of humour, and steamy too!. The storyline itself was enjoyable and kept me hooked, and the characters Aubrey and Landon were unique and truly loveable. Following their blossoming romance throughout the story was charming. A definite must read for all lovers of a good rom-com.

This was such a fun, steamy read that was as sweet as pie! I really loved the characters and the premise. Aubrey and Landon had great chemistry and I loved reading about their blossoming romance. This was a charming rom-com that I recommend to all romance lovers!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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A cute read, that whilst frustrating at times was really easy and fun to read. The food descriptions also left me continuously hungry...

I have such mixed feelings towards this book. It started off so strongly with both characters meeting one another at the bar and ending up together the next morning. I really enjoyed how the male character was a famous food reviewer and how because of a very unfortunate misunderstanding there was a conflict between the two characters. I also very much enjoyed the forced proximity trope that was used later on in the book and how the author developed the chemistry between the two characters and how they shared an immense love for food. However on the other hand I was not able to fully engage and connect with the characters as they felt very confused at times. I understood where they were coming from but I felt that the sudden breakup was very unnecessary and it really contradicted the characters in a sense.

Overall it was a decent read and I do really hope that the author keeps on writing more book as I have enjoyed her other stories as well

This was such an enjoyable read. I almost always prefer HR, so to find a good contemporary is fabulous. This book, my first by this author didn't disappoint. Aubrey Choi has escaped her dysfunctional Korean family, and is running her own bakery business in a small Californian town. When a handsome stranger swings into town, Aubrey has a one night stand with the gorgeous man. A cake mix up by one of her employees means a famous food blogger gets served a cake meant for a toddler, his ensuing review decimates her business.

Landon Kim is also invested in his career, a very high profile food blogger he has built his formidable reputation on never pulling/changing a review, when he realises he has destroyed a business due to a silly mix up, he waltzes up to find the girl he can't stop thinking about - so did she sleep with him to get a good review? when he reaises this was impossible, he makes his offer, star in his best friends reality cooking show, by cooking desserts that showcase local wines.

when this means they have to share a villa together for 3 weeks before the show starts - will they be able to keep everything on a professional basis - you bet one sweet mess they won't!

Can both Aubrey and Landon get over their Daddy issues and fear of commitment enoug to go after their HEA?

I loved this book, Aubrey was just adorable, and the way that stoic Landon slowly gave in to his finer feelings gave me all the feels. Recommended for a sweet and sexy read.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book and all opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline Eternal for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Sweet Mess was such a lovely read. It was very fluffy and wholesome and a real joy to read. I loved all of the characters, they were all so well developed and fleshed out in such a short time period from introduction. The romance was fantastic and exactly what I wanted from a contemporary romance read. All of the mentions of food and baking in this book made me so hungry, and honestly I don't think a book has ever created such a perfect romantic pairing with these characters and food. I'm really glad I got to read this book, and enjoyed every second of the reading experience.

A SWEET MESS is basically a WAITRESS-inspired novel, but centering Korean-Americans instead. In it, Aubrey Choi runs Comfort Zone, a beloved bakery that is growing in success, after having left her home years ago to make a name for herself. After a long, messy day at the bakery, Aubrey connects with heartthrob Landom Kim and a one-night stand ensues. She later finds out that Landon is a popular, well-respected food critic.

And then he leaves her bakery a terrible review, calling her "arrogant", without knowing that the said baker he criticises is the woman who set his heart ablaze that one night. Following multiple pleas from local residents and fans of the small bakery, Landon pairs up with a celebrity chef to fix his mistake and save Comfort Zone.

While all these make for a good book, unfortunately, I didn't enjoy reading it much. The ending was definitely sweet, but the overall execution was lacking.

I think my main issue was that the tropes were not ones that I enjoy. There wasn't enough angst and yearning for me, and the chemistry of the couple felt nonexistent. Then there was a trope, I have found out through this book, that I absolutely dislike.

The dialogue was awkward, bothering on cringey rather than heartwarming. I think this was also a reason why I felt there was no chemistry between the couple. The chemistry was a lot of telling, rather than showing.

I'm actually disappointed that I didn't enjoy this book as much, because I loved Jayci Lee's TEMPORARY WIFE TEMPTATION.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, it was a unique and funny story which I read in one sitting. Loved it. Would love to read more from this author.

Rating~ 3.5-3.75 stars

I was super excited to read A Sweet Mess! A quick glance on the blurb, its had everything that would hit my spots.

Aubrey Choi is a baker, she runs her bakery comfort zone in a small town. Landon Kim is renounced food critic, who works for a magazine. Landon ends up being stranded in the small town due to car failure and gets served a cake meant for someone else. Aubrey and Landon meet later, not knowing each other and proceed to have a one night stand. Landon goes on to write a very damning review of Aubreys bakery. Now months later, Landon has a solution to Aubreys declining bakery and thats to have her be a part of the new cooking show.

As you can guess, when Aubrey finds out that Landon is the one behind the review, she's not at all happy. She's furious at him (Rightly so!) and no matter how much the town tries to reach out to Landon they get no response back. All the while Aubrey's bakery is struggling financially and her expansion won't be going as planned.

I liked A Sweet Mess for most part! Just the later half of the book I wasn’t a huge fan. This really was Aubrey's story for me, I loved her. She was an amazing woman. Landon, I was less of a fan off. I didn’t like him much at the start and then after what happens in the later half I ended up being meh towards him.

Let me give a bit more detail: he clearly does love Aubrey and wants her and is miserable without her. It takes him two months to finally decide to anything about it and its mostly due to the fact that his mum calls him home and comes to some realisations, we see him doing what he wants now and then he really does nothing for another month??? He's moved in a new house but that seems to be really it, apart from penning a semi decent letter and the half arsed grovel (i shouldn’t even call that) Aubrey forgives him. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ 

I just Landon found to be unmovable and rigid at times. In the beginning, his refusal to retract was extremely frustrating because he knows he's in the wrong yet he refuses to do anything to correct his mistake. He's actually annoyed at his boss (and friend) for suggesting that he re-review the place. I personally think I would have liked his character a lot more, if Jayci Lee had instead made him try and make him suggest re-review (like a decent person) and his boss to be the 'bad guy'. This way I wouldn't have ended up feeling that Landon really just cares about his images and the hell with a small bakery and their struggle even though he knows the baker. He only bothers because the worker who makes the mistake visits him and he laments his woe's to his friend who comes up with the idea. Similarly the thing at the end.

I will be trying the authors other books, because I did like Jayci Lee's writing, the way the food is described is mouthwatering. The friendships and family aspect is also done pretty well. The plot on a whole is also engrossing but the romance just wasn't my favourite. Which is related to me not liking Landon. He was growing on me in the middle, I was starting to feel their connection and chemistry but then he had to go and do that thing. Apart from Landon aspect of the book, A Sweet Mess was a pretty decent read. 

This quote is pretty accurate way to summarise my feelings as well:

"What did I do to deserve you?"
"Some guys just have all the luck."

Quote taken from ARC copy of A Sweet Mess provided by Headline Eternal.

OVERALL RATING: 2/5 STARS

So, I have been on a romance reading binge for the past couple of days and was delighted to be able to read this one. But upon the first couple of pages, I was sorely disappointed. This book has all the cliches, the ridiculously good-looking man, the woman with 'perfect' physical features, the odd twist at the end that really came out of nowhere? This book lacked coherency, the characters moved through ten different personalities. Sometimes Aubrey was sassy and smart, then all the other times she's sobbing her eyes out and waiting for Landon to swoop in and save her. Landon's unprecedented protectiveness disturbed me, he claimed Aubrey after knowing her for less than a week. And their sudden intimacy felt a lot like insta-love, I understand they had a one night stand but how do you suddenly find yourself being okay with cuddling in a tent with a person you've only met for one night? The character's backstory wasn't fleshed out at all, I didn't understand any of their motivations other than lust and something that's apparently meant to be sad but just comes out as bland.

This book only got two stars for the brilliant food descriptions, literally this book was better off being a cookbook then anything else.

Aubrey took a chance when she broke away from her family and her powerful fathers desire to marry her off and maintain her family’s reputation. She took a chance, followed her dream and now runs a successful bakery in the small town of Weldon. One night everything changes for Aubrey when she meets a handsome Landon, a man from out of town who she spends a passionate night with. Unbeknownst to her the same Landon is a renowned food critic who goes on to writes a scathing review of her bakery when he eats a cake intended for a child’s birthday party. This throws the future of the bakery and everything Aubrey has worked for into jeopardy. When Landon realises its Aubrey who owns the bakery, he hatches a plan to restore her reputation and that of the bakery whilst upholding his own.

This book really was a sweet treat! I must admit it took me a little while to get into the story but once the romance got going, I was so invested. I really like the main character of Aubrey from the outset. It’s clear she’s a strong independent woman who broke away from her family to pursue her dreams that they didn’t approve of. We see this strength and resilience throughout as more things are thrown at her and I really admired that in her. I also really like the relationships between Aubrey and her best friend Tara and later with her mother. There was a great scene where Aubrey calls Tara for help in the middle of the night and her response was ‘I’ll be there in 3 hours’ she asks no questions by simply comes to get her. I think it was a nice portrayal of female characters and friendship.

Aubrey’s romance with Landon was sizzling from the off as they spend the night together. However, its later in the book when her and Landon spend more time together that the story really bloomed for me. The sexual tension and chemistry between them was through the roof! This book also featured one of my favourite romance tropes where the characters are forced to share a bed or in this case a tent and this only added to tension between them. I prefer my romances to have lots of sexual tension that’s built up between the characters and this did that so well. I also liked the fact we got to see Landon and Audrey together as their romance developed. I have said before in reviews that I don’t like books that are full of angst with the characters only get together in the last chapter. This book didn’t do that, we saw them enjoying spending time together and falling in love with each other. There is also something that occurs later in the book that brings a trope I really like into the story which I wasn’t expecting. I think it’s a divisive trope that not everyone will like but for me it really worked and as I said I didn’t see it coming.

I also adored the settings of this book. Part of the story takes place in the small town of Weldon. I had such a clear picture in my head of this quaint oldie world town and how I thought it would look. Part of the book then takes place in California when Aubrey takes part in Landons TV show. Whilst there we are treated to more beautiful descriptions of the winery’s they visit and I particularly enjoyed reading about Moonstone Beach. Once again, I had such a clear picture in my mind of this beautiful setting built by the authors descriptions. I was really pleased to find out this is a real Moonstone is a real beach. I have always wanted to do a West coast of America trip and I have now added a new spot to my list of places to visit.

I cannot review this book without mentioning the food as its such a huge part of this story. The covers of both the UK and US editions of this book are beautiful and the food descriptions inside mirror this. I am a big foodie so I love reading books about food, particularly baking. The descriptions will without a doubt have your mouth watering! A favourite of mine was Aubrey’s pretzel bread pudding! I went straight online to see if such a recipe existed. The good news was I found one and will be testing it out very soon! There were also so many wonderful descriptions of Korean food in this story. The author just seemed to be able to write such emotive descriptions whether it be of the setting or the food the characters were eating. I have never actually tried authentic Korean food but this book made me want to. I also really liked that this book included some recipes to try at the end, I always thing that’s a lovely addition.

Overall this book was (Cheesy line alert!) all of the sweet with none of the mess! It had the most adorable romance between two great characters that was jam packed with food references that will leave you feeling very hungry. I would like to catch up with Aubrey and Landon one day and I have heard this book is being made into a TV show which I will look forward to seeing.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher Headline Eternal for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

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3.5 stars
This is one of those books that gets so much promoted over the bookstagramm that I had to read it for myself and see why the hype.
Unfortunately, it’s not a favourite.
The first half of it was great and set up for a great story in my opinion, from the writing to the characters and interesting plot overall. But after a while, there are things happening that I couldn’t get over and it feels too rushed, too soon and a bit childish, especially the heroine and her mother conversation, I’m like: I thought she’s an independent grown-up woman that can make hard decisions on her own not taking them just because her mother said to do exactly that. I know I’m vague about it as I hate to give spoilers but that’s my honest opinion.
Many people will enjoy it but it’s not for me.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, with the sexual tension and lots of talk about baking and owning a bakery. However half way through the book, something happens which really brought the rating down for me, as I felt it then became predictable and unoriginal.
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

so CUTE and so SWEET!! 4 very well deserved stars!!

This was just one of those books that make you feel happy. One of those books you read when you need to know that no matter how hard life gets, things will work out. One of those books that is just so incredibly cute that it leaves you smiling at the end of the chapters.

There was love and friendship and food and baking and family and messy times and happy times and just a little bit of everything.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Aubrey Choi is a baker in Weldon, California and she owns her own little bakery, Comfort Zone. Landon Kim is a well acclaimed food critic with a luxurious life. Both their lives intertwine with a cake mix up and a quick fling. Suddenly their lives become way more complicated than they ever thought they would be and they are forced to face facts about themselves they haven't always been comfortable with.

I will personally recommend that you go into this not knowing much about the plot and the characters and its twists and turns. This is the sort of book you can just lose yourself in and all the better if you're always surprised by what's happening.

This is a really sweet romance about people who have had to fight their way through life and now need to admit there are parts of themselves that they need to better and get through in order to have a better future.

I am here for the romance and here for the friendship and here for the mentions of food and pastries. But I am also here for all the moments where Aubrey and Kim are forced to face their ghosts and come to terms with aspects of their lives that they need to deal with. I am here for main characters who better themselves and accept their mistakes instead of continuously pretending they don't exist.

Honestly this is a wonderful read and so so suitable for the warm weather because it will just make you feel like sunshine.

A Sweet Mess is sweet cute, rom com read from Jayci Lee.

The story about bakery owner Aubrey and celebrity food critic Landon. The story is fairly quick paced and Aubrey and Landon meet in your typical way at a bar, however it's the event afterwards where things change and Aubrey and Landon's relationship changes and gets a little complicated. I must say that some of the recipes and cakes described in the book sounded amazingly yummy (apart from the first one mentioned in the book lol)

There were lots of comedy moments throughout this book that make you smile as reading. For me at times the story felt a little muddled as it changed POV  as different points and I found myself having to read back to figure out what happened. There was also a miscommunication near the end which I didn't really like in the story, it actually felt a little out of character and was a little frustrating. However I did find the ending was very sweet. It was a fairly quick read for me but if you are looking for a sweet quick rom com read this might be the book for you.

I really enjoyed this novel but then I'm deeply biased to Lee's work. Lovely rom-com feel lovely diverse cast, great banter, wonderfully lyrical writing, I love fake dating and this was perfectly done.

On my Instagram page for the 14th July- under highlights- NEW releases. I have tagged author and Netgalley for the RELEASE as well as the publisher.