An unevenly rendered romance that struggles to meet its own aims.
Rivals turn to lovers while baking and soapboxing.
Southern belle Reese Camden is spending the summer in Seattle as a marketing intern for Friends of Flavor, a popular online foodie channel. Reese aims for a job with the company once the internship is over, and her main competition is charming and handsome Benny Beneventi, the culinary (and only other) intern. Circumstances throw Reese and Benny into starring roles on Piece of Cake: Amateur Hour, an episode of the popular baking show that quickly goes viral based on the crackerjack chemistry the young couple have on screen. Strangers begin shipping the teens, and the company wants more videos. A smitten Benny wants a bit more from Reese as well, but Reese has a crummy relationship history that keeps her from fully embracing Benny’s swole bod. The push and pull of the rivals’ will-they, won’t-they tension is paired with Reese’s feminist commentary, which readers will likely pump their fists in support of at first—but the pumping will get a little lower as this bell gets rung over and over. The contradiction between Reese’s empowered speeches and her wallflower demeanor never quite adds up to consistent characterization; those around her never get fully fleshed out either. The result is a pleasant, admirable, well-intentioned rom-com that aims high but misses. Reese and Benny are White; there is some ethnic diversity in the supporting cast.
An unevenly rendered romance that struggles to meet its own aims. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: April 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37916-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance.
A Connecticut girl and her best friend devise a series of plans in order to achieve their goals: following a dream and winning back an ex.
Eighteen-year-old Audrey Barbour has a Master Plan: attend Blue Ridge Glass School in North Carolina and someday turn her Etsy shop, Golightly Glass, into a thriving business. But her uber-wealthy parents insist that she instead follow in their footsteps and go to business school. So Audrey decides to go find the tuition money she needs with help from her best friend, Henry Chen. Henry needs a favor, too: He hopes that fake dating Audrey will help him win back his ex-girlfriend, and he points out to a reluctant Audrey that this could make her crush, Griffin, notice her. While Audrey’s parents vacation in France for three weeks, the pair rent out the Barbour mansion on the Long Island Sound. Soon romantic chemistry grows alongside their business partnership. Despite the pair’s great preparation and an abundance of secondary characters with connections and talents to help pull off their increasingly ambitious ideas, plans go awry, leaving Audrey and Henry scrambling and second-guessing their choices. The pacing is even, but the characters often take a back seat to the whirlwind of activity that drives the plot, with the emphasis falling on each person’s practical skills and their role in keeping the action moving over their emotional bonds. Audrey is white, and Henry’s surname cues him as Chinese American.
A light and entertaining plot-driven romance. (Romance. 14-18)Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593904794
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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