Mimi Grace

Books: Romance

Make a Scene (2020)

Besides battling with the new gym next to her bakery about staff parking, things have been going well for Retta. But when her cousin and ex-boyfriend announce their engagement, she decides something needs to be done–namely, finding a boyfriend to take to the wedding.

"All right, so this crisis—"

"I wouldn't call it a crisis per se," Retta said.

"You left me a two-minute voice mail."

"Yes, but I've had time to process it, and I'm fine now."

Kym studied her. "Okay, say that again, but this time make me believe it."

Duncan may believe in love, but watching his parents bicker and fight for his entire life has made him doubt relationships. But it couldn't hurt to be in a fake relationship with the baker next door, could it?

First, this is a self-published book, so although I think it could have been tightened up a little bit in places, it was pretty good, and there were no glaring errors or typos that threw me out of the story. (Always a plus!)

One of the things I particularly liked was that there was no stupid misunderstanding due to a lack of communication. Both characters refused to admit to their feelings, however, that was logical and reasonable, given their histories. And I particularly liked seeing how Duncan's parents clearly affected how he saw love and relationships. His parents may have loved each other, but they were clearly unable to live together.

Everything he wrote sounded sappy.

Sure, he could lean into the sentiment, but that would require parsing out his feelings about the most turbulent relationship he'd ever had the displeasure of witnessing.

The story did have a bit of insta-lust, which never works for me, but luckily those bits were easily skimable (which I always appreciate).

The story also went in a couple of unexpected directions, which I also enjoyed, and which kept it feeling fresh.

I'd definitely read another book by this author.

Rating: 7/10