All's Fair

Last night, I got in bed to read for a bit, and my Kindle is set so that it tells me how much time remains in my book--and I had a bit over two hours, so I thought I'd read down to an hour and then call it a night. That didn't happen. I finished the book--I just couldn't put it down. Sorry, Betsy, but you kept me up late last night.

Betsy St Amant has taken a world of misunderstandings, a few episodes of sabotage, a cupcake baking contest, and two people very much in love but very much unable to say so; and she made those elements into a fast-paced, rollicking novel that grabs readers and won't let them loose.

To begin with, the major characters, Kat and Lucas, are both in love with each other, but they have the awkward dance down to a science. Kat is a cupcake baker working in her aunt's bakery with a desire to do more than plain chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry cupcakes. Lucas is a football coach who gets the benefit of trying out all of Kat's experiments. He enters Kat into the Cupcake Combat competition on the food station on television. When Kat gets tapped to participate, she makes Lucas go with her as her assistant. He wanted her to see how much he believed in her, how much he loved her; but the stress of the week's competitions kept Kat from seeing his love for her.

Some of the minor players in this dance of awkwardness are Piper and Amber who don't care how they win, just so that they do. To that end, Piper has decided that Kat is her major competition and does everything she can to sabotage Kat's cupcakes.

Thad is one of the judges who thinks Kat is hot, makes passes, and acts suggestively toward her.

Stella is Kat's sister who wins pageants and is the apple of her parents' eyes. Kat feels as though she has lived in Stella's shadow, and, in fact, even lost a fiance to Stella. Stella just seems to take these events as her right.

Maggie is the owner of Sweetie Pie's bakery and is Kat's boss. She's been quite ill lately and Kat has been keeping the bakery going. Kat's not quite sure how Maggie is going to keep the shop going while she's in Los Angeles on the show.

All of the characters and the action have added up to make a wonderfully enjoyable book. Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a guilt-free cupcake.

Many Thanks to Zondervan for allowing me to read and review this book.