Reviewed by Amber

TITLE: Baked Fresh

SERIES: Portland Heat #2

AUTHOR: Annabeth Albert

PUBLISHER: Kennsington

LENGTH: 159 pages

BLURB:

From its famous coffee to the mouthwatering fare at its cafés, restaurants, and bakeries, Portland, Oregon, has a lot to whet the appetite, including the hard-working men who serve it all up—hot, fresh, and ready to go—with no reservations…

Vic Degrassi is a baker on the rise, and it’s all thanks to his rare ability to make—and keep—his New Year’s resolutions. Whether it’s losing weight, giving up smoking, or graduating from culinary school, Vic goes after what he wants—and gets it. This year? He wants Robin Dawson, the sweet-hearted hottie who volunteers with him at the local homeless shelter.

When he learns that Robin is suddenly single after being unceremoniously dumped, Vic is more than happy to offer a shoulder to cry on—or at least a fresh-baked pastry to bite into. But it’s been a long time since Vic’s gone on a date, and he’s nervous about risking his friendship with Robin. So when their flirtation turns into a steamy night together, Vic and Robin have to figure out if they’re friends with benefits or lovers in the making, and if Robin is ready for something more than just a rebound. There’s only one way to find out: turn up the heat…

REVIEW:

I’m thoroughly enjoying these hot little stories involving this cool city and these really interesting people. If book 2 is any indication I think these books will hopefully keep getting better and better. I’ve said it before and it’s true with this story. I love when a writer can take these big, brutish characters and make them so soft, sensitive, and caring without having them lose their masculinity. Vic was everything in this story. A possible “Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson and Vin Diesel love child” SIGN ME UP for that ride!!! This story was equal parts sweet, touching; hot, dirty, and comforting….it hit all my YESSSSSS buttons!!

Vin Degrassi is a baker who volunteers his time and his baked goods at a local homeless shelter. He takes achieving his goals to a whole new level. Takes those challenges head on, so when family members started passing away he knew he needed to take better care of his health. He’s lost over 100lbs and is eating better and working out more than he ever has before. He’s in a much better place and is finally ready to share that with someone else. He’s had a wicked crush on a local volunteer at the shelter, Robin, so he sets his sights on him.

Robin Dawson is a recovering addict. He’s been clean and sober for almost 3 years and owes a lot of his recovery to the homeless shelter and people who pushed him into recovery. Because of that debt, Robin volunteers quite a bit of his time to the shelter. Having recently been dumped the last thing he thinks he wants or needs is a relationship but he wasn’t prepared for Vic.

Robin is upfront with Vic about just having casual sex. It’s obvious very early on Vic feels more for Robin then casual. But he’s ok with taking it slow but these two burn up the sheets together, holy heck, do they!!!! There’s so much patience and care in both of them. The way they take their time learning what the other wants and needs gives you goose bumps. They were perfect for each other….just perfect.

I really loved this addition of the Portland Heat series and I’m so looking forward to book 3!!  Definitely pick up this wonderful series….!

RATING:  

BUY LINKS:

Kennsington Publishers

Amazon

ARe