Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: Macarons At Midnight
AUTHOR: M.J. O’Shea & Anna Martin
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 216 pages
BLURB:
Tristan Green left his small English town for Manhattan and a job at a high profile ad agency, but can’t seem to find his bearings. He spends a lot of time working late at night, eating and sleeping alone, and even more time meandering around his neighborhood staring into the darkened windows of shops. One night when he’s feeling really low, he wanders by a beautiful little bakery with the lights still on. The baker invites him in, and some time during that night Tristan realizes it’s the first time he’s really smiled in months.
Henry Livingston has always been the odd duck, the black sheep, the baker in an old money family where pedigree is everything and quirky personalities are hidden behind dry martinis and thick upper east side townhouse facades. Henry is drawn to Tristan’s easy country charm, dry English wit, and everything that is so different from Henry’s world.
Their new romance is all buttercream frosting and sugared violets until Tristan’s need to fit in at work makes him do something he desperately wishes he could undo. Tristan has to prove to Henry that he can be trusted again before they can indulge in the sweet stuff they’re both craving.
REVIEW:
“Henry had changed him in the short time they were together, cut him apart and sewn him back together so he didn’t fit anymore, not without Henry’s body and voice and laugh holding him from falling apart. Tristan needed him.”
There is so much I absolutely loved about this book that I truly don’t know where to start.
I was immediately drawn to this book because the blurb pulled me in. I loved the idea of Tristan, a true English gentleman, implanted in New York City trying to find his way. It was frustrating at times watching the world go by in Tristan’s eyes. You could feel how truly unhappy he was with his job and his intense need to succeed at it so he wouldn’t feel like a failure. The push and pull stress of it has him venturing out for long walks throughout the city. On one of these walks he is drawn to a bakery on the corner. The warmth and light attracts him immediately and that’s where he comes across Henry, the well-off/baker and bakery owner, baking a crazy ridiculous order of macarons.
The attraction between the two is immediate, it’s written as though you are there with them watching it unfold. It was sweet, so sweet and perfect. We don’t get instalove and hot first date sex with these two, not that I have a problem with that if it’s done right. There is a huge attraction from the start and adorable flirting. They fall for each other quietly which by no means takes away from how intense it was, the build-up was perfection. Henry is a trained chef and a skilled baker so a lot of the story is them cooking and baking together, which is another aspect I loved.
As the story develops they spend more and more time together solidifying their relationship. Unfortunately for Tristan, his professional life is still busy, cutthroat, and hectic. In a stress reduced, thoughtless moment he jeopardizes his relationship with Henry. He does this thinking it would ease the way up the corporate ladder, but in doing so he betrays Henry’s trust by using something against him that he resents.
Watching Tristan try to make amends and explain his role was gut wrenching. I felt like I was watching friends or people I loved unknowingly tear each other apart over a misunderstanding. Which I think just hammers home the fact that these two authors together are a heavenly combination.
The story and plot were exceptional it flowed so well. I read this whole story in a day, it was that good. And speaking of good, the baking together and the recipes throughout the book was pure genius. Essentially, as readers we’re getting a love story and a recipe book, all in one. Also, the cover, which was done by LC Chase, was amazing too. I literally loved every single thing about this book. It was brilliant and unique. Macarons at Midnight will be on my reread shelf, for sure.
RATING: 
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