Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Sweets
SERIES: Starting Over
AUTHOR: Sean Michael
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 184 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 20, 2022
BLURB:
Jake Dubois, a divorced dad, runs the I Eat Cake blog. Every week he tastes a bakery-made cake, reviews it and attempts to recreate it. He loves the work almost as much as he loves his six-year-old daughter.Widower Ben Rummel’s twin girls are still toddlers and he’s grateful to his mother for helping out while he runs his business, the Banana Bear Bakery. He asks the I Eat Cake blog guy to review one of his creations, hoping to increase the visibility of his newly opened bakery.
Jake loves Ben’s cake, but he’s also quite taken with the man himself and the feeling is mutual. They arrange a playdate for their girls, which lets the two men spend more time with each other, too. One get-together leads to another and soon they’re hanging out on a regular basis.
If they’re going to take their relationship deeper, they’ll have to navigate a few bumps in the road, not least of which is Jake’s ex. But if they can, they just might be able to make a life for themselves as sweet as any of Ben’s creations.
REVIEW:
Jake loves cake. So much so that he’s turned his love of cake – both eating and baking – into a blog business that he can do from home so that he can be there for his 6-year-old Penny. His daughter loves cake too – much to the chagrin of his ex Tomas. Tomas has very rigid ideas of how things should be and sugar isn’t on his list of things his daughter should have. The guy can such the fun out of any room. Hence why they are exes and they trade Penny off every other week.
Jake gets an email from Ben who has opened a baker after the death of his husband. He’s got 3-year-old twin daughters, Pippa and Heidi. His mother helps him with the girls – taking them to daycare from the bakery in the morning after Ben has been baking for hours and generally being there when he’s needed her. Ben would like to get more steady business in at the bakery so he asks Jake to maybe feature one of his cakes. Jake agrees and they meet when he goes to pick up the cake from the shop. Ben and Jake hit it off right away and Jake LOVES the cake. He comes back to the bakery and Ben is happy to see him again. They enjoy each other’s company and decide they can spend more time with adult conversation if they arrange a playdate for their girls.
Jake and Penny come to Ben’s house for the playdate. Ben’s house is perfect for the girls with a backyard with a sandbox and swings and they girl get along like a house on fire. Penny revels in being the “big sister” to the two little girls. And Ben and Jake get along really well too. The girls really enjoy each other and have a great time together. Whether it’s pizza or tacos and games or Disney movies, the girls are really developing a relationship and so are Ben and Jake 😉
Things move along and Jake and Ben would really like to have some alone time. Ben’s mom takes the girls and the guys are able to go on a real date – although they have other ideas 😉 As they spend more time together, it’s clear that these five people are building something. Tomas, however, is not so happy about it. Luckily Ben is so nice, it’s impossible for Tomas to put up too much of a fuss. Even though he backslides a bit, Ben does his best to try to make sure everyone gets what they need and they make the best of the upcoming holidays.
Well this was freaking adorable. I really love Sean Michael’s Mannies Incorporated series and this book shares the same overall feel as those books. The kids are adorable. The single dads need help and some adult companionship and they hit it off right away. The reason for both men being single dads is different but they are definitely both happier once they join forces. Jake is adorable and his relationship with Penny is so cute. His ex is definitely his opposite – Type A, driven personality. Needless to say their parenting styles are not really in synch. Ben is a so lovable. He has a great relationship with his mom and she’s a huge support to him. That she likes Jake and is willing to pitch in with the girls so that the guys can have alone time is really good parenting 🙂 Even Tomas begins to loosen up after Ben sort of overwhelms him with his good intentions and his open approach to them all working together. Tomas definitely had a right to feel like the odd man out, but thankfully he realized that for the good of everyone – especially three adorable little girls – he could sty that way and be upset, or he could embrace this new reality 🙂 Honestly it would be so nice if more people could get to this stage and realize that the more people who love and support their kids, the better off everyone will be if they can just get along and behave like adults. Also I want cake 😉 Such a happy and positive story. I definitely recommend this story for those who enjoy single dads finding happiness and making a new start.
RATING: 
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