Sweet Romances to Read & Savor

When a thirty-something American food writer moves to a Scottish village for one year to fulfill her dream of writing a cookbook she finds more than inspiration--she meets a handsome Scotsman she can't resist.

After doing her time in corporate Chicago, Simone Blake returns to small-town Illinois to tackle a new venture: her grandfather's barbecue restaurant. Simone's plan is to sell Honey and Hickory's signature sauce to put her hometown on the map. But she's not the only one with a recipe and a plan: chef Finn Rimes from nearby Springfield has a similar vision. To jump-start his dream of opening a culinary school, he shows up at the local farmers' market with his own barbecue sauce. When Simone's plan to outsell Finn falls flat, she auditions for a reality show to pitch her brand. But she's horrified to discover Finn's had the same idea. As Simone and Finn wage barbecue war on television, their feud turns into an undeniable attraction. With their livelihoods on the line, it may not be so much about making the best sauce--but finding their way to each other.

After selling her famous bakery back in New York, Parker Adams visits Hope Lake, Pennsylvania, to figure out her next steps. And soon she's wondering why she ever loved city life in the first place. Between the Golden Girls--the senior women who hold court--and Nick Arthur, her equally infuriating and charming former flame, Parker finds a community eager to help her get her mojo back.

Kamilah Vega is desperate to convince her family to update their Puerto Rican restaurant and enter it into the Fall Foodie Tour. The fly in her mofongo: her blackmailing abuelo says if she wants to change anything in his restaurant, she'll have to marry the one man she can't stand: his friend's grandson. Liam Kane spent a decade working to turn his family's distillery into a contender. Now he and his grandfather are on the verge of winning a national competition. Then Granda hits him with a one-two punch: he had cancer and he has his heart set on seeing Liam married before it's too late. And Granda knows just the girl ... Kamilah Vega. If they refuse, their grandfathers will sell the building that houses both their businesses. With their futures on the line, Kamilah and Liam plan to outfox the devious duo, faking an engagement until they both get what they want. But soon, they find themselves tangled up in more than either of them bargained for.

Blaire Calloway has planned every Instagram-worthy moment of her cupcake and cocktails shop launch down to the tiniest detail. What she didn't plan on? Ronan Knight and his old-school sports bar next door opening on the very same day. He may be super swoony, but Blaire hasn't spent years obsessing over buttercream and bourbon to have him ruin her chance at success.

With her big-city career and relationship in sudden free fall, Olivia Gale isn't sure where she belongs. So when her help is needed at Goode ʼN Sweet, the family bakery in Sugar Lake, she jumps at the chance to indulge her pie-making hobby while getting her life back on track. Olivia's not looking for any distractions. Even if the boy who once left her without a word is now a grown man with intriguing secrets--and the same tempting hold on her heart . . .

Sales are slow at Three Sisters Biryani Poutine, the only halal restaurant in the close-knit Golden Crescent neighborhood of Toronto. Hana waitresses there part time, but what she really wants is to tell stories on the radio. If she can just outshine her fellow intern at the city radio station, she may have a chance at landing a job. In the meantime, Hana pours her thoughts and dreams into a podcast, where she forms a lively relationship with one of her listeners.

When a cake mix-up and a harsh review threaten Aubrey Choi's successful bakery business, she never thought the jaded food critic would turn out to be her one-night stand. And she never thought she'd see the gorgeous Korean hunk again. But when Landon Kim waltzes into her bakery trying to clean up the mess he had a huge hand in making, Aubrey is torn between throwing and hearing him out. When she hears his plan to help save her business, Aubrey knows that spending three weeks in California wine country working with Landon is a sure recipe for disaster. Her head is telling her to take the chance to save her bakery while her heart-and her hormones-are at war on whether to give him a second chance. 

Bluebird Bakery owner Taylor Harp loves how small and close-knit Teaberry Island is...except when the only response to her help wanted ad is from someone she hoped to avoid. She and Cody Cunningham shared a long-ago romance until he started dating her prettier younger sister. But though the sting of rejection remains, so do the sparks. After PTSD ended his military career, Cody Cunningham came back to the one place that felt like home. A difficult childhood left him running from commitment, but when he's suddenly left in charge of his young half siblings, Cody doesn't hesitate. He's ready to build a future, and he hopes Taylor will want to have a place in it. Will she keep him around long enough to see that the boy she knew is now a man who'll love her forever?

Avital Cohen isn't wearing underpants--woefully, for unsexy reasons. Chronic pelvic pain has forced her to sideline her photography dreams and her love life. It's all she can do to manage her family's kosher bakery, Best Babka in Brooklyn, without collapsing. She needs hired help---and distractingly handsome Ethan Lippmann seems the perfect fit. Except Ethan isn't there to work--he's undercover, at the behest of his ironfisted grandfather. Though Lippmann's is a household name when it comes to mass-produced kosher baked goods, they don't have the charm of Avital's bakery--or her grandfather's world-famous pumpkin spice babka recipe. As they bake side by side, Ethan soon finds himself more interested in Avital than in stealing family secrets.

After being kicked off a baking competition show by judge Dominic De Vere, successful London baker Sylvie Fairchild returns to "Operation Cake" as a judge, setting off an intense rivalry and maybe a bit of romance.

Growing up as the daughter of farmworkers, Carolina spent her youth picking strawberries in the fields of Santa Maria and vowing to improve the lives of people like her parents. Now, as one of only a few Latina farm owners, she has no time for romance and she's certainly not about to let Enrique Montez, smooth-talking heir to the Taco King empire, anywhere near her business--even if just being near Enrique makes her skin tingle. But she is willing to let him help get her overinvolved family off her back. When Carolina's father and her lovelorn sisters mistake Enrique for her (nonexistent) boyfriend, she reluctantly agrees to a series of pretend dates to their town's traditional Mexican-American holiday celebrations. Soon the fake feelings turn real and both Carolina and Enrique must convince each other to take a chance on love before their vacation romance is over.

Jada Townsend-Matthews is the most reviled woman in America after turning down a proposal on a reality dating show. When she comes home to lick her wounds, Jada finds herself working at San Diego's newest cupcake bakery, Sugar Blitz, alongside the uptight owner and professional football player Donovan Dell. When a reporter mistakenly believes Jada and Donovan are an item, they realize they can use the misunderstanding to their advantage to help the bakery and rehabilitate Jada's image. Faking a relationship should be simple, but sometimes love is the most unexpected ingredient.