TEST
Don’t Call Me Cupcake is set on Pine Cove Island, which has hosted seven generations of the Holloway family, but Emma, an inventive baker, and her florist cousin Juliette (heroine of book two, the forthcoming Don’t Touch My Petunia) are the last of the line. Emma has inherited both the creaky, grouchy old family house and Fairy Cakes, the bakery where she plies her wares, from their late grandmother, who died three years earlier. With a broken engagement behind her, Emma has settled into a happy routine when one day, a handsome stranger enters her shop.
That man happens to be Hunter Kane, who’s brand-new to the island. A talented, rich entrepreneur in from Seattle, his plan to expand his business by putting a big French restaurant/bakery on his freshly-bought waterfront property leaves Emma frustrated and worried. She and Juliette hatch a scheme to drive Hunter from the island to protect the family business with a magical ‘go away cupcake’: the Holloway girls, you see, are not ordinary women, but have descended from a long line of potion makers and healers. Emma’s talent happens to be that she knows how to infuse spells into her cupcakes, a secret handed down from her late grandmother.
Hunter, running away from a disaster of a relationship he left back in Seattle, is horrified by the small town ways of Pine Cove Island, but he refuses to integrate his business to the rest of the town’s expectations or aesthetic. When he realizes the bakery is all Emma has, he feels guilty and less sure of himself, especially when they’re both given equal share in a contract to produce baked goods for the town’s summer festival.
As the summer approaches, Emma becomes the owner of an orphaned labradoodle her cousin rescued from a client, wrestles with the spirits of her grandmother and mother, tries to figure out a cupcake recipe that will give the consumer a ‘day of bliss’, and tries to take up online dating. All the while, the mutual attraction between her and Hunter grows. When an accident causes Emma to spill a jasmine-loaded attraction spell all over Hunter, they’re left to question if this new feeling between them is real. Will Hunter ever acclimate to life in Pine Cove Island, or realize that Emma’s old-fashioned ways are just as good as his? And will Emma be able to keep her shop open and allow herself to love again, even as her ex-fiancé surfaces to drunkenly stalk her? And is Emma and Hunter’s newfound love the real deal?
There’s something inherently charming about Don’t Call Me Cupcake, which has everything a cozy romance lover might want… to a point. While the plot and the sweetness of the central relationship prevail, there are some plot choices that wreck the sweet spell the book tries to conjure.
Emma is the kind of heroine who talks aloud to her creaking, ancient house and believes highly in the magic of the world, but she’s much more grounded in routine and tradition after spending part of her childhood at the mercy of her mother’s magical wanderlust. She literally collapses when thinking about the sex she’s had with Hunter (which isn’t explicitly described and is given to us in piecemeal details). Though the town considers her somewhat of an outsider and a ‘Holloway freak’, aside from her magic cupcakes there isn’t much outlandish or wacky about her; she’s an easy to sympathize with heroine who spends her nights baking or watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (bonus for fans: she’s a Spuffy shipper) and it’s fun to follow her journey.
Hunter is another type-A hero with a bad childhood who therefore doesn’t want to be married or have children and he refuses to believe in magic or to be charmed by the wonderful world Emma’s conjuring. He rejected his ex-girlfriend for her cold ambition for exercising her right to choose – and the book applauds him, as if he weren’t just as ambitious and cold-minded. Think of him as Darren Stephens with more class snobbery, and he never manages to become truly charming enough to transcend and fit into the fairytale feeling of the book, though he does have one lovely fairy prince moment toward the end.
Emma and Hunter’s relationship is initially quite childish – he calls her ‘Cupcake’ and ‘Blondie’ because he likes to tease her when she’s mad; she pouts to him directly that he’s going to ruin her business. They want fundamentally different things out of their futures and lives, making his eventual choice make little sense. At least he seems to respect Emma’s opinions and to care for her, even though he rejects a fundamental part of her existence. The other major relationship, that between Emma and Juliette, is quite cute and believably sisterly, though both feel like they’re in their late teens instead of their twenties.
World-building – or rather, the lack of it – is the book’s biggest problem, and one that nearly derails it. Think about it – magic is an incredible thing, and if you owned a shop that featured cupcakes that could make the clouds part on a stormy day or make someone feel enormously happy, then you would be hugely successful. It’s not even a matter of drawing in castigating locals. If Hunter knows the town and thinks it’s viable enough to put a huge fancy restaurant there, if they draw a decent crowd in the summer, then there should be hundreds of people standing in awe of Emma’s magic. Instead, she struggles to make a living and is barely able to pay her rent.
The rules that govern Juliette and Emma’s magic in general are poorly defined. We’re told Juliette’s mother couldn’t heal her own injuries after being in a car accident because ‘her magic didn’t work that way’ without explaining why. If you can wish away the weather or rid yourself of terrible people through clever application of cupcakes, why not conjure up some money or bring your loved ones back from the dead?
If something like that doesn’t bug you, then you may be able to ignore these little cracks in the confection that is this book. If not, though, passing it up would probably be a healthier option.
Buy it at: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/iBooks/Kobo
Grade: C
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Kisses
Review Date: 26/04/18
Publication Date: 04/2018
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.