Sugar Rush

This was a very, very enjoyable read. It was a really fun and romantic story about two Chef's deeply in love, but have decided to go their seperate ways, rather than admit their true feelings for one another. That is until they can't seem to get the other one out of their minds, and decide to do something about it. It won't be easy since one is still living and working in New York, and the other is now residing in a small coastal town off the shores of Georgia. Will they be able to figure out how to make their relationship work? Or are they doomed? I loved all of these characters, some more quirky and lovable than the others. Pssst.....I'll let you in on a little secret, I wanna be Alva when I grow up. LOL!

So...this was more than I wanted to spend on a book by an author that I don't know very well. I've read Kauffman's short stories in a couple anthologies but never a full-length novel. However, I've been struggling with finding new authors that really hold my interest. Since I love cupcakes and baking in general I thought I'd give this a try regardless of the price and it was SO worth it! Kauffman is hilarious! For reals! I laughed out loud through the whole book! I give it 4 stars for two reasons: 1. I still don't love the price for a contemporary romance but you get what you pay for. 2. A few times the book seemed to drag out a bit much or repeat one too many times a characters "feelings". Not that I have anything against feelings people! I just think there is a limit to the amount of times an author needs to explain that she loves him and he loves her and they've secretly loved each other forever but it'll just never work out! All-in-all, it was a wonderful book and I was so happy that I gave it a chance and loved Kauffman's style so much that I went ahead and got the next Cupcake Club novel! Hope there are more in the future!

The Cupcake club brings a different spin to DK's style. Sugar Rush is a great start to a new destination in her literary world. The story is entertaining, heart warming, fun and has a depth that pulls you in. The characters are interesting and well rounded and will make you want to learn more about them. You want to cheer on the main character, yet pinch her to get her to use that spine that you know is good and strong. Then you have a leading hero that at first you think is completely obtuse, yet the author does an awesome job of bringing him to his senses in perfect order. The supporting cast of characters are charming, funny, lovable, and make you want to see them more! I could not wait to immerse myself into that little island and watch the world evolve.

If you like books with lots and lots of talking in them, boy have I got a book for you. I was torn over whether to give this book three or four stars, so I'm probably at 3 1/2 stars. First the good stuff: I really liked the characters. They were interesting, likeable and well drawn. The locale was cute enough. Not especially unique, but nice. The sexy scenes were the right amount of explicit for me. I believed in the romance, especially because of their communication skills. Oh boy, did they ever communicate, which leads me to the... Not so great stuff: The talking. Everyone talked about their feelings. Lots and lots of feelings. So many feelings and so much talking about feelings. The story verged on boring because not a lot happened. People walked on the beach, and they talked. They baked cupcakes, and they talked. They rode in cars, and they talked. They had sex, and they talked. All. The. Time. Loooooong conversations. I started skimming the in depth conversations everyone had. It's a tribute to how interesting the characters were that I finished the book. I'm not sure I will read another one in the series, because while I liked the characters and setting, I don't know I can survive another gabfest.

This is my favorite Donna Kauffman novel. I enjoy her work very much, but this one hit a new emotional high. Something that made this story different from other romances is that we start after other novels have ended. The H/h are already in love with each other but have not been able to be together. Had the story been about their time in NY, it would have been just okay. Instead, we see them learn to know each other truly and work on a real love rather than just being in love. This provides more emotional depth. Also, I appreciated that we read a lot from Baxter's POV. He was a much more complex and realistic character than I had anticipated. All in all, I could not wait to see everything would be resolved. Because it is Donna Kauffman, it is also very funny and has great supporting characters. Women like Alva are a Southern institution! The writing is fantastic as always. I will be getting the rest of the series soon!

I normally love Donna Kauffman's books so was surprised to not be mentally drooling over this series. It's sweet (no pun intended) but not as rich in romantic tension as her black sheep series. However, it was a good set of stories that grew over time. In this particular book, Sugar Rush, the H/h are former co-workers who didn't connect in their original relationship (Baxter owned the patisserie where Lani worked as the executive chef. The story is cute, there is lots of funny scenes and the folks on Sugarberry Island are the best (and some of the worst) of small town living. There is a little bit of sizzle, but not enough for my taste. On the whole, however, it was a nice story for those times when you want a little romantic comfort food. I'm not sure I'll reread this, but may after a long while. It did, however, make me want to reread some of Ms. Kauffman's older books, like The Great Scot or The Black Sheep and the Princess.

I love this book it is a book with lots of pages witch makes me happy and being a romance you forget your daily life and at a good price it makes you happy and being digital you have a really fast delivery, and yes next month I will buy more of these books thank you

Leilani Trusdale left her high flying career as a pastry chef in New York to open a cute little cupcake shop in small town Georgia and she finally feels that she's where she belongs. If only she could put her sexy boss, fellow chef Baxter Dunne, out of her head for good. Baxter is now a hot shot TV chef with his own cookery show and legions of fans. Dubbed 'Chef Hot Cakes', Baxter wants to film his next show from Leilani's tiny kitchen but it's not for the reasons she thinks. With things hotting up in the kitchen and an island rife with gossip, convincing Leilani that she and Baxter belong together will take a lot more than cupcakes and frosting. -- This is the first book in The Cupcake Club series which combines the two wonderful worlds of cupcakes and romance which are the two reasons I felt drawn to this book. I've not had much luck with romance books that have a backdrop of food or restaurants but this one does manage to work that well into the storyline. The descriptions of the cakes sounded amazing and I like the fact that you get a couple of recipes (with frostings) at the back of the book to try yourself. Apart from that, unfortunately I wasn't overly keen on the characters. I could identify with, and didn't dislike, Leilani but she didn't have enough sparkle to really make me root for her. Baxter wasn't my cup of tea for two reasons: 1) because he was 'British' which paved the way for embarrassing attempts at Brit speak and accents, although thankfully not so often as to make the book unreadable. The second reason is that right at the beginning it was mentioned that Baxter was younger than Leilani. Although it probably doesn't bother most people, and it was only by three years, I just don't like that dynamic and it made me disappointed from the start. It turned out to never be mentioned again which made me wonder why it was mentioned in the first place. There were some supporting characters but a little too many to really care for them and none that stood out except for crazy Alva. The plot also fell a little flat for me as I just didn't feel that much happened. If Leilani and Baxter weren't discussing one thing, they were talking about something else. Sometimes Leilani would discuss things with her father or her best friend and then sometimes other people would discuss other things that were happening. I'm all for conversation and banter between characters but not at the expense of moving the story forward or having something interesting happen. My last point - which didn't affect my rating of the book but still has to be mentioned - was the cover. The cupcakes on the front are to die for and I enjoyed staring at them and wishing I could eat them right up. On the back, however, is a photo of a couple and I swear that if they are a day over 18 I'll eat my hat. Perhaps that's just me getting older but they made me cringe. Anyway - I wasn't much of a fan of this book so sadly can't recommend it. It wasn't terrible, the writing was okay but it just didn't capture my attention despite the delicious cupcakes. 2 stars.

Downloaded Sugar Rush as I thought it sounded like it could be a good series, but ...it wasn't a great 1st book , I also downloaded book 2,as I was going away and thought they would be good holiday books, but I am in no rush to read it. Baker Leilani Trusdale left New York City for Sugarberry Island, to be closer to her dad after losing her mum and her dad suffering a heart attack, and to get over her boss Baxter Dunne, she didn't expect him to follow her. Baxter Dunne, aka Chef Hot Cakes, wants to film his hit cooking show in her shop and use her kitchen. even though Lani's friends are sure Baxter wants Lani too, she is not so sure, so Baxter has to prove himself. ok, but just not enough spark for me no real romance, no comedy, and the story just never grabed me, I really didn't care if they got together or not by the end I just wanted to finish it, but it was more for the 6.00 cost for downloading it rather than finishing it to see the end!