Donut Fall in Love
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
"[Lau's] trope-forward contemporaries are as sugary and irresistible as the desserts her characters create."—New York Times Book Review
A baker provides the sweetest escape for an actor in this charming romantic comedy from the author of Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie.
Actor Ryan Kwok is back in Toronto after the promotional tour for his latest film, a rom-com that is getting less-than-stellar reviews. After years of constant work and the sudden death of his mother, Ryan is taking some much-needed time off. But as he tries to be supportive to his family, he struggles with his loss and doesn't know how to talk to his dad—who now trolls him on Twitter instead of meeting him for dim sum.
Innovative baker Lindsay McLeod meets Ryan when he knocks over two dozen specialty donuts at her bakery. Their relationship is off to a messy start, but there’s no denying their immediate attraction. When Ryan signs up for a celebrity episode of Baking Fail, he asks Lindsay to teach him how to bake and she agrees.
As Lindsay and Ryan spend time together, bonding over grief and bubble tea, it starts to feel like they’re cooking up something sweeter than cupcakes in the kitchen.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Romance blossoms between a baker and a movie star in this bland romance from Lau (The Professor Next Door). Up-and-coming actor Ryan Kwok stumbles into Lindsay McLeod's Toronto bakery and promptly knocks over a tray of fresh doughnuts. Beneath the quippy exchange that follows, there's a current of attraction that leaves them both dazed as they part ways. Ryan is so enchanted by Lindsay that when his agent books him on the celebrity cooking show "Baking Fail" he hires her to be his baking teacher. Through their lessons, they realize that despite leading very different lives, they have a lot in common, including shared grief over losing a parent, and their growing bond pushes their initial spark and casual, flirtatious connection into becoming something much more. But Ryan's life in the public eye has Lindsay worried that she won't be enough for him. Though Lau bolsters the story with appealing subplots about Ryan's and Lindsay's careers and loved ones—including a timely exploration of Asian American representation in film and TV—the romance itself feels thin, predictable, and laden with undue angst. There's great potential, but much of it is wasted.