Sweet Heat
A Novel
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4.8 • 26 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
BOLU BABALOLA IS… “A queen of romantic comedy.” – Oprah Daily • “Incisively funny.” – Entertainment Weekly • “A really great romance writer.” – Quinta Brunson, Harper's Bazaar • “Keeping the hope for true love alive and enjoyable.” –Shondaland • “A rom-com expert.” – New York Times
A Rolling Stone Most Anticipated Book of Fall
Two exes. One summer wedding. Zero chance of escaping the heat.
Prepare to laugh, swoon, and fall head over heels with this irresistible standalone romance from Bolu Babalola, the bestselling author of Honey and Spice, a Reese’s Book Club pick.
Twenty-eight-year-old Kiki Banjo hosts the popular podcast The HeartBeat, solving romantic conundrums and dishing out life advice. But behind the mic, career setbacks and a devastating breakup have left her hanging on by a thread. As she’s preparing to be the Maid of Honor in her best friend’s wedding, everything starts to unravel, and Kiki is left wondering if she ever had the answers.
Then Kiki finds herself face-to-face with the Best Man, her ex-boyfriend, Malakai—the smooth-talking, absurdly handsome, annoyingly perceptive man who stole her heart and then shattered it. While Kiki’s approaching rock bottom, Malakai’s been on the rise as a filmmaker, and now they have no choice but to play nice until the wedding is over. Both are hell-bent on ignoring the smoldering chemistry between them, but as they navigate the chaos of wedding plans, career ambitions, and Kiki’s growing fears about the future, they can’t ignore the spark that’s only getting hotter.
They just have to get through the summer. So why does it feel like playing with fire?
“Babalola’s sharp sense of humor, slick pop culture references, and keen sense of the zeitgeist . . . offer a refreshing portrait of what modern love really looks and feels like." — Time
“Babalola expertly blends sex with societal discourse in ways that echo Jane Austen and Nora Ephron.” — Vanity Fair
"Babalola soars in her rich depictions of intimacy and relationships, in all their grandeur." — The New York Times Book Review
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sweet and spicy second-chance romance animates this delightfully layered contemporary from Babalola (Honey and Spice). Kiki Banjo was heartbroken after her first love, filmmaker Malakai Korede, left London for what was supposed to be a six-month job in Los Angeles only to never return. Fast-forward three years, and Kiki has a wealthy new man (though she's not sure how she feels about him) and doles out romantic advice as the host of popular podcast The Heartbeat. When her employer insists on bringing an out-of-touch white woman in as Kiki's cohost, Kiki quits. In the midst of this personal upheaval, she has to put on a smile to play maid of honor at her best friend's wedding, a task made harder by the knowledge that Malakai is the best man. After the pair's reunion at the engagement party, they struggle to navigate the still-powerful attraction between them. When a musician they both love asks Malakai to direct and Kiki to produce a documentary, working together brings even more old feelings to the surface. Babalola has a talent for convincingly depicting the extremes of human emotion, from devastating heartbreak to intense passion, and her characters feel wonderfully real and well rounded. Readers won't be able to resist.
Customer Reviews
A fabulous sequel
I read Honey and Spice this summer and immediately feel in love with Scotch and Kai. I just loved the world Babalola created for us, loved these central characters and all of her friends, loved how complex, maddening and satisfying they all were in trying to navigate such intensity in life and love. I immediately pre-ordered this book, and have been waiting for months to dive in, even though I was horrified to see the preview that this story fast forwards to a time when Scotch and Kai have broken up. I tore through this even faster than Honey and Spice. Kiki and Malakai are every bit as complex, fascinating, maddening, vulnerable as in the first book. Maybe even more so. You plead with them to get it together. What’s so fascinating about them is they know each other so intimately and deeply, but they still struggle immensely with being emotionally honest with themselves and each other. It’s tortuous to watch them torture themselves, even as everyone else around the, can see the truth for what it is. Once again, Babalola has told us such a phenomenal story, full of wonderful people, experiencing such highs and lows, successes and failures. I really want this to be made into a movie, like yesterday.