Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A football player who owns a cupcake shop unexpectedly goes viral and deals with complicated feelings for his best friend’s sister. August Hodges may be a football star, but he’s happy to stay behind the scenes when it comes to Sugar Blitz, the cupcake shop he runs with Donovan Dell and Nicholas Connors, his best friends and fellow football players. But when he’s caught on camera defending cupcakes and women and the appropriateness of football players owning a bakery to some sexist bros, that all changes. Unsurprisingly, women love a football player with a feminist side. Now, he’s known as SugarBae, and he can’t escape the crowds that come into the shop to meet him. With Sugar Blitz opening a new location, August’s partners know they need to capitalize on his 15 minutes of fame, so Donovan wants to hire his little sister, Sloane Dell, to manage their social media. What Donovan doesn’t know is that August and Sloane have a complicated romantic past that led to a broken heart for Sloane; she has no intention of spending her work hours around August, or riding her brother’s coattails, but spearheading a social media campaign for an up-and-coming company could help her get the job of her dreams. She agrees to help out, which means she’s now spending lots of time taking videos of August—and realizing that her feelings for him never really went away. The more time they spend together, the harder it is for them to deny their feelings for each other, but they’ll have to figure out if they’re ready to be vulnerable enough to take a second shot at love. August is a picture-perfect romantic hero—a football player who owns a cupcake shop and is secure in his masculinity. The obstacles in Sloane and August’s way never feel insurmountable, though—there’s a gentrification plot line, in particular, that feels underbaked—and their journey toward a happily-ever-after doesn’t always feel urgent. A sweet romance with a very slow burn. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.