Publisher: Jackie Lau Books (March 5, 2019)
Series: Baldwin Village, 1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Dual 1st POV
If there’s one thing that might get my dad, a retired math teacher, to visit Toronto and have a real conversation with me for the first time in seventeen years, it’s a big nerdy Pi Day party. And hopefully this party—and seeing the tech company I built from nothing—will finally be enough to impress him and make him forgive me for everything I did when I was a teenager.
But it’s got to be a really great party.
That’s where Sarah Winters comes in. She owns Happy As Pie, a sweet and savory pie shop, and wants to get into catering. She makes an amazing lamb-rosemary pie, cherry pie, lemon-lime tart…you get the idea. She’ll provide the food and help me plan the party, nothing more. No matter how much time we spend together, I’m not going to fall in love with her.
At least, that’s what I tell myself…
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Sarah's Review:
I’ve read several of Lau’s books. I love her characters and ability to create a warm, inviting world in the bustle of Toronto. I like to read about big cities with lots of different kinds of people in them, as opposed to the ubiquitous small town love stories where the people all seems the same. But my southern blood curdles at how often she mentions snow, heavy coats, and bundling up!
It seems the anecdote for all that talk of cold is a warm, delicious pie. And we find this in the Baldwin Village, where Sarah, the owner of Happy as Pie, is about to find her HEA with Josh, Hazelnut Tech CEO.
Once upon a time, a handsome CEO walked into my pie shop and asked me to cater a Pi Day part, and I stabbed him in the arm with a fork, and somehow we fell in love.
Of course, it is not quite as simple as that. Both Sarah and Josh are distanced from their families. Sarah because she feels like her mom wants her to fail in Toronto and come home. Josh because he made a mistake in high school that his dad is still holding a grudge about. In fact, this Pi Day party is to impress his math teacher father. He just doesn’t expect to fall in love (or forgive himself) in the party planning process.
This story is a cute, fun read. I really like the characters Lau creates in her world. They are complex, relatable, and real. She writes about their anxiety, disappointments, and cramps as well as their successes. We get a quick scene with Wes and Caitlin from her Baldwin novella One Bed for Christmas when they come to Happy as Pie to order a wedding pie spread, and with an ice cream shop opening across the street love is in the air in Baldwin Village.
Even though both Sarah and Josh are not the best when it comes to communicating with their parents, what Lau really weaves into this story is great communication between lovers. During their first make out session, Josh is concerned that they not go any further than Sarah is willing (which should be baseline) but he is really vocal about it. Sarah stands up to Josh’s father when he is being unreasonable and shows Josh what she thinks his worth really is. Perhaps this stands out to me 1) because I’m not always a great verbal communicator (what do you mean, you can’t read my mind?!) 2) Talking about issues of consent, new relationship boundaries, and periods have often been overlooked or written about poorly so to see it done well stands out.
Overall, I give this book 4 stars and can’t wait for more!
4 STARS!
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Source: eARC (author)
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Thanks for the review, Sarah!
Enjoy!
Until Next Time,
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