Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice by Cynthia Timoti
Publisher: Bramble
Genre: Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 9781250343475
eBook Source: Publisher
Audiobook Source: Purchased by Reviewer
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Audible
After an ultimatum from her mother and a viral proposal gone wrong, Ellie Pang is ready to start over. She breaks out of the box her parents have put her in and moves across the country to start her own sugar-free bakery. Except the minute she walks into her new store, she sees the disaster in front of her. Luckily/Unluckily for her, Alec Mackenzie – her old crush turned nemesis – is in town and has contacts to help her. All he needs in return is a fake girlfriend. Except, as we all know, fake dating has a way of turning into something all-too-real…
Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice is a cute story of enemies to friends to lovers. Cynthia Timoti’s debut novel has a lot of promise, although I had mixed feelings about the story overall.
I was on board with Ellie’s move at the beginning. She’s determined to make the life and business that she wants, which I appreciated. But when Ellie gets around Alec, she can be kind of petulant and frustrating. Her reasons for being upset with Alec made sense when she was a teenager, but not so much years later. Alec is kind, hardworking, and a little stuffy. I liked him as a hero but wanted a bit more depth from him. The development of their romance was predictable with the expected obstacles, stubborn protagonists, and interfering third parties. It was entertaining enough, but not as much as I would have wanted from a love story. That being said, I think there’s a lot of promise and I want to see how Timoti’s work develops in the future.
Where Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice shines is in the Type 1 Diabetes representation. Ellie has T1D and you can tell Timoti knows what she’s talking about. The way she weaves T1D rep into the story is fantastic and it was central to Ellie’s character without making it the only thing interesting about her. I really appreciated the care and attention to detail that was given to not just how Ellie managed her T1D but also how she stood up for herself in the face of others’ reactions to it. I also really enjoyed watching her build her sugar-free bakery and wish there was more time in this story devoted to it because it was wonderful. While I liked but didn’t love Ellie and Alec’s love story, there’s enough to enjoy about Cynthia Timoti’s writing that I’m very much looking forward to reading more of her work.
FTC Disclosure: I purchased the audiobook and received the eBook for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Publisher: Bramble
Genre: Contemporary Romance
eBook Source: Publisher
Audiobook Source: Purchased by Reviewer
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Audible
She's salty, he's spice--there's no room for sugar in this fake relationship, but it may be sweeter than they think…
Ellie Pang has had enough of her controlling family who has been micromanaging her life since her type 1 diabetes diagnosis. When her parents orchestrate a public proposal from their business partner’s son, a proposal that goes humiliatingly viral, Ellie escapes to the other side of the country to put her dream of opening a sugar-free bakery into action. After all, she’d done her research. How hard can it be?
She hits a snag when her storefront turns out to be a dump and in need of major renovations. Worse, the only person who can help her turn things around is Alec Mackenzie, her brother’s best friend and the man responsible for crushing her teenage heart ten years ago.
But Alec has a proposal of his own: he needs a pretend girlfriend in order to cement a business deal. All they need to do is feign love and affection, while trying not to maim each other. As the thin line between hate and fake-madly-in-love starts to blur, buried secrets resurface, and Ellie must learn to trust her heart.
After an ultimatum from her mother and a viral proposal gone wrong, Ellie Pang is ready to start over. She breaks out of the box her parents have put her in and moves across the country to start her own sugar-free bakery. Except the minute she walks into her new store, she sees the disaster in front of her. Luckily/Unluckily for her, Alec Mackenzie – her old crush turned nemesis – is in town and has contacts to help her. All he needs in return is a fake girlfriend. Except, as we all know, fake dating has a way of turning into something all-too-real…
Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice is a cute story of enemies to friends to lovers. Cynthia Timoti’s debut novel has a lot of promise, although I had mixed feelings about the story overall.
I was on board with Ellie’s move at the beginning. She’s determined to make the life and business that she wants, which I appreciated. But when Ellie gets around Alec, she can be kind of petulant and frustrating. Her reasons for being upset with Alec made sense when she was a teenager, but not so much years later. Alec is kind, hardworking, and a little stuffy. I liked him as a hero but wanted a bit more depth from him. The development of their romance was predictable with the expected obstacles, stubborn protagonists, and interfering third parties. It was entertaining enough, but not as much as I would have wanted from a love story. That being said, I think there’s a lot of promise and I want to see how Timoti’s work develops in the future.
Where Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice shines is in the Type 1 Diabetes representation. Ellie has T1D and you can tell Timoti knows what she’s talking about. The way she weaves T1D rep into the story is fantastic and it was central to Ellie’s character without making it the only thing interesting about her. I really appreciated the care and attention to detail that was given to not just how Ellie managed her T1D but also how she stood up for herself in the face of others’ reactions to it. I also really enjoyed watching her build her sugar-free bakery and wish there was more time in this story devoted to it because it was wonderful. While I liked but didn’t love Ellie and Alec’s love story, there’s enough to enjoy about Cynthia Timoti’s writing that I’m very much looking forward to reading more of her work.
FTC Disclosure: I purchased the audiobook and received the eBook for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.