Sue Watson

Love, Lies, and Wedding Cake by Sue Watson
Book #2: Love, Lies, and Lemon Cake Series
Source: Netgalley
My Rating: 4½/5 stars

Faye is living life to its fullest! She has a hot, considerate, kind, culinary god of a boyfriend, she’s on her way to completing her college degree, and her daughter and granddaughter are a delightful part of her life. What’s more, when the mood strikes, she and the aforementioned boyfriend hop a flight to some fantastic destination and soak up all of one another show more they can before returning to their “real” lives. Yeah, Faye is living life to its fullest . . . .

Dan, otherwise known as the hot, considerate, culinary god boyfriend loves Faye beyond all doubt and reason, but he is not living most of his life to its fullest. He loves Faye, he loves their weeks and weekends away, and he loves her family, but England isn’t home nor is it where he wants to spend the rest of his days. Dan doesn’t want to leave Faye, but he does want to go home to Australia, see his ailing brother through his final days, and open the café he’s always dreamed of owning. The only thing missing from his grand life plan is Faye who adamantly insists she can’t leave her daughter and granddaughter.

Though Faye is certain her decision to stay with her daughter and granddaughter was the right choice, she is terribly saddened by Dan’s absence. She goes about her days and nights, working diligently toward her degree, and caring for her granddaughter, but there is absolutely something missing in her life, and that is Dan. Trouble is, unless something dramatically and drastically changes, Faye just can’t see how she and Dan can ever be together again. Long distance is hard enough, but long distance across the world and across hemispheres, impossible. Lucky for Faye, something dramatically and drastically changes.

In the more than year since leaving Faye behind in England, Dan has moved forward with his life, but never beyond Faye. Sure, there’s been a fling or two, but nothing and no one can ever replace Faye in Dan’s heart. Lucky for Dan, things in Faye’s life have dramatically and drastically changed which is how he has found himself at the airport waiting for her arrival. Trouble is, things in Dan’s life have also dramatically and drastically changed and if he and Faye are going to make it as a couple, he’s got some serious explaining to do and she’s got some super-serious thinking to do!

The Bottom Line: I had no idea this was the second book in a series, and while normally that revelation would make me hella crazy, it really didn’t here as I found this read, all on its own to be supremely satisfying. In fact, I blazed through Dan and Faye’s story in a single sitting and regret nothing! I just devoured this well-written, emotional, often funny read. There is so much here for readers to enjoy including a solid couple/romance you can’t help but root for, a tiny little dynamo with a potty mouth, a crazy salon owner, and food descriptions that will make even the pickiest eater’s mouth water. In all, I couldn’t care less what happened in the first book in this series and don’t feel like I was missing anything by starting (albeit inadvertently) with this book! show less

I can't remember the last time I set a book aside at the five per cent mark. I've listened to the (short) prologue, one point of view from the ex-wife and one point of view from the new wife and that's enough to let me know that this book isn't for me.

I already know that I'm not going to empathise with either woman but that's not why I'm setting the novel aside. It's the writing that's getting to me.

The interior monologues from the women sound not like a person's thought but like position show more papers summarising their respective histories and the expectations and concerns about the upcoming weekend. I don't feel that I've met the characters. I feel like I've been given a briefing on who they are so that I can play a murder mystery game.

The audiobook gives each woman a narrator, which is just as well as their language and speech patterns are so close that I wouldn't have known who was speaking.

Then there are small annoyances like have the phrase 'the oncoming snow' repeated often enough for me to notice it in such a short piece of text.

I know I'm just going to get more critical of the prose as the book goes on and that I won't be able to sit back and pretend I'm playing Cluedo, so I'm setting this aside and counting it as a buying error on my part. show less

The Christmas Cake Cafe by Sue Watson is a feel-good holiday romance that pretty much ticks all the boxes that one needs to find in this type of book. After expecting a proposal but instead getting dumped on Christmas Eve, Jen gets an opportunity to join her step-sister and friends on a working holiday to the Swiss Alps for the next Christmas. Jen has always dreamed of the perfect romance, followed by the perfect marriage but as she meets and falls in love with the handsome ski instructor, show more Jon, is her happy-ever-after finally within reach or is this just another holiday good-time romance?

Although a little formulated, this book supplies the beautiful, snowy Christmas setting, the romance, a fair amount of humour and plenty of delicious cake. I appreciated that Jen is a full grown woman just turned forty who still has her romantic hopes and dreams. I enjoyed the relationship between Jen and her sister, Jody but did feel that it had more spark than her relationship with Jon. Overall, The Christmas Cake Cafe was a lively and fun read that fit in well with the holiday spirit. show less

Oh. My. Gawd. Talk about toxic relationships! This is the book you want your friend who always picks the wrong guy to read. Definitely want your daughter or sister to read if they are starting out on the finding the right one path, (actually guys could probably learn some red flags off it too. Psychotic isn’t reserved for one sex.). It shows so many red flags! I was the friend who always picks the wrong guy, (though not at Hannah’s level). I was reading it and thinking of my exes and show more which flags I could clearly see in the book that I missed or ignored in life. Then came the twist! And again at the end. *My eyes can’t get much bigger.* I had to finish the second half of the book in one reading. All I can say is trust no one. Get a dog or cat. Haha. Now I’m off to see if I have any of the authors other books. I believe I had a couple in my TBR. I’m moving those up the stack.
In case you are wondering I deducted half a star for slow start and half a star for the absolute ending, which I won’t give away here, but it had one thing I dislike. Still, I say read it. show less