My rating: 3 of 5 stars
“Romance novels are birthday cake and life is often peanut butter and jelly. I think everyone should have lots of delicious romance novels lying around for those times when the peanut butter of life gets stuck to the roof of your mouth.”
-Janet Evanovich, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Yes once in a while, we do need a birthday cake kind of novel to ease off our mind which gets often heavy while reading those impressionistic and articulate literary novels. Life is Sweet by Elizabeth Bass has all the ingredients to be your perfect birthday cake. Melodramatic- check, cheesy characters- check, predictable ending making us all teary eyed- check, over-the-top chemistry- check, girl problems- check.
Synopsis:
“If you wait for a cake to be given to you so you will be happy- then you will be happy when someone gives you a cake. But if you buy a cake (or bake one) for yourself so you will be happy, you have found the way of happiness.” -C. Joy Bell C, author and also known for her cake-love.
That's what Rebecca Hudson used to do- bake cupcakes, whenever life threw her lemons. Rebecca Hudson is former TV star, who is now the owner of a bakery, and her cupcakes are quite popular in her town, Leesburg. She had a great set of girl-friends and a very friendly ex-husband and sometimes, occasionally she used to get bugged by her fans. One fine day she sees a man, who is old enough to be her father, across her bakery, who happens to be homeless and penniless. Feeling sympathetic,
Rebecca soon befriends that man. Eventually the mysterious man becomes like that missing ray of sunshine in Rebecca's already lonely life. And with a growing passion for her new customer, who happens to be a single dad, Rebecca is feeling happier and merrier every-day. But does life goes on as we want it to go? Read it to find out about Rebecca's mystery-man and about her "sweet as a cake" life.
Rebecca is a perfect protagonist- lost and lonely yet feels happy while making cupcakes! She is not like all those women protagonists who happen to cry and sulk over their broken past. Rebecca devours every bad moment of her life by making cupcakes. She is least bothered about her failing career as a TV star and surprisingly is in quite good terms with her ex-husband, instead of feeling all uncomfortable in-front of him. Not for a single moment, I found Rebecca crying over her disoriented life. Moreover she cared less about her daily problems, and indeed she had a large heart, meaning couldn't say "NO" to a total stranger who happens to be an ex-convict. I loved everything about Rebecca. I wish her friends could be more like Rebecca instead of being utterly ridiculous and cheesy- Pam and Erin. Olivia, an 11-year old girl is the life of this book- bold, determined and has a way with her words! The male characters are fantastically portrayed- almost drawing a striking similarity with the everyday characters.
The narration was simple, not too dramatic. But I put admit that often the plot went too melodramatic and many unnecessary moments could have been avoided. Even at times, I felt I couldn't connect to story; moreover I couldn't be able to absorb the emotions at all. The ending was no-doubt quite predictable.
Honestly, I liked Elizabeth Bass's previous novel, The Way Back to Happiness more than this book.
Verdict: There are far better birthday cakes out there. But if you love reading light-hearted novels, then definitely go for this one.
Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Elizabeth Bass, for providing me with a copy of her novel, in return for an honest review.
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Author Info:
The youngest of four children, Elizabeth Bass grew up outside of a very small town in East Texas in pre-NetFlix days. The first loves in her life were animals and Humphrey Bogart. Had it not been for a father who kept the house full of books and some tireless elementary school teachers, she could have happily remained an illiterate rabbit caretaker addicted to black-and-white films on the late late show.
Before writing Miss You Most of All, she published thirty romance and women’s fiction novels under the name Liz Ireland and co-authored two Regencies with her sister as Alexandra Bassett.
She lives with her husband in Montreal, where she writes and does freelance editing. An elderly cat or dog (or two…or four) can usually be found in her apartment, and during the busiest day she can often find time to sneak in an old movie.
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