As usual, Renee Swindle (Shake Down the Stars) is the master of setting the scene. Here, in her enticing third novel, she's cooked up a bakery called Scratch that specializes in wedding cakes, owned by protagonist Abbey Ross, the only non-musical child of a famous jazz musician. Abbey's loving-but-scattered dad has fathered 13 children with six women, but their large family (in which all the ex-wives are uncharacteristically good friends) remains refreshingly close and supportive amidst jam sessions and well-meaning gossip.
Despite all of her romantic cake creations, Abbey herself is nursing a broken heart from a breakup of the most humiliating kind. Her best friend Bendrix encourages Abbey to get back in the game, and her ticking biological clock causes her to take a chance on straight-laced hunk Samuel who's wary of her super-blended family. Meanwhile, Abbey is thrown for a loop by two major family issues, all while she finds herself connecting a little too deeply with a soon-to-be-married male client. It'll take more than an extra cup of sugar to sweeten up the flopped soufflé of Abbey's personal life, and a major boost from an unlikely source may be just what the baker ordered.
Swindle has once again set her captivating story in Oakland, Calif., so in addition to the well-developed characters, artful descriptions of baked goods and jazz and the shocking plot twists, the notable nuggets of information about Oakland add an interesting touch. This novel is as delectable as one of Scratch's cakes and just as satisfying. --Natalie Papailiou, author of blog MILF: Mother I'd Like to Friend