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A review by emmalita
Sweet on You by Carla de Guzman
5.0
Sari Thomas does not like change and in the 10 days leading up to Christmas, a lot of big changes come at her. First of all, her sister announces she’s moving out. Secondly, a bakery is opening up next to her café and the baker is a good looking man who plays his music too loud and produces amazing goods. He irritates Sari immediately.
Gabriel Campos is trying to prove to his father that he can be a professional and financial success as a baker. He has big dreams and the bakery in the Laneways is just a baby step. When the pretty coffee roaster next door bans his pastries from her shop he starts offering a free cup of instant coffee with purchase. Sari and Gab distract themselves from their bigger problems with a prank war. Everyone else sees it for what it is – courtship.
I loved reading Sweet on You. I spent a lot of time looking up Filipino food. I know now that when I can travel again I’m going to want to be in the Philippines just before Christmas (or at least to the Filipino restaurant on the other side of town). There was a lot I wasn’t familiar with, and I was happy to either figure it out from context or look it up (bastos means rude). I do worry that some readers will be impatient with the Filipino centric romance, but I remind them of two things: 1) the vast majority of romances have been Western centered and non western readers have had to deal with it.
“What are you looking at?”
“Just trying to picture this scene I’m reading. The viscount is playing some sort of competitive sport on a huge field, and I don’t know enough about white people sports to understand it,”
And 2) those readers will be missing out on a soft, snuggly, lovely romance. Once Gab and Sari really start talking to each other, they discover they have a lot in common and that their differences are complimentary. The consent is consistent from their very first “joke” kiss. They both love historical romances. One of the things that made me particularly happy was when Gab correctly used the KonMari method to get Sari into his life. I also loved that the conflict they have is less with each other and more about their own fears and expectations.
I hope that this is the start of a series. Sari and Gab have sisters and friends who could have some lovely romances. I received Sweet on You as an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Gabriel Campos is trying to prove to his father that he can be a professional and financial success as a baker. He has big dreams and the bakery in the Laneways is just a baby step. When the pretty coffee roaster next door bans his pastries from her shop he starts offering a free cup of instant coffee with purchase. Sari and Gab distract themselves from their bigger problems with a prank war. Everyone else sees it for what it is – courtship.
I loved reading Sweet on You. I spent a lot of time looking up Filipino food. I know now that when I can travel again I’m going to want to be in the Philippines just before Christmas (or at least to the Filipino restaurant on the other side of town). There was a lot I wasn’t familiar with, and I was happy to either figure it out from context or look it up (bastos means rude). I do worry that some readers will be impatient with the Filipino centric romance, but I remind them of two things: 1) the vast majority of romances have been Western centered and non western readers have had to deal with it.
“What are you looking at?”
“Just trying to picture this scene I’m reading. The viscount is playing some sort of competitive sport on a huge field, and I don’t know enough about white people sports to understand it,”
And 2) those readers will be missing out on a soft, snuggly, lovely romance. Once Gab and Sari really start talking to each other, they discover they have a lot in common and that their differences are complimentary. The consent is consistent from their very first “joke” kiss. They both love historical romances. One of the things that made me particularly happy was when Gab correctly used the KonMari method to get Sari into his life. I also loved that the conflict they have is less with each other and more about their own fears and expectations.
I hope that this is the start of a series. Sari and Gab have sisters and friends who could have some lovely romances. I received Sweet on You as an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.