Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings

Sweet as Pie by Beth Bolden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is such a tonic, it’s filled with emotions and with all the feels as Luca Moretti finds out that he’s maybe not irreplaceable to his family – and it’s a good thing!

Sent to rescue an offshoot of the family’s food related businesses, Luca finds himself in a sleepy small town in the charming, picturesque Indigo Bay, where his aunt’s Italian deli is failing badly.

His path keeps clashing, quite literally sometimes, with local bakery and small café owner Oliver, who has returned to his home town where his mother runs the biggest B&B, which just happens to be where Luca is staying.

Long time readers of Beth’s will recognise Luca as being Gabe from the Food Truck Warriors oldest brother and Ren’s cousin, he’s a sharp businessman with very little feelings – or so it seemed.

But not here, as he fights with his aunt’s stubbornness, his cousin’s unwillingness to be involved in the deli and falls in love with more than just Oliver’s bread and pastries, Luca comes to realise that perhaps there’s more to life than just being the best businessman he can be.

Luca’s repression is driven by his desire to fulfil the legacy left to him by his Nonna, the beloved grandmother who’s name is on all their businesses and whose recipes form the foundation of what makes them so successful.

Oliver is sunshine in human form, but he also feels the pressures of living in a town where everyone’s known him since he was small.

Their attraction is instant, it grows through long conversations and over good food and Luca slowly unbends as he realises Oliver doesn’t want to change him, he loves his drive and his ambition, his determination to succeed and not settle for less.

This is the best sort of grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract small town romance and I adored it.

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