#BookReview :: Baking for Keeps (Bachelor Bake-Off #4) by Jessica Gilmore

Lacey Hathaway has it all — a job she loves as a local radio DJ, a home with her adored, eccentric aunt and, best of all, a community after a childhood traveling with her musical parents. So what if her life is a little too safe? Marietta is everything to Lacey. Not only is she helping to organize the Bachelor Bake-Off and filming a documentary about the process, she’s also volunteered her brother as a Bachelor. But, when her brother backs out, Lacey has to find a last-minute replacement. And who better than her aunt’s lodger, gorgeous – if taciturn – Zac Malone?

Zac’s not exactly community-minded. In fact, he makes it clear that the sooner he’s out of Marietta the better. But when Lacey persuades him of the powerful impact the Bake-Off funds will have on local children, he decides to give it a go. On one condition. If he has to learn to bake, so does disaster-in-the-kitchen Lacey. Desserts aren’t the only thing heating up, and as the attraction flares and Zac makes plans to leave, Lacey’s beginning to realize that maybe there is a world beyond Marietta’s borders after all… if she’s brave enough to take that step. 

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‘Opposites attract’ is what this book is about. On one hand we have Zac, who likes to keep to himself and cannot wait to get away from Marietta once his business is done. On the other hand, we have Lacey, a bubbly and charming girl who has only known the community life of Marietta. With Lacey’s brother backing out at the last moment, Lacey needs to find a bachelor to step in and save the day. Zac would have probably not cared otherwise but the bake off was for a cause even he could not ignore. But he sets a condition that if he has to learn to bake, then so does Lacey. With their paths crossing, and spending more and more time together it gets harder to ignore the chemistry between them. But is this attraction enough to keep them together forever? Especially when Zac’s time in Marietta is coming to an end and it is the only home Lacey has ever known.

I loved this story because of both the characters and their dynamics. The characters of Zac and Lacey are well developed. They are simple and complicated at the same time. And irrespective of the fact that their personalities are so poles apart, they make a couple that is easy to believe in. They are the anchors of the book. Apart from that the author has an easy going narrative and constant flow of the story also make the pages keep turning. The climax was predictable and expected, however that doesn’t take away much from the reading experiences.

This is the fourth book in the story but can be read as a standalone. A sweet romance that is good for a couple of hours of entertainment.

Review Copy received via NetGalley