Title: Zest
Series: The Accidental Baker
Author: Claire London
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novella (134 pages)
ASIN: B07WQN1QH7
Publisher: Jocular Press (17 Aug 2019)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Prime
Blurb: When Donnie met Will, it looked like the recipe for true love. But Happy Ever After took just a bit more work.
Donnie’s new romance with silver fox veterinarian Will looks like a real recipe for love. But first he has to deal with the problems of his job, his friends’ demands, and worries about Will’s privileged background. To say nothing of Donnie’s thwarted dreams of a catering career—and baking something that doesn’t come out a disaster.
Will is fascinated and entranced by Donnie. A mature, professional businessman, he’s far less confident in romance—and in the bedroom. Yet his eagerness to look after Donnie and show him a better life are misguided, and have a disastrous effect of their own.
Donnie is everyone’s friend. He’ll help anyone out. But who’s there to help him when he needs it?
Purchase Link: Amazon US | Amazon UK
Review: Zest is a spin-off/sequel to Claire London’s Easter holiday novella, The Accidental Baker. I strongly recommend that you read the novella before starting this one, because this romance follows a couple who started their story in that story. While this is longer than the novella that introduced us to the world of Donnie and Will, this is everything that I had hoped for in terms of getting a cute and sweet romance.
Donnie and Will are great characters. They are down to earth and totally relatable. This was the reason why I really liked them in The Accidental Baker and was more than happy to see that their story continued. I hope that the other couples from The Accidental Baker get the same treatment as Donnie and Will because I really enjoyed getting to know them better. While they got together easy enough in The Accident Baker they now need to work on their actual relationship to make it a proper HEA.
Will, who recently moved to town to take over the veterinarian clinic close to Donnie’s place, is enchanted by the younger man. But despite being described as a silver fox – and is everything that a gentleman should be – he struggles with allowing himself to feel the happiness that comes with intimacy. He’s not inexperienced, just unsure. Donnie is a guy with a heart of gold, the type that would give someone the shirt on his back if he had to. But he is very much the opposite to Will and so at first it seems like their romance is impossible. It all boils down to this, Will needs to find confidence in love and Donnie needs to find confidence in himself before it’s too late for them as a couple.
This is all about the sweetness, that it could turn anyone diabetic if it were food. I’m trying to think of other words than cute and sweet to describe this, and I think that gentle romance is also a fitting description.
I recommend this one to people that enjoy a light-hearted romance, low on angst and just makes your heart happy.