Baking Me Crazy by Karla Sorensen

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Title: Baking Me Crazy
Author: Karla Sorensen
Series: Donner Bakery #1
Published by: Smartypants Romance
Release Date: October 8, 2019
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Chris Brinkley, Reba Buhr
Length: 6 hours and 56 minutes
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Source: Authors Direct
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Diversity Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 New Release Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ IndieBound ✩ iTunes ✩ Book Depository ✩ Authors Direct
My rating:

Blurb:

I'm Levi Buchanan, and until five years ago, I thought the legend of my family's curse was a load of crazy, Southern nonsense.

No curse can make you fall in love at first sight. No curse can force a true, deep, passionate, all-consuming love that will haunt you all the days of your life.

Then I met Jocelyn Abernathy and I realized how completely wrong I was.

The problem is, Jocelyn guards her feelings like well-armed soldier. She's the most beautiful, stubborn, infuriating woman I've ever met. Every time she talks, I want to kiss the living daylights out of her. But I can't.

Because when we met, she didn't need true love. She needed a best friend. And that's what I've been to her... for five years.

But when Jocelyn meets a handsome stranger her first day working at Donner Bakery and she lets him buy her a dill pickle cupcake, I realize with ominous regret that I may have missed my window with my best friend.

If I can't get her to see past our friendship, my new curse may be to watch the love of my life move on with someone else.

'Baking Me Crazy' is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book#1 in the Donner Bakery series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

My Review:

4 stars — I really enjoyed both Mr. Brinkley and Ms. Buhr as narrators.  I will admit that with the accents, it was the first time I had to slow down the narration instead of speed it up.  And also, not the greatest choice for road trips, b/c Mr. Brinkley in particular has a lot of volume changes (which is actually really awesome, just not conducive to a car).  But I LOVED their voices for Levi and Jocelyn, as well as their range of voices for other characters.

Levi was pretty adorable all around.  I loved how much he cared for Jocelyn, and how he wanted her in his life no matter what the role.  I really felt for his unrequited feelings.  I also really appreciated that Connor and Sylvia helped show him some truths about his feelings for her, and how there’s no way she’d know he had those feelings.  He definitely made some mistakes along the way, but that just made him more relatable in some ways.

Jocelyn could be frustrating herself.  She was SO strong physically, and had adapted to a seriously challenging new life.  But as much as she’s met those challenges, she was stunted in her emotional development.  It was like she was using the barrier of the wheelchair as an excuse not to put herself out there.  And while that was hella frustrating to read about, I could totally see how that could happen.  It felt very real.  But ARGH!  I just wanted to smack her sometimes!  She was so blind, and almost willfully blind.  What I appreciated about the story is that it didn’t drag out as long as I worried it might.  She was stronger on the inside than I thought, she just needed that challenge.

The strength of the story was definitely the two of them together.  I LOVED their friendship.  I loved their sarcastic banter, and how they supported one another and pushed one another.  And when things started to go further, I melted!  I LOVED the first forays into romance that Levi made — OMG that first present!  I died!

There were some awesome secondary characters in this one as well.  I loved how close Levi was to his family, and how they supported and welcomed Jocelyn right from the start.  And Joy!!!  OMG!  Does she get a book?  She needs a book!  I loved Joy!  How could you not?  She and Joc were so different, but that’s what made the friendship so endearing, you know?

So yeah.  I definitely enjoyed this first book in the Donner Bakery series, and can’t wait to see what else is coming!