The only love Kally Anadarakis is baking is in the form of the sweet treats she whips up in her café, The Coffee Klatch.Kally never believed herself to be a person worthy of love, but when an intoxicating man she considered out of her league pursues her, she risks everything to be with him. Later, when tragedy strikes, truths are revealed that leave Kally brokenhearted and untrusting.Eight years … untrusting.
Eight years later, Kally is a successful pastry chef running the café she’d always dreamed of owning. With a home of her own, a profession she’s passionate about, and the support and love of friends and family, Kally is content with the life she has carved out for herself.
Until the day Max Vardaxis walks into her café…
With arguing parents, meddling relatives, an overly energetic grandmother, a man-crazy best friend, and the long ago, mysterious disappearance of a grandfather, this new man in town is just one more complication in Kally’s life, if not the main one.
The only love Kally Anadarakis is baking is in the form of the sweet treats she whips up in her café, The Coffee Klatch.
Kally never believed herself to be a person worthy of love, but when an intoxicating man she considered out of her league pursues her, she risks everything to be with him. Later, when tragedy strikes, truths are revealed that leave Kally brokenhearted and untrusting.
Eight years later, Kally is a successful pastry chef running the café she’d always dreamed of owning. With a home of her own, a profession she’s passionate about, and the support and love of friends and family, Kally is content with the life she has carved out for herself.
Until the day Max Vardaxis walks into her café…
With arguing parents, meddling relatives, an overly energetic grandmother, a man-crazy best friend, and the long ago, mysterious disappearance of a grandfather, this new man in town is just one more complication in Kally’s life, if not the main one.
Kally must now decide whether to keep her heart safe or to once again take a ‘whisk on love.’
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Love is What You Bake of it (The Meraki Series Book 1) by Effie Kammenou
Pastry chefs have a very special place in my heart, my older daughter is one and I know the work and dedication it takes to be successful. Kally has worked extremely hard to have a successful business and the pride she has in that comes through.
Max is starting over in his hometown. He got my respect early on when I found out a little more about him and as I learned more my respect for him grew. He is definitely the type of guy any parent would be happy to see their daughter bring home.
I believe it’s the little details that add so much to a book and Ms. Kammenou did a great job with the little details about each of the characters and their stories. I really loved learning a little more about the Greek culture and cuisine and I look forward to getting to know the Andarakis family more and watch each of them develop and grow.
What a great read! I loved this book and the characters in it.
Kally and Max both bring a lot to the table separately and their story just hooked me and didn’t let me go.
I really felt like i was in the book with them and Max’s daughter, I loved her from the instant we met her.
This book really has it all and I will be reading more from this author in the future.
Love Is What You Bake Of It by Effie Kammenou was a great novel! Loved the characters, story line, everything about it drew me in and held me. Baking/romance stories are also so interesting to me. I also loved the recipes that were sprinkled throughout the novel! A totally riveting novel, I highly recommend and can’t wait to read more from this author in the future!
I without a doubt LOVED this book. I cannot wait to read the next one. Effie Kammenou is a first time author for me on this book, she did AMAZING! It’s such a cute book and so sweet. I couldn’t get enough. I even showed my son there were recipe’s in my book and now we have to make some of them!
This is the story for Kally and Max, both characters were so well built, I felt like their friend :). Everyone in this book has their time to show personality and I couldn’t put it down. Kally is a pastry chef who wants nothing more in life than her dog Emma and her cafe. Max is a police man who just wants to start over in his hometown.
Will these two learn that they need each other, or ruin it with their pasts blocking their future? Read to find out what happens, I promise you won’t be disappointed. If I could give 10 stars this would have gotten them.
Love Is What You Bake Of It is the first book in the Meraki series by Effie Kammanou. Effie Kammenou is a brand new author to me and I’m now wishing that I had discovered her work sooner as I absolutely loved this book.
In this book Kallyope (Kally) Andarakis is loving life as the proud owner of coffee shop ‘The Coffee Klatch’. She has a wonderful, supportive, if not a bit overbearing, family who she adores. One thing she doesn’t have is the love of a good man. Having struggled to get over the loss of a man she loved years previously, she has sworn off men.
Max Vardaxis has moved back home with his young daughter Athena following the tragic loss of her mother. He wants to start a new life for him and Athena and provide her with some stability in her life. That certainly does not include a woman. Well, that is until he comes face to face with Kally.
This is a great romance story that has so much packed into it’s pages. It takes us back to the past to witness events from years ago, not just for Kally and Max but also other family members whose stories are essential to add to the plot of this one. The story is very well written with a great flowing storyline and really great, realistic characters who all add so much to the story.
Max and Kally’s story will provide laughs and tears and drag so many emotions from you. As with any true romance, the path does not go smoothly. There are misunderstandings between the 2 and also parts of their pasts that come back to cause problems.
I’d definitely recommend that you read this book if you like a good romance novel.
I really enjoyed this story. I especially liked the recipes in it as the story went along.
Kally has been burnt and hurt by love in the past. She vows never to let anyone get that close again. She has her own home, a successful business in her little cafe selling delicious treats and coffee. What else could she want?
Until the day Max walks into her life. Max has had problems in his past too but no matter how much Kally pushes him away he is drawn to her.
Can they both recover from their pasts and will Kally be able to trust someone with her heart again.
I loved this book. The characters are likeable and relatable. It also brings into it cultural references to Greek families and the way they interact which was nice to learn about.
This is my first book by this author. I love how deeply we get Into the characters and their lives. The story was great! It easily kept me entertained and really surprised me now and then. The little sayings on the aprons is genius! I liked it at the beginning. But it was carried throughout the story which makes it lovely. I enjoyed each of the characters. There is a lot because…Greek family :). I liked Max a lot. He seems genuine. He has completely changed his life and his devotion (his would not give up attitude) is inspiring.
Overall this is a wonderfully book. I liked the story and the characters. Some more than others. The secondary characters really added to the story. Best Friends can really help make a story come alive and that’s what happened in here.
Love is What you Bake of it by Effie Kammenou a five-star feast of a read. This is the first novel in the Meraki series and my first by this author, and I will be eager to read the rest of the series as this one did have a couple of dips and undercooked bits, but overall was a nice solid and sweet bake and left a lovely after reading taste. Kally was a great character, I immediately warmed to her and loved her aprons and the café, you could almost smell the coffee beans in the air. The Coffee Klatch just sounded like a great place to be, and Max well he sounded like the kind of man you could be proud of in his amazing uniform, even if he doesn’t feel like people should be proud of him. This was a great story and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into number two to see what flavour that one will be.
Adorable character, Kally Andarakis sweeps us off our feet as she’s heavily indebted in her cafe business, The Coffee Klatch.
Kally never believed she deserved love or the happiness it brings. That is until she meets an addictive stranger who is above her means but he comes with challenges. Kally is heartbroken and ill-trusting after some secrets are revealed during a misadventure.
Eight years down line, we find Kally living the life as it is as perfect as she’s always dreamed of. That’s when she meets Max Vardaxis, an unexpected stranger, others bring her life into a tailspin from meddling relatives arguing back and forth to an energized grandma. Kally is also trying to solve the mystery of what happened to her grandfather while balancing Max is a whole other story.
In this book we find out if Kally is to take another risk (all for love) or shut it down as she’s done in the past.
I enjoyed reading this one. So many unexpected and unpredictable turns. Kally’s life is as unpredictable as ours is in reality. Juicy read. Another page-turner. I may have to re-read it!
A broken heart can learn to love again right? Kally didn’t think so until she met Max, a single father and his daughter, Athena. Kally feels like opening herself up to love will cause nothing but trouble. Max isn’t looking for anything serious, but there is something about Kally that captures his attention. He has secrets of his own that he isn’t quite ready to tell his new lady love. Can they set aside the hurt feelings of their past and be together helping one anothers hearts heal? Follow their story to find out if they end up together or if their past heartaches are too much and tear them apart.
Love is What You Bake of It by Effie Kammenou was my first book by this author. We all know how families can meddle in relationships but these Greek families take it to the next level. Kally Andarakis and Max Vardaxis both have trust issues due to past relationships. Both fight their feeling when these two keep running onto each other. But it’s Max’s daughter that slowly brings them together. Can this relationship work if someone is hiding something?
This book will keep you on your toes at every corner and hooked till the very end. I loved that the author added recipes that Kally was baking in the book, I might just have to try some out.
Looking forward to more books in this series!!
I really enjoyed this book a lot. Max’s little girl was so adorable. She’s a scene stealer for sure! I really loved the characters in this one. I loved Kally’s family a lot. Their history of love was so intriguing and I still have some questions. Some unexpected surprises that made me one happy reader. It’s an was book to get lost in. I was drawn to this one because it’s a single dad romance and Kally is a pastry chef. I love books with characters that bake. I can’t wait for more from this series. I have a feeling I will fall in love with the family. I would recommend this book!
I really enjoyed reading Love Is What You Bale Of It. The characters made it easy to read and love this book.
Kally is the owner of The Coffee Klatch. She is well liked in the community. Everyone clocks to her coffee shop for coffee, delicious drinks or just to try what she bakes special that day.
Just like everyone else, Kally has had her heart broken and is very guarded.
When Max walks into her coffee shop to collect something, the two of them immediately are drawn to each other.
Both Max and Kally both have a past. What will happen when they find out each other’s past? Will they be able to trust again or are they both damaged? Max has something much more important in his life then worrying about a
relationship. These two just seem perfect for each other. And Athena….she is a great character. Because of her, I think it made me love Kally and Max even more.
To know how this book ends, grab your copy today! Great read!!
I like how the author gave a back story of Kally before launching into the story. You get to read of Greek families are in this story that is emotional, heart warming, and a fairly easy read. This isn’t my usual type of book I will read, but it was a ncie break. The author gave details so you can picture the settings, but not so much that’s all you’re reading about. The dialogue between characters is great and half way through the book I realized I was attempting to read with an accent! If you like romance novels this is a great read.
I loved this book, it was incredible. There was so much depth, love and feeling weaved into the pages. I am a huge fan of baking and any story about love and baking immediately goes into my top favourites. The overlap between Kally’s life before and during the present setting of the book is incredible and gives real depth to her character and understanding to why she is the way she is. It was fun, flirty, emotional, heart-warming, heart-breaking and truly amazing. I can’t wait to read more from this author. Highly recommend this.
Love is what you bake of it (The Meraki Series Book 1) by Effie Kammemou. Kally has a big Greek family, who like a lot of big families also have a lot of opinions. Kally doesn’t want a relationship because she was burnt in the past. She now owns her own cafe and loves it. She thinks she doesn’t need or want any man. One day Max walks into her Cafe, who also has his own past. They both feel the sparks. Will they both be stubborn? Can they get over the past? Read this book and find out!! If you love a funny, romantic book then this one is for you. I really can’t wait to read the next one.
Love is What You Bake Of It (The Meraki Series Book 1) by Effie Kammenou was a sweet read. I love a good romance story and this checked all the boxes plus some. I love the Greek influence. It made me feel nostalgic and also part of something different. Kally was super relatable and I connected with her emotionally. I truly enjoyed the journey to learning to love again.
This is the story of Kally and Max. Both Kally and Max have pasts that keep them from opening themselves up and allowing love to come into their lives. Instead, they both protect their hearts and keep some people at a distance in order to avoid heartbreak. But sometimes the past isn’t as it seemed.
Kally owns her own bakery and puts her heart into her sweets instead of into finding someone to marry (which would make her traditional Greek family happy). Max has recently returned home to sort out his life after his last disastrous relationship. Even though there is an immediate attraction between Kally and Max, they resist it because they are both letting their pasts dictate their future. The story that is laid out in this book follows Kally as she discovers the real truth about her past (and the past of those in her family) and decide if she can let it go and have a future with Max.
There are so many wonderful characters in this book. Kally’s family is awesome and her best friend is someone I would want in my corner. This is the first book that I have read from this author…but it won’t be the last! This book seems to be part of a series, so I will be checking out the rest of these books!
Love is What You Bake of it (The Meraki Series Book 1)
This is a lovely romance book by a new author l. I love Kally and her baking. Kally passion for baking is shown fro the effort she puts in her cafe. Max at first is not what you expect. I love how light hearted and humorous this book is it puts a smile on your face. Kally is scared to commit to a relationship due to her past burns.
Love Is What You Bake Of It by Effie Kammenou is the first book in the Meraki series. This book is so sweet and heartwarming that it will definitely put a smile on your face.
Effie Kammenou really knows how to write a good story. This book is exactly what I would expect from her. It is an interesting story that is well written and engaging. It has loveable, sweet characters that you just have to root for. And it has that something that means you have to keep turning the pages to find out what will happen.
This is the perfect book for one of those lazy afternoons, when you can just give yourself over to the story and get lost in the pages! This was a great book and a really lovely story. I would definitely recommend reading it.