Love makes men do desperate things, if desperate things means opening a rival cupcake shop to drive your ex-girlfriend crazy. Twin brothers and Air Force vets, Tanner and Garrett Mann, return from deployment to find their thriving business burned to the ground. Time for Plan B: Move back to their hometown of Beach Pointe to start over. But that means running into Paige and Morgan Baxter … running into Paige and Morgan Baxter –gorgeous, curvy, and owners of Two Sisters Cupcakes.
There’s an old diner for sale across town, Garrett’s a great cook, and Tanner has an idea. They’ll make savory cupcakes that men would like. We’re talking bacon and Cheez Whiz. Even better? They’ll call it Mann Cakes. Problem is, they end up attracting an unexpected crowd.
Paige is furious. Every man in her life has left her behind, including Tanner. She’s sacrificed everything for her shop. She won’t lose it over some egotistical ex-boyfriend, even if he does have an Air Force-chiseled body. Her younger sister, Morgan, isn’t helping matters. She’s been gaga over Garrett since high school.
To hell with that. If it’s a fight Tanner wants, it’s a fight he’ll get. But how much is Paige willing to risk to win a cupcake war?
For fans of sweet, sexy romantic comedy in the same vein as Janet Evanovich, Lauren Blakely, Kylie Gilmore & Louisa Edwards. Bonus Mann Cakes recipe included!
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This was a cute read, however I would have enjoyed it more as two separate stories. Tanner and Paige’s relationship felt like a blip on the radar because Paige’s resentment over Tanner cheating on her (way back in high school no less) and her disgruntlement/perceived threat from Tanner and Garrett’s new bakery to her own overshadowed the minimal relationship development they had. Tanner’s twin brother and Paige’s sister-Garrett and Morgan-did fare better with their own relationship, but again, I would have liked to have seen more development from each couple.
Overall, Mann Cakes was cute and funny, but personally, it wasn’t the most memorable book I’ve read. There were lots of things happening-sibling relationships, personal relationships, parenthood, a loose business rivalry (only from Paige’s perspective), and a stalker-that I would normally enjoy, but this time the elements overshadowed the romantic relationships leaving an unfinished feel to the story. This is a case of my personal tastes, however, I did like the author’s voice enough to try another book, perhaps from a different series.
Fun and sexy double romance!
Stopped reading mid way as it was predictable and boring
So so
I liked the character combinations. I as always liked the Ty character. I had a feeling about Lisa during her first intro into the book, but the end still came out of left field but the wrap up of the story wonderful. I’d definitely recommend this book it had just the right amount of laughs to balance the more serious aspects of the book. And who doesn’t love a hea?
My first read of Parker’s…I really enjoyed this well written story and characters!! I liked the multiple POV’s and dual storyline!! The were some witty parts and the conflicts were very relatable!! Will definitely add Mysti Parker to my list of authors to follow!! On to Jesse’s story!!
Great love stories that needed time and forgiveness.
Cute
I loved the story from start to finish. Twin Mann brother’s come home after serving in the Air Force and open a bakery with cakes with men in mind. The competition are two sisters, one was a brothers girl.
Mann Cakes …who doesn’t love sexy man twins that decide to venture into a cake baking business !! That said opening a new business can be difficult now come to find out that you are up against twin sisters that rule the cupcake domain ! Let the games begin. An adventure filled with fun, romance, a bit of mystery , sass and of course baked goods!!!
~~Michele McMullen ~~
A great read!!!
Mann Cakes by Mysti Parker is an entertaining contemporary romance. Ms. Parker has given us a well-written book and a nice smooth read. Brothers Tanner and Garrett return home from deployment to find their computer shop burned and their best friend dead. They move to their hometown and decide to buy the local diner and make savory cakes for men. Morgan and Paige run the local bakery and when the brothers open their own shop, it’s war. There’s plenty of drama, action, sizzle, humor and suspense to keep a reader’s attention. I enjoyed reading Mann Cakes. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.
Mann Cakes was so deliciously good, I could read this over and over again.
When AirForce twin vets Tanner and Garrett Mann’s computer shop business got burned to ashes, including their friend Will, they decided to go back to their quaint little hometown, Beach Pointe. There Tanner thought of opening a cupcake shop with manly toppings, like bacon and CheezeWhiz, instead of the usual sugary sweets that most women love.
But there’s one hitch to that plan. There was already another cupcake shop in town, and the owner of these sweet confection were none other than Tanner’s ex-girlfriend Paige and her sister Morgan, who was Garrett’s long time secret crush. It was only a matter of time before the customers cancelled their orders and transferred to another one. Uh-oh. That sounded like monkey business, right?
The rivalry between the Baxters and Manns was hilariously sweet. Tanner upping his game by taunting Paige with his sexy hot body and seductive marketing skills may seem a little childish at one point, but it was definitely worth every drool. I mean worth every penny.
Seriously, these twins were gorgeous and they love the attention – well, Tanner mostly. I liked the Garrett was the subdued one and his love interest was his exact opposite. Tanner, the aggressive one turning mushy and soft around Paige was really cute. I love love love these siblings.
The story was not only fun, but also moving and mysterious. I loved that this book offered more than the sibling rivalry arc, but there was also a guessing game involved in the story – an arsonist on the loose and the paternity test for an autistic child. My heart melted for the wonder boy Tyler and my mind was surprised about the stalker character. Aren’t you mystified yet?
Yes, there’s really a lot to take in with this Mann Cakes and I assure you, this is a really delicious read. Truly highly recommended!
Cute romance
The basic premise was good. Twins who left behind the women they loved come back to their hometown and find love again. I liked the characters and the basic plot, but it felt rushed.
This is one of those times when I hate reviewing books. I feel badly when I have to tell everyone that a book and I didn’t really get along. And this time, it’s for a few reasons. One of which has nothing to do with the plot. For the most part, I liked the meat of the story and by meat, I don’t mean the yummy military guys either.
The whole concept behind the book was pretty interesting: two brothers creating a savory cupcake shop that is involuntarily in competition with two sassy sisters and their cupcake shop. Interesting, right? The cupcake shop idea is not a new one in romance novels, it’s been done … it actually seems to be a theme that runs rampant in the contemporary romance genre … sometimes it’s done well and sometimes not so well but this one was just a little different. You still have the flour and powdered sugar covered heroines but this time, the author threw in some treat baking dudes to stir things up a bit with some healthy competition.
Unfortunately, I think that the plot was the best thing about the book because I didn’t connect with the characters at all. And I should have. I should have connected with Paige on a level that I don’t with most other people because like her, I have an autistic son. But I didn’t and it was because of something that Paige’s sister, Morgan, said. I think that I really resented the sisters because at one point in the story, it says something about the autistic son acting out. Dude, I reached boiling in about two milliseconds. Every time I hear or read something about an autistic kiddo “acting out”, instead of just feeling sorry for the person’s ignorance for saying that, I get angry at the person’s ignorance. Because these are the people that think my son is acting out when he’s just had a bit of sensory overload. Anyway, this was a totally personal and what some may think as completely irrational reason to not like a couple of characters in a book. And you know what, that’s okay. But that was why I was just totally turned off by these sisters. After that point, I just totally shut down to them.
The brothers didn’t fare much better for me either. And I don’t think that their characters were tainted by what I thought of the sisters but that’s only because I found the brothers completely interchangeable. Since this book was really about all four of these characters and their corresponding love stories, I was expecting to at least be able to differentiate between the brothers but they read like they were the same person, just with different names. Yes, they are twins but these were the same dude. And I got the feeling that they weren’t intended to be like that since it says that they both have different strengths and all of that but it didn’t come across like that with me.
Now, I’m definitely in the minority on my thoughts with this book. It has a super high rating on Goodreads and Amazon, so if you’re reading this before you buy, make sure you read some other reviews as well because I’d hate for someone to miss out on a book that they would love just because I’m an angry momma bear.
* I received this novel in exchange for an honest review *