He’s a master baker with a big…cannoli.They call me the sugar whisperer.Anything your tongue desires, I can bake it. Scones? Child’s play. Cupcakes? I’ll frost them so good you won’t know what hit you. Donuts? Please.You’re talking to a master baker.But there’s one egg I’ve never been able to crack.My best friend.Correction: My former best friend.She’s the apple in my pie. The whip in my cream. … former best friend.
She’s the apple in my pie. The whip in my cream. The lemon in my meringue. The wish in my bone.
She’s the one who got away.
After ten years in the military, she’s back. She’s bruised and battered by life, but she’s back.
Except she’s not my second chance. She’s gone to the dark side.
Running a rival bakery in a town not big enough for two.
So now I have to decide—which do I want more?
My bakery?
Or the woman I never should’ve let go of in the first place?
Master Baker is a deliciously fun friends-to-enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy featuring a smooth-talking baker, the one who got away, and a goat with more matchmaking tendencies than a nosy old grandpa. It stands alone with no cheating or cliffhangers.
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You can never go wrong with a Pippa Grant book! Humor, romance, fun.
I loved these characters! Instead of being stereotypical, they were fully developed & multi dimensional. I highly recommend this book!
Master Baker is a sweet and witty lsten. It took a bit to peak my interest but then it was smooth sailing till the end. I loved the pastry / cookie dough talk and the crazed animals / pets (Sue). The ending was the icing on the cake with 3 epilogues.
Narators Jason Clarke, Virginia created a vivid portrayal of the characters. Their inflection was smooth and consistent flow through and their tone changed in the right places. These two narrators together brought the characters and narrative to reality.
4.5 Stars
This one was so fun and cute. I love a good best friend to more story – bonus that it was a second chance romance too. Grady and Annika’s story was so sweet and had me laughing as much as it had me swooning. Grady’s dirty talk to his pastries was awesome and truly gives new meaning to made with love. I adored the town rivalry and all the side characters in this one- Especially Sue the G.O.A.T. goat. I know this is set as a stand alone but I’m really hoping she’ll write more for this bunch.
Kind of wish I hadn’t wasted my time. Not bad just disappointed.
This book. OH this book. I’m not even gonna tell you how long it took me to get the pun of the title. But it was so sweet and emotional and funny and wonderful. Friends to lovers wonderful. Two thumbs up and a cookie dough salute!
While this book started a little slow for me, once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down. Watching the drama, the realization, and the eventual love unfold between Grady and Annika was entertaining, emotional, and heartwarming. This book covered all the bases for me: friends-to-enemies-to-lovers, second chance, and small town. The secondary characters – especially Sue and Long Beak Silver (who I realize are technically animals, but honestly, they steal the show a lot in this book) – really rounded out the story playing out between the main characters. Loved the banter, loved the baking, loved this book.
Love love love everything Pippa, and this book was adorably excellent!
Two rival bakeries competing from two rival town’s. Thrown in the middle are Grady and Annika who went their separate ways after high school, even though they loved each other. Soon things are spiraling out of control as their lives literally become one lie after another and they are forced to hide their true feelings. With so much on the line, will the truth come out?
Oh, the pleasures of pastries, sexual tension, goats, unicorns and foul-mouthed parrots in a fight till you say you love me bake-off between two equally fantastical towns.
I mean, what could be better than that, right?
I get it, this story of off the cuff, balls to the wall humor, craziness you want a part in. And a love that never ended will not be everyone’s favorite kind of pudding.
In my case- I am miffed this book sat on my TBR as long as it did! I love a story that takes me someplace else, makes me laugh out loud, roll my eyes, wish for things, and feel along with the wacky, amazing characters!
Grady, Annika, and Sue are the perfectly imperfect “couple” – and their journey back to one another is a rollercoaster of everything I could have asked for and more!
If you’re in the mood for some off the wall, sexy baking wars with a side of sass then this is a story you will enjoy!
Master Baker was a hilarious story of two former best friends competing for business between their two rivalry bakeries. This book, like all Pippa Grant books, made me laugh out loud.
Grady is a good man – personable, charming, funny, well-liked. To him, Annika is the one that got away, so when she returns home to run a rival bakery, his broken heart causes him to act childishly. Annika is strong-willed, witty and funny, with a deep sense of familial duty. She is also lost and unsure of herself, and she tends to allow fear and uncertainty to guide her actions.
They were best friends in high school but having her back in his life as his rival was not how he wanted to see her again. From the moment they see each other again the chemistry between them ignites, but when your towns’ and bakeries are rivalry, what can you do about it?
I did find it a little hard to get into at the beginning of this story, but once it got going and the two lead characters got their act together I really enjoyed it. The secondary characters are also fun to read, including all the animals!
Love, love love
3.5 sweet stars!
Review by Nancy
Late Night Reviewer
Up All Night w/ Books Blog
Master Baker is a sexy rom-com that was enjoyable from start to finish. A town rivalry has two bakers going head to head. The best part is that they have history. She was the one that got away and she’s back.
Grady and Annika had once been best friends and spent most of their teenage years together. They both developed feelings for each other but the fact that Annika never wanted a boyfriend kept them from speaking their feelings out loud. There was no going back once Annika left town. She broke Grady’s heart and left without a backwards glance. Or so Grady thought.
Years later Annika comes home and opens a bakery. She is no longer Grady’s best friend, she is now his rival. He knows for a fact Annika can not bake to save her life, so what is she doing opening a bakery?
I had a hard time connecting with Annika. She had been hurt once and kept Brady at arm’s length. I felt like she spent most of the story being mad at Brady and closed off. Brady kept trying to help her at every turn only to make Annika mad. I am all for an independent heroine, but sometimes even independent women need help. With that said, the banter between the two was great, the chemistry was obvious, and the rivalry was a lot of fun to read.
This is the first book I read from Pippa Grant, and as much as I enjoyed it, I did feel like it was missing something for me. It was a little long for my taste. I felt like the town rivalry could have been kept to a minimum. It almost took away from the relationship aspect of the story. Nonetheless, I would read her again as I enjoyed the writing.
Grady and Annika – best friends who imploded when the first mention of becoming more happened. The perfect couple, BFFs who have been apart for a decade and now find themselves in an all-out donut war in neighboring towns Shipwreck and Sarcasm. Foul-mouthed parrots, meddling families – what’s not to love?
There’s honestly nothing not to like about Pippa Grant stories, and this one is no different than the rest – great humor, steamy romance and always a couple who belongs together finding their way!
RECOMMEND!
You’ll fall in love with the dysfunction that is the relationship between former friends Annika and Grady. When life throws a curve ball in Annika’s life she returns home to care for her mother and younger sister, and her Mom’s new bakery. This puts her in the path of Grady, her former childhood best friend and rival baker. You won’t be able to put this book down. Sugary confections, a sassy goat, a feisty parrot, and a rekindled romance are sure to keep you entertained!
Another great book by Pippa Grant. This one is about Grady (Master Baker) and Annika. Ex best friends to frenemies to lovers. The chemistry is to strong to keep them apart. Adventure with Sue the Male goat and nasty mouth parrot. Also the hilarious battle between the towns of Sarcasm and Shipwreck.
Pippa Grant nailed it again. Master Baker (say it three times real fast and then giggle) is interesting, funny, full of family and obscenity (because those two go together so well haha), a bevy of interesting characters both new and old and a romantic storyline that will make your heart melt and your ladybits twitch. I highly recommend this and all of her other work. They have all the feels.
Had a good time reading this one. Loved going back to Shipwreck and all the shenanigans that go along with that town. Grady dirty talking to his baked goods was hilarious and gotta love his goat, Sue. He and Annika are so great together, I loved how everything turned out. Yay for a fun book!
Love at first bite! Grady and Annika have been best friends and secretly in love with each other since age 14. Grady realized this and asked Annika to wait for him until he graduated from culinary school. But Annika had plans to join the Army and show the world she was more than just the first daughter of a teenage unwed mother. Ten years later, she comes back to help her blind mother open a bakery in Sarcasm, rival city to Shipwreck where Grady has his bakery. Start with hurt feelings from past misunderstandings, add in snarky little sister Bailey, Grady’s colorful family, his Pop’s naughty parrot and Grady’s goat Sue and let the hilarity begin! A highly publicized bake-off between the two enemy bakeries (whose owners are hiding their reconciliation and love affair) ensues! All the relatives and citizens of both towns get involved, along with guest appearances by (of course) the Bergers and a few other Pippa greats. Follow the bakery competition to see who is truly the master baker. Laugh, cry and may all taste buds win!
Only Pippa Grant book Tharp was a DNF! So disappointing! Too much internal dialogue, a question would be asked then answered 2 too 3 pages later! I had to keep flipping back because I forgot the question. Did not like the Annika character at all, to selfish and whiny!