Donut Fall in Love - Softcover

Lau, Jackie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593334302 ISBN 13: 9780593334300

Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2021

Inhaltsangabe

"[Lau's] trope-forward contemporaries are as sugary and irresistible as the desserts her characters create."—New York Times Book Review

A baker provides the sweetest escape for an actor in this charming romantic comedy from the author of Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie.

Actor Ryan Kwok is back in Toronto after the promotional tour for his latest film, a rom-com that is getting less-than-stellar reviews. After years of constant work and the sudden death of his mother, Ryan is taking some much-needed time off. But as he tries to be supportive to his family, he struggles with his loss and doesn't know how to talk to his dad—who now trolls him on Twitter instead of meeting him for dim sum.
 
Innovative baker Lindsay McLeod meets Ryan when he knocks over two dozen specialty donuts at her bakery. Their relationship is off to a messy start, but there’s no denying their immediate attraction. When Ryan signs up for a celebrity episode of Baking Fail, he asks Lindsay to teach him how to bake and she agrees.

As Lindsay and Ryan spend time together, bonding over grief and bubble tea, it starts to feel like they’re cooking up something sweeter than cupcakes in the kitchen.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jackie Lau decided she wanted to be a writer when she was in grade two, sometime between penning “The Heart That Got Lost” and “The Land of Shapes.” She later studied engineering and worked as a geophysicist before turning to writing romance novels. She is now the author of over a dozen romantic comedies.

Jackie lives in Toronto with her husband, and despite living in Canada her whole life, she hates winter. When she’s not writing, she enjoys gelato, gourmet donuts, cooking, hiking, and reading on the balcony when it’s raining.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Chapter 1

When Ryan Kwok woke up on Tuesday morning, he discovered his abs had become a social media sensation.

It had started with a scathing review of his latest movie.

The best part of That Kind of Wedding? Ryan Kwok's abs. But the last thing Canada needs is another actor named Ryan.

It was his first leading role, and the critical response had been a bit of a mixed bag-okay, leaning toward negative-so this review wasn't exactly a surprise.

The review didn't appear in a major publication, but the author had started a thread on Twitter dedicated to his abs, cataloging their obvious beauty and many talents, complete with close-up shots from the trailer and his Instagram account. She appeared to be quite a fan of his abs, even if she liked nothing else about the rom-com.

And that thread? It had gone viral.

He'd had a spike in Instagram followers.

#StarringRyanKwoksAbs was trending.

People were discussing the roles his abs could play in movies, how they should appear in postapocalyptic and period pieces alike.

When he'd gone to bed at eleven last night, there hadn't been a whiff of this.

And now . . .

Well, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Good job, boys," he said, looking down at the body part that was now gaining international fame. If he was honest, they weren't quite as glorious as they'd been when That Kind of Wedding was filmed. In the past four months, he'd been following his diet and workout routine . . . mostly. But the past four months had been the worst of his life.

At least now the promotional tour was over. He'd struggled to fake a smile for late-night talk show hosts, given what was happening in his family and-

Oh, dear God.

Ryan's dad was going to see this, dammit.

Once upon a time, he'd assumed his father didn't pay attention. But a year ago, he'd caught his father looking at his Twitter account.

That was quite a shock, considering his father was anti-Twitter and all social media. In fact, Dad was anti a lot of things. He was also anti-stoner-movies, as Ryan had learned when he'd filmed The Journey of the Baked Alaska, though this hadn't surprised him one bit. And anti-sitcoms, which Ryan had known his whole life.

This hadn't changed when Ryan got his first break in Just Another New York Sitcom several years back.

Speaking of Just Another New York Sitcom . . .

He had a text from Melvin, one of his co-stars on the show.

Please convey my congratulations to your abs.

Lindsay McLeod wasn't used to seeing abs in her Instagram feed. Mostly she saw pictures of Toronto. And food. Lots of food.

She gave the photo a few seconds of attention and idly wondered if the man in question would ever eat anything as delicious as her chocolate espresso donuts, or whether such indulgences were strictly off-limits for this Ryan Kwok guy.

Then she uploaded a photo of her latest creation.

New donut alert! Here for spring: matcha tiramisu donuts

A couple of hours later, Lindsay was piping buttercream onto some chocolate raspberry cupcakes when Raquel came into the kitchen.

"Your mother's here," Raquel said, gesturing to the front of the bakery.

Excellent timing for once.

Ever since Lindsay's mom had moved downtown five months ago, she'd been popping into Kensington Bake Shop-the bakery Lindsay ran with her best friend, Noreen-on a semi-regular basis, and she had an uncanny ability to arrive at the worst possible moments. Last time, it had been literally a minute after Noreen had spilled cherry jelly on the floor, on a day when they were running way behind because of a malfunctioning oven.

But today, even though Noreen was away on her honeymoon, everything was in order, more or less. Lindsay could spare five minutes to talk to her mother.

"Oh, I should probably mention," Raquel said. "Your mother's not alone."

Yes, sometimes Lindsay's mom brought one of her friends into the bakery. She was always bragging about Lindsay's donuts, cupcakes, and other creations, and she wanted to show them off to everyone she knew. Sometimes it was a little embarrassing, but it was all good.

"In fact," Raquel continued, "I'm pretty sure she's on a date."

Say what now?

Lindsay washed her hands, then headed to the front. As always, the simple elegance of the shop made her smile. She and Noreen had argued for ages over paint chips; Noreen had eventually won, and Lindsay had to agree her friend had been right. The light blue was perfect. On the walls were two watercolors: one of donuts and one of cupcakes. There were only four tables-all cream in color-with small glass vases, each containing a single flower. Space was expensive in downtown Toronto.

Lindsay's mom wasn't seated at one of the tables. No, her Asian mother and an unfamiliar middle-aged white man were peering at the display cases.

The appearance of the man gave Lindsay pause.

He looked, well, a bit like her dad.

Not enough that she thought she'd seen a ghost, but it was a little eerie. Though his build was similar, it was his haircut more than anything else. That terrible haircut her father had gotten every six weeks at the local barber?

She'd never thought she'd see it again, but here it was.

Oh, Mom.

"The orange cardamom is my favorite," Mom said to her companion. She pointed at the display case to the left of the cash register, which contained today's eight varieties of donuts. "The filling is custard with a hint of cardamom, and the orange cardamom glaze is delicious. And that candied slice of orange? Mmm."

"Hi, Mom," Lindsay said. "Maybe you should work here. Your sales pitches are great."

"Lindsay, this is Wade. Wade, this is my daughter, Lindsay."

Lindsay would have stuck out her hand, but she was behind the glass display case, and it would have been awkward.

"Hi," she said. "Nice to meet you."

"You're giving me a weird look," Mom said.

"No, I'm not."

"Wade and I just had our first date at that Italian restaurant on Baldwin, and since we were in the area . . ."

Bringing a man to meet your daughter on your very first date seemed a little much. Especially when the daughter in question had no idea you were dating.

In theory, Lindsay was fine with her mother going on dates-yes, this was something she'd thought about before. Her father had been gone for seven years. Her mother had an active social life, and it was surprising this hadn't happened sooner.

But theory was different from practice.

Now that Lindsay was confronted-unexpectedly, at that-with a man her mother was seeing, a man who was not her father, she was digging her fingernails into her hands so hard they'd surely leave marks. And her mother was acting as though this was all no big deal.

"The chocolate espresso is really good, too," Mom said to Wade. "It's filled with a chocolate espresso custard-I think they should include the filling on the labels, don't you think? Because you can't see it. So they should tell people. I do recommend getting a donut, and not something else, because that's their thing." She glanced at the cupcakes, cookies, and squares to the right of the cash register before turning back to the donuts. "Lindsay, the matcha tiramisu-is that new?"

"Yes, today is the first day we're selling it."

"And the filling?"

"Matcha mascarpone cream."

Mom turned back to her date, who looked...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593334302
• ISBN 13: 9780593334300
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 368
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: preigu; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; 49078; Deutschland