All's Fair in Love and Cupcakes by Betsy St. Amant

This novel is a simple romance.

Kat works for her aunt making boring cupcakes, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. At home, she and her lifelong best friend Lucas, football coach, experiment with exotic flavors. Lucas believes in Kat's amazing baking abilities and to show his admiration he enters her in the Cupcake Combat live TV show. He loves her and wants her to succeed. He just doesn't want to tell her he loves her and ruin their friendship.

Kat's not so sure about the contest. She's a small town Louisiana girl, after all. But she does love Lucas, even though she doesn't want to tell him and ruin their friendship. When she finds out the winner receives a one year internship at a famous New York bakery, she's in. When she finds out she needs a helper on the set, she gets payback by telling Lucas he has to go.

The rest of the novel follows the contest. Much of the novel consists of the inner thoughts of Kat and Lucas. Both experience a great deal of anxiety as they love each other but will not express it. The internal dialog deals over and over again with the anxious thoughts. Both Kat and Lucas are very insecure in their feelings toward the other. There is some spoken dialog between Kat and Lucas but there always seems to be misunderstandings. I did get a little frustrated with repetitive thoughts and the many misunderstood conversations.

There is some drama at the taping of the cupcake competition as one contestant pulls some dirty tricks. There is some tension when Kat and one of the food judges clash. There are also some heart warming scenes as Kat gets some unexpected help.

This is definitely a novel for those who love to read the inner thoughts of characters. Readers who like snappy dialog or captivating action will need to look elsewhere. The redeeming aspect of this book is its message that life will be lived to its fullest when we submit our dreams to God and His plans for us.

I am taking part in a blog tour of this novel. You can read other reviews here.

Betsy St. Amant lives in Louisiana with her young daughter. She is a freelance journalist and a member of ACF. You can find out more at http://www.betsystamant.com/.

Zondervan, 320 pages. Please visit your Christian bookstore or go here to purchase a copy.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through the Litfuse Publicity Group for the purpose of an independent and honest review.