Brunch at Bittersweet Café (The Saturday Night Supper Club)

A delectable "second course" in the Supper Club series, Brunch at Bittersweet Café offers an engrossing story of friendship, romance, and trust along with its yummy foodie tendencies.THE FOOD. First off, this story had me wanting to bake all. the. things. with its yummy foods. From things Melody baked to the quaint restaurants she (and Justin) visited, the food selection was eclectic and inspiring. Carla Laureano includes food as an inherent part of the story and naturally in Melody's life. (And she gets the craziness of the restaurant industry life/schedule/habits SPOT ON!) Next on my own baking list to tackle: eclairs!THE FRIENDSHIPS. I was happy to see the closeness of the friend group of Rachel, Melody, and Ana continue in this story. With laughter, support, and sometimes in-your-face bossiness, these three exhibit the importance of close friendships amidst the real joys and hard things life can bring. Melody's new friendship (and more) with Justin challenges her and broadens her perspective in some good ways, too. Which brings me to...THE ROMANCE. All this time I've talked about Melody, so here's where I chime in more about Justin. !!! After some time passes in the story Melody has a revelation about Justin. To paraphrase, his charming exterior really is a front for a serious, sometimes-perfectionist, always-intentional gentleman. This plays into the romance of the story in the BEST ways. I mean, he's a pilot. (Who knew flying could be so cool?!) They live in Colorado. They have fun non-dates and, eventually, adventurous real dates. The romance is honestly portrayed with a balance of attraction, emotional connection, and true heart-friendship at the center. <3THE GROWTH. Melody and Justin meet at a "seemingly" wrong time in their lives for a serious relationship. Through each of their personal journeys (and family dysfunctional issues. we all have those.), they independently learn what it means to trust and hope. For Melody, trusting God's will over her own path/choices. For Justin, the beginnings of what a strong faith lived out every day looks like.If you're looking for a contemporary romance with the perfect balance of depth and charm, Brunch at Bittersweet Café is one to "sample"!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! Ms. Laureano had me from this passage in chapter 1:" Still, there were worse places to spend the night than surrounded by loaves of bread, their deep-brown, crackling exteriors fragrant with wheat and caramel and yeast." Her descriptions make it easy to enter the character's world, and a delicious world it is, since the main character is a pastry chef.The main characters, Melody and Justin, meet at an inconvenient time to even consider a relationship, as he has plans to make a cross country move, and she is dreaming of opening her own restaurant in Denver. I was as clueless as they were about how things could work out for them. Melody would say, "have a little faith!"There are expressive food descriptions to make you drool, or drop everything to go and bake something! There is love and loss, friendship and laughter, and of course romance.Looking forward to book 3 in this wonderful series!

I am a newbie when it comes to Carla Laureano’s novels. Prior to Brunch at Bittersweet Cafe, I had only read Starstruck. I really enjoyed Starstruck, so when Celebrate Lit sent out sign-ups for Brunch at Bittersweet Cafe, I knew I had to jump on the offer. And I was not disappointed. Brunch at Bittersweet Cafe is a great story that kept me reading past my bedtime. The characters are well written and highly endearing. The romance is super sweet with the perfect amount of tension between the hero and heroine. And, the food! Oh my, I was not prepared for the delicious descriptions of food. I may have figuratively gained a pound or two while reading this book.Melody is my favorite character in this story. I absolutely love her attitude, her creativity, and her love for books and baked goods. I often felt for Melody throughout the reading of this book because of her childhood. It clearly impacted her in some negative ways. Having a high profile mother who often left her in the shadows was NOT a fun way to grow up, and it left Melody chasing love in all the wrong places. All she desperately wants is someone to love her first, to cherish her, and to sacrifice himself for her needs. Is that too much to ask?! Because of this strong need for true love, Melody has entered into past relationships with men that were damaging, that left her feeling weak and worthless. Melody sold pieces of herself at very high cost gaining nothing in return. She has claimed belief and faith in God, but is frustrated that life continually throws curve balls her way. Why is God allowing all this bad to happen to her? She cannot understand why men don’t choose her, why they don’t love her unconditionally. But honestly, her claimed faith is surface-level at best. She is her own boss making choices for herself. She never turns to God to see what He wants, and becomes frustrated with Him for not giving her what she thinks she needs. My favorite moment in this story is when Melody realizes that she can’t be her own boss AND say God is the boss at the same time. No one can have both. We either acknowledge that God is our Boss, or we try to control our lives on our own terms. When Melody lets Jesus take the wheel, so to speak, and makes the conscious choice to break her bad love habits, she ends up realizing that life and love work better with God in the lead.Another theme I appreciated in this novel is the discussion on what I call baby faith versus mature faith. People with baby faith in God raise fists in anger every time something bad happens. Often, because their faith is so small, they believe the lie that God really doesn’t exist, or if He does He doesn’t care about them. People with mature faith, however, ride out storms with God knowing that He is going to bring them to places on their paths that make them stronger and better. Mature faithers may get frustrated during the roughest parts of the storm, but their relationship with God remains intact. Both Melody and Justin come to a place in this story where they have to evaluate their faith levels. Where they once believed they were certain in who God is, they quickly realize that they were staunch baby faithers. Because of this, they were trying to be the bosses of their lives, and things were not going well. I really love this theme, and I appreciate the opportunity to evaluate my faith in God. Am I a baby faither? Do I shake my fist at God in anger when things go wrong or when bad things happen? Or am I mature in my faith, leaning into God when life gets chaotic and devastating? I think these are really excellent questions we should all contemplate from time to time to make sure we are on the right track — God’s track!Brunch at Bittersweet Cafe is a really good read. I enjoyed the engaging plot, and very much loved Justin and Melody. I am sad to see my time with these characters is over, but I do look forward to book 3 in this series. If you are looking for a fast-paced, sweet contemporary Christian romance with timely themes, then I highly recommend Brunch at Bittersweet Cafe.I received a review copy of this novel in paperback (ARC) form from the author via Celebrate Lit. I also purchased this book in eBook form from Amazon on February 13, 2019 to read and review. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The most difficult thing for me about reading Carla's books is that I have to wait a year or so for the next one. The wait for Bittersweet Cafe, though long, was worth it. Nothing about the book disappointed. Very tastefully written and all those mouthwatering delicacies?? Yum!! I thoroughly enjoyed this. And now, the agonising wait for Ana's story...