Synopsis

A people-pleasing baker tries to find her place as a bridesmaid-for-hire. Will she finally find her happily ever after—and her own voice?

Amy, a semi-closeted queer baker, and bartender in mid-2010s Oklahoma, she has spent a lifetime putting other people’s needs before her own. Until that is, she’s fired from her job at a Christian bakery and turns her a one-off gig subbing in for a bridesmaid into a full-time business—thanks to her baking talents, crafting skills, and years watching rom-coms and Say Yes to the Dress. Between her new gig and meeting Charley, the attractive engineer who’s just moved to Tulsa, suddenly Amy’s found something— and someone—she actually wants.

Her tight-knit group of chosen family is thrilled that Amy is becoming her authentic self. But when her deep desire to please kicks into overdrive, Amy’s precarious balancing act strains her relationships to the breaking point, and she must decide what it looks like to be true to herself—and if she has the courage to try.

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This book releases on May 3rd, pre-order today!

Review

This look into the LGBTQ community reveals that underneath it all we all have the same fears, hopes, dreams, and desires in life.

Set in Oklahoma (part of the famed bible belt) around 2013, this story is a reflection of the lack of support the LGBTQ+ community received before marriage was legalized in 2015. There are many that do not support this community and in some cases, you could lose your job just for being gay. Amy discovers after working for 2 years in a bakery that her hard work and dedication don’t mean squat to the owner and it is all about your lifestyle to her. This throws Amy into a quandary on what to do with her life and she comes up with a great solution, a professional bridesmaid. She stumbles upon this after helping resolve a few crises at a family wedding and meeting her first clients at the same wedding and it snowballs from there.

Amy struggles with her own life outside of a job including finding love. She meets Charley by chance and they seem to start up a relationship but is it what either party wants long term? I didn’t get a good sense of Charley and her likes, dislikes, or much of anything else about her personality. She did feel a little flat. I will say that it did pick up in the last 20% of the book with some great advice from Regi when she asked Amy if she was showing her true self to Charley, or anyone else for that matter. I think we all get caught up in trying to be our best selves that sometimes we forget that who we are deep down is the most important person to reveal to friends and family.

Friendships abound in this community and I did appreciate how they seemed to support one another. Considering the timeframe, it isn’t too surprising and I enjoyed the friendships and the interactions, especially with Joel and Damien. Amy and Joel have been best friends since they were 18 and it is nice to have that strong bonds to fall back on until you don’t. I won’t spoil it but it goes a lot to Amy and her insecurities with herself that cause a rift between these friends.

There is a good baseline story but it is filled with stereotypes. I also found it weird that people were using pronouns to define themselves in 2013 when that really didn’t become a thing for many years later. I felt like the last 20% of the book is the best because it is when Amy starts realizing that she needs to do what is right for her and not what is expected by society.

Don’t miss the cupcake recipe at the end, yum!

Overall we give this 3 paws up.

About the Author

Susie Dumond is a queer writer from Little Rock, Arkansas. She is a Senior Contributor at Book Riot, where she writes a monthly Horoscopes and Book Recommendations column, as well as various quizzes, book lists, and bookish news pieces. Susie received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Tulsa and a Master of Arts in Public Policy and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the George Washington University. Currently, she’s probably making cupcakes at her home in Washington, DC, with her partner Mary, her dog Waffles, and her cat Maple.

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