Robin’s Rave Reviews 2022

Recently I won a copy of The Coincidence of Coconut Cake from the Bloom with Tall Poppy Writers Facebook group. (Thank you, Amy E. Reichert!) Amy’s an author I’ve read and reviewed before, so I was excited to read this one. Check out my October 2021 review of the first book I read and loved by Amy, The Kindred Spirits Supper Club.

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake  was different from Kindred Spirits, but still good. If you love the Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks 1998 movie You’ve Got Mail, this romance is for you. Substitute a bookstore for a restaurant and add a bad critic review, and you’ve got a fresh take on this well-loved plot. The Coincidence of Coconut Cake is a slow burn romance, a bit too slow burn for me, but I still enjoyed the book.

Al can’t get Lou off his mind after he bumps into her. She’s on her way to her fiancé’s apartment to deliver a coconut cake. Popping in on her fiancé is bad timing (or good timing, depending on your perspective), and her world begins to fall apart.

When Al and Lou meet again, Al, a British transplant in Wisconsin, makes it clear that he isn’t impressed by his new city, viewing this as only a stop along his career path. Lou takes up the challenge to show him the best Milwaukee has to offer – museums, restaurants, ethnic festivals, and so on. On these outings, they agree to leave business behind by not talking about their jobs. When Al finally discovers Lou owns Luella’s restaurant, he may regret a review he wrote as the restaurant critic for the newspaper.

Did you know? You’ve Got Mail was based on Parfumerié, a 1937 Hungarian play by Miklos Laszlo. The story was reimagined, becoming the 1940 film The Shop Around the Corner, and then repackaged as You’ve Got Mail in 1998.

Some of my favorite romance movies are You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, Fool’s Gold, Letters to Juliet, and Sweet Home Alabama. What are your favorite romance movies?

You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram.

@author.robin.shelley