Review: The Accidental Baker by Clare London

Donnie Watson's baking disasters are legendary, but this Easter, his mismatched chocolate eggs bring accidental but astonishing results to four downhearted gay men. The chocolate sweets spill onto the pavement of a small parade of local shops—and go on a matchmaking tour like no other! From a bankrupt and betrayed baker, to a homeless but hopeful man, to a conceited bar owner in need of a reality check, and finally to the hapless but caring Donnie himself.

After all, Love means you can have chocolate too!

The Accidental Baker is a sweet set of vignettes that gives the meet-cutes for four men as they navigate the unexpected beginnings of potential HEAs. The common thread in this anthology is Donnie and his baking disasters. Donnie is a sweetheart of a man who is perpetually single so he spends a lot of time volunteering and donating baked goods for different fundraisers. His heart is in the right place but his skills in the baking department are seriously lacking.

It’s best to know what you are going into with the Accidental Baker so that you can appreciate what’s here and not get fussy about what’s “missing”. Each tale begins with a meeting and optimism for more and while there is plenty of romance there’s no steam and if you know all that going in, you can enjoy the thrill of the potential romance without looking for more.

The book begins and ends with Donnie and while the stories are short, the author doesn’t skimp on showing you who the characters are. As I said, Donnie is a complete sweetheart and his setup says a lot about him. His giving nature made me want love for him and I wanted him to succeed at everything. The time he spends with Will is honest and their banter is endearing. These two were perfect for each other.

Story two is about Simon who is at a crossroads after losing his partner and his bakery after said partner took off with all the money and left Simon on his own with no place to live, no business and no money. He stops by his old bakery to pick up the last of his things and meets the new owner/baker. The ensuing conversation leads to opportunities for both men on the professional and personal fronts. Simon has been through a lot so the hopefulness in this one was sweet to read.

Jez’s story was my favorite and the one that left me wanting more, more so than any of the others. There was a lot to unpack in this one and the balance the author struck was just right considering the length of the story. This one would take a lot to fully flesh out in novel length, but it’s a story I would love to read.

The final lovelorn soul is Henry, Donnie’s best friend and honestly, when I met him in the beginning, I thought he was a total dick. I mean, that’s his thing, his big issue and he has a good set of baggage to overcome. His story was pretty intense and while I don’t think it was a believable beginning for him, I still wanted him to have it after reading about his hangups.

Overall, none of these stories moved at a super realistic pace. They couldn’t just leave one another after swapping phone numbers and a hope for a future date or anything. There had to be more to give the book the meat it needed. Everything was a bit accelerated, but if you just want to dig into some sweet, sweet romance with potential, then it’s easy to let that go and enjoy the ride.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**