Icing on the Cake by Shayla Kersten

Blurb:
Jeff Morgan’s life is all about career. Relationships aren’t on his radar. His friendships are limited to a very few and his sex life consists of wham-bam-thank-you-man sexual encounters. He doesn’t do long term. He doesn’t even do breakfast.

Then the fate of a cake brings Ollie Cranford into his life. Shaved head, tats and piercings, the baker is far from Jeff’s type, but Ollie is as luscious as the treats he whips up in his bakery.

Now if only Jeff can relax long enough to enjoy the icing on the beefcake.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Review:

This is a fun story with some hot, sexy men but a bit of a non-resolution at the end. It only covers a few days so there isn’t a happy ending, more of a hope for a happy ending or the possibility of one. However, there’s a lot of sex, good tension, and a touch of angst thrown in. I’d recommend this for those looking for some sexy men, delicious uses of icing, and those who like an opposites attract themed encounter.

The story is told in alternating third person point of view and describes the control obsessed Jeff as he encounters a man he’s incredibly attracted to but can’t quite put a label on, Ollie. Jeff and Ollie meet at Ollie’s bakery while Jeff is picking out the wedding cake for his best friend’s wedding. Sparks fly and the two spend the next three days having inventive, hot sex while dealing with their issues during internal monologues.

The characters are decently developed and come across as unique, interesting individuals for the most part. Ollie is the most intriguing of the two as a big, rough, tattooed baker with a bedroom filled with kinky sex toys. He’s far from a stereotype though and his down to earth, laid back style makes for an entertaining and interesting man. His creativity with icing is just one of his many attractions and his low-key desire for something substantial in a relationship makes for an undemanding, yet attractive detail thrown into the mix.

Jeff is a bit more difficult to engage with his absolute obsessive control freak personality. He seems to freak out over the smallest things and spends a good deal of the story internally angsting over his control issues. Frequently I wanted to slap him over the head as his silent angst would get in the way of a hot sex scene. Also his final “change” at the end seems way too fast and artificial, yet it’s one everyone wants to see so I doubt there will be much disappointment.

While Jeff can be somewhat annoying with extended navel grazing about his control issues, the sex scenes here are what caught my attention and kept me reading. Ollie is pretty sexy and his use of food, tension, buildup, and sex just work incredibly well. In fact I wish there had been more scenes and the story had been lengthened to full length, allowing Jeff to grow more naturally. This isn’t a huge compliant and really the story is enjoyable enough to read as it stands. This is not really one I’d read again but it is one I’d recommend based on some great sex scenes and Ollie is a charming character.