I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Frosting and Flames Series: Aurora Bakery #1 by Allie Winters
on June 19, 2025
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance
Pages: 331
Source: the author
Format: E-galley
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Also by this author: Under Pressure , Smartypants Romance 2021 Sampler, Not Fooling Anyone
My Rating:
Blurb:
Rachel is no stranger to responsibility—or heartbreak. As the eldest of three sisters, she’s the glue holding their small-town bakery together, juggling taxes, recipes, and endless layers of frosting while quietly nursing the sting of her boyfriend’s betrayal earlier this year. Love? Not on the menu.
Her best friend, Jae, has other ideas, especially when it comes to the hunky local firefighter, Nick. Too bad Jae doesn’t know about the incident from their teenage years—the one where Nick burned down the bakery.
Nick’s spent years thinking Rachel despises him, and honestly, he wouldn’t blame her. But when Jae signs Rachel up to help with the fire station’s fundraiser, he and Rachel are forced into close quarters. As sparks fly that have nothing to do with fire safety, Nick starts to wonder if there’s a chance to rebuild what they lost—and maybe even something more.
Rachel can’t ignore the heat between them, but trusting Nick means letting go of the past. Can she take the risk, or will the flames of their shared history consume them both?
My Review
I’ve enjoyed other books by this author in the past and so when she reached out and asked if I wanted to start her new series I was very happy to do that! I do love a good fireman hero and I also love a story featuring a bakery, especially when so many yummy types of sweets are mentioned. And I can definitely say that the types of sweets mentioned in this book did not disappoint!
The history between Nick and Rachel seems like it would be pretty tense, with his having been the person who caused their bakery to burn down when she was younger. However, even with that, I feel that Rachel and her family had their reservations about him, but they were also very realistic in how they realized what happened wasn’t something malicious and that they’d forgiven or gotten over that. But it also made a ton of sense that Nick would be carrying that guilt around with him the way he did. Nick had a not so great family life after losing his mother and then his father just kind of ignoring everything at that point. And while Rachel’s family had that loss with the fire, they were able to rebuild. Now Rachel just has to deal with her mother being overbearing and unwavering or accepting of any help from her. Even though Rachel came back to town to help the bakery stay afloat when their grandmother passed and the family seemed to be struggling to keep it from going under financially. Rachel has the college degree and some great knowledge. But her mother is a creative type/dreamer, and doesn’t want to think anything really needs to be changed, it should just continue to be done the way it always has.
Nick has become such a good guy, the town loves him, and so when he and Rachel kind of get thrown together, they quickly become friends. Both kind of had crushes on the other, but of course never acted on them due to their histories. And Rachel’s ex is wow, not a good guy at all. I was a little upset with how Rachel so easily believed something about Nick that was clearly set up by someone else, even if it was understandable after what Kyle had done to her. But up to that point Nick had done nothing but prove how different he was than Kyle and what a great guy he was.
Overall this was a fun story. There were a few points that dragged for me, and some of the steamy scenes had a few bits that were a little cringey for me – like things that were said to each other, but in the end it was a great start to what looks to be a fun series. I’m assuming since the series is named after the bakery that we’ll be getting Rachel’s sisters’ stories in the next two books!
About the Author
Allie is the author of the Crescent Pass series, Lessons
Learned series, Bishop Brothers series, and Suncoast
University series. She lives in sunny Florida with her
husband, daughter, and two cats. A librarian by day, she
spends her nights writing happily ever afters.
Connect with her on Facebook or Instagram, @alliewintersauthor, for the latest book info and teasers.
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I enjoy foodie books. This looks cute. One you enjoy, but will probably forget the details of.
Yeah, it was pretty light and fluffy!
It’s fun when a character shares my name. Happy to see you enjoyed the story overall!
I don’t feel like I find as many with my name, not sure why. I did hear that Lisa was making a come back with babies though! lol
I love the title, and any story with baked goods and firemen has to be a lot of fun😁
Yeah, food or baked goods definitely can make a story for me!
Foodie books are one of the type of romance I still read along with fake dating.
I do love both of those things in a story too.
I love when books also focus on the foods. This sounds like a fun romance
I also enjoy when they describe more about the foods, which this one didn’t have as much of that though.
I must have similar tastes because I love that he’s a firefighter and her family has a bakery in this one, too. Sounds like their backstories that affect them still in the present are handled well and don’t get into too much drama. Nice review, Lisa!
Thanks!