Baking always made sense for Leilani "Lani" Trusdale. "Flour, butter, and sugar were as integral a part of her as breathing," as Donna Kauffman describes the heroine of Sugar Rush, the first installment in her Cupcake Club series of romance novels. But when Lani walks away from her demanding job as an upscale New York City pastry chef to launch a cupcake shop in Sugarberry, a remote Georgia island where her widowed father now resides, her dreams of settling in to quiet baker's bliss are suddenly upended. Lani's former boss and unrequited love, Baxter Dunne (aka "Chef Hot Cakes") follows her to the island, hoping to woo his protégé under the pretext of filming a segment of his top-rated TV cooking show in Lani's new cupcakery.
Kauffman writes crisp, emotionally charged dialogue as Lani, liberated from Baxter's high-profile shadow and at the helm her own pastry kitchen, learns to stand up to her former boss. Will Baxter come to respect Lani's career move? Will Lani's pride allow her to succumb to Baxter's quest to make amends and win her affections? Adding to the tension of the couples' love-hate attraction, Lani's chef friends have their own opinions about what's best for her; throw in the whispers and meddling of Sugarberry gossips who fawn over the rock-star TV chef, with his delightful British accent, and folks in the tiny coastal town begin to indulge in more than just gourmet cupcakes. Sugar Rush is a sweet, delicious romance fortified with mouth-watering cupcake recipes. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines