GRR Reviews Sugar and Spice and All Those Lies by Evy Journey

Sugar and Spice and All Those Lies from Evy Journey is an interesting story about a lady sou chef, trying to find love and happiness among two men, and found herself betrayed several times, by people whom she thought were her close friends. The beginning was a good hook, with her on a hospital gourney being pushed, and ends... on an HEA (but this is a romance, so that's not a spoiler)...

Gina wanted to be a chef for a long time, brought up surrounded by her grandpa's recipes as well as her mom's tutelage. She never seems to realize her mixed parentage gave her exotic looks that men seem to find irresistible, not that she's the kind of woman that would take another woman's man. When she was wooed by Leon, a rich young man, she was mildly amused, but Leon was with Cristi, her childhood best friend... Until Cristi stabbed her with a pair of scissors because Gina had "stolen" Leon from her. The detective investigating the battery case was Brent, who was also interested in Gina, but Gina was with Leon then. Thus Gina introduced Brent to her best friend from the restaurant, Marcia the pastry cook. But even as Gina's relationship with Leon reached a decision point, a stalker sent threatening notes to Gina... warning her of bad things that will happen...

The cooking details are excellent, though I was somewhat disappointed they didn't play into the plot except very peripherally. Gina... came across as a really ambivalent character. Her kind heart was both a strength and a weakness, in a way that really elicits empathy from the reader, but also made her weak-willed at times. Without spoiling the plot, I'll just say Leon and Brent both came across as decent guys, albeit, only one will win at the end.

All in all, this book just lacks that... something that really moves me. But it's actually quite good.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Lady sous chef found herself being wooed by two men, and some really jealous people wanted to hurt her for being... lucky/nice

Tropes: chef, triangle, betrayal, stalker, woman in peril

Overall Rating:  4/5