This was a weird novel. I checked it out because of the cutie on the cover and the whole baking thing (there’s apparently a newer, hotter cover on Cochet’s website). It ended up being an amnesia spy thriller romantic comedy serendipitous mash-up that mostly worked.
Joe owns a pie bakery in NYC and has a traumatic past and when he finds “Tom” knocked out in his garden with no memory, he takes him in and trusts that he’s not a crazy person who is going to kill him in his sleep and the story goes from there.
Overall, the story was fine. There was nothing ground breaking about it and the big reveal is hinted at a little too blatantly half way through the book so when it comes you’re like uhhhhh, okay, now what.
“Living in his own head had been such a part of his existence, when Joe grew up, he had trouble keeping his thoughts in there. Most people figured he had a few screws loose, but he didn’t mind. Sure, sometimes he felt a little embarrassed after getting caught having a rather animated conversation with himself, but never ashamed. It was just the way he was.” (10)
I liked Joe as a character, but he seems a little too naive to live in New York! Like almost country bumpkin on his first visit to the big city naive and not at all how you’d expect him to act having lived in the city for so long, lost everything, been in a coma because of a robbery, and is scrapping to survive. It was a little weird, but at the same time it did sort of fit his personality (same thing as taking in a stranger who refuses to go to the hospital or police).
The relationship between Joe and Tom is adorable, but also made me very wary. They clearly have chemistry but there are so many unknowns that are just ridiculous in real life, but was weirdly perfect for a romance novel/romantic comedy. The pacing was a bit odd in that parts of the book moved incredibly fast and then chapters were spent on one long drawn out scene. This definitely isn’t Cochet’s debut novel, so I’m not sure if is just her style or if it was this book in particular, but it made reading it a little rough.
“Lucky for me, an officer was on patrol nearby, and he rushed to my aid. If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be here now. I was in an induced coma for days . . . When I woke up, the nurses told me the name of the officer who saved me, and how he came to visit me every day after his shift. He found out I didn’t have anybody, so he stayed with me every night. He’d talk to me and play soft music. He was gone by the time I was conscious enough to remember more than someone placing ice chips to my lips. I tried to find him, to thank him, but he transferred out of state.” (90)
And then when the reveal does come that Liam (formerly known as Tom) is actually the cop who found Joe after his attack and then cared for him at the hospital it’s kind of an omg that’s adorable moment which then turns kind of creepy. It’s revealed that Liam has been keeping an eye on him and his shop over the years and that’s one of the reasons he was found unconscious in the garden, because he figured he could hide something there and go back for it. A little stalkerish, but totally adorable in the happily ever after you deserve from a romance novel.
Recommendation: This was a decent read. There was a lot going on that could’ve easily been distracting, but the general slowness of the story helped to keep most of that in check. I’m not sure I’ll seek out additional works by Cochet, but if I saw one with a cute title and hunky cover model I wouldn’t say no to reading another work in the future.
Opening Line: “Joe! You’re killing me!”
Closing Line: “He’d spent so much time running from his past, unaware of how it would not only catch up with him, but end up in his arms.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)
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