Any Way You Slice It

Carrie Quinn and Dara Harte share a love of baking, but at the beginning of this delicious story, that’s about all. She lives with her mum in a small terraced house, his home is a mansion complete with state-of-the-art kitchen, built with the fortune made in his family’s chain of bakeries. He’s annoyed by her, she thinks he’s spoiled, arrogant, and merely playing with the thing that matters most to her. An argument over oven doors (literally) in the final of The Castlecreagh Cup Young Pastry Chef of the Year competition results in them both being disqualified. Despite this, they end up as partners, entering the team element of the competition together and, surprise, surprise, the more they’re together practising bakes, the closer and warmer their relationship becomes until they’re a proper couple. There are of course more slips ups before the eventual happy ending; both these young people have difficult relationships with their parents to sort out, sensitively examined by McDonnell and plausible throughout, as well as issues with their own confidence and self-understanding. In all of this it is a perfect romcom, sweet, light and surprisingly filling. There are recipes scattered throughout, like currants in a bun, and they make this love story even more scrumptious (I’m planning on attempting Carrie’s Seed Cake pièce de résistance). Lovers of gentle romance will find this a very satisfying treat and though we’re listing this in the YA/14+ category it could be enjoyed by readers from the age of twelve.