Betsy St. Amant
Revell, 2020
328 pages
Amazon Description: The only thing Bri Duval loves more than baking petit fours is romance. So much so, she’s created her own version of the famous Parisian lovelock wall at her bakery in Story, Kansas. She never expects it to go viral–or for Trek Magazine to send travel writer Gerard Fortier to feature the bakery. He’s definitely handsome, but Bri has been holding out for a love story like the one her parents had, and that certainly will not include the love-scorned-and-therefore-love-scorning Gerard.
Just when it seems Bri’s bakery is poised for unprecedented success, a series of events threaten not just her business but the pedestal she’s kept her parents on all these years. Maybe Gerard is right about romance. Or maybe Bri’s recipe just needs to be tweaked.
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Thanks to Revell Reads for sending me a copy of The Key to Love to review!
A love story set in a bakery? What’s not to love? I found this to be a very sweet romance with a full cast of quirky characters. The town is like a character itself and makes a great backdrop for The Key to Love.
One thing that I really liked is that Gerard and Bri, our main guy and girl, are dealing with opposite issues from each other. The reason that worked for me is that I felt like it added a layer to their story because they had to work extra hard to relate and be compassionate with each other.
I also liked in The Key to Love is the theme of telling the truth that wove through the narrative. Bri is put off by Gerard’s tell-it-like-it-is mentality at first, but eventually comes to see that he tells the truth because he cares. Gerard has to face s different kind of truth when he takes this assignment and confronts the idea that maybe his globe-trotting lifestyle is more about running from things than being free. Akin to this truth theme is the idea that marriage has to look a certain way. Both main characters deal with their notions of what marriage is, and of course neither is completely correct.
Entertaining side note: Gerard is described in the book as tall, dark, and gruff, so it was pretty much impossible for me to read this story without picturing Gerard Butler. I’m still on the search for the right blonde to cast as Bri in my mental movie.