Hannah Robinson is just about to open the doors to her new shop Cupcakes on the Corner when out of the blue her boyfriend Patrick announces that he’s leaving her for another woman. Faced with starting a business on her own, Hannah begins to wonder if her life-long dream has just turned into a nightmare. So her best friend Adam sets his birthday as a deadline - seven months to make her shop a success, or walk away from it all. And as Hannah immerses herself in her new business, she soon discovers that she’s too busy to think about Patrick and his now pregnant girlfriend …or to notice an increasingly regular customer who has recently developed a sweet tooth for all things cupcake. But while Hannah is slowly piecing her life back together, family friend Alice’s is falling apart. Her husband Tom’s drinking is getting out of control and things are about to get a whole lot worse. As the seven-month milestone approaches, Hannah must decide her future. And while she’s figuring out what’s really important, it becomes clear to everyone that happiness in life, and in love, is all in the making.

It doesn’t get sweeter than cupcakes and love. For Hannah Robinson, it’s all she’s ever wanted; a cute cupcake store on the corner, a wonderful boyfriend and armfuls of potential. She thought she had it all, but when her boyfriend announces quite suddenly that he’s leaving her for another woman with only days to prepare for her store’s opening she’s devastated. Through the help of her best friend Adam and the drive to finish what she set out to do Hannah opens her store and keeps busy. All the while her ex-boyfriend, Patrick has learned he’s going to be a father from his new girlfriend and Hannah has found a new potential love interest. This and more is what awaits readers of Semi-Sweet: A Novel of Love and Cupcakes.

Where to begin? How could you possibly go wrong with a cupcake shop? You really can’t, and I loved Hannah’s shop with it’s unique decorations and quaint atmosphere. I’m a huge fan of food in Chick Lit books, especially when it’s done well. In Semi-Sweet: A Novel of Love and Cupcakes Hannah gives herself seven months to make it work and she absolutely does. How could anyone survive such a horrendous break-up only a week before opening your own business? Yet for Hannah it was just the perfect thing to keep her busy and moving forward to the next great thing.

As for the love interests in the book…for some reason, even now, I still wanted Hannah to end up with her best friend Adam. What is it about girls with best guy friends and wanting them to suddenly discover they’re in love with each other? It must be partially due to my love of the movie My Best Friends Wedding. But seriously, I loved the tension and friendship between Adam and Hannah as well as there pact to marry each other if they were both still single in their 60′s. So adorable! That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed Hannah and Adam’s respective love interests throughout the book as well as many of the supporting cast.

As for the remaining characters in the story…Geraldine, Fiona, Stephen, Wally, John, Leah, Nora, Dave, Claire, Una, Alice, Tom and a few others. It all got to be a bit much for me. It was a bit like reading a soap opera with just as much sexual happenings as well. I think that though I loved some of the supporting cast, my disappointment came when I was becoming engrossed in Hannah’s story and suddenly without little or no notice at all I’m whisked away to another character I’d have to take a moment to remember. In the first hundred or so pages it was a bit confusing, but once I got acquainted with everyone it started to get easier. What I really wanted was more of Hannah and Adam’s story as well as perhaps a bit of Leah and Patrick. Though the main characters were still more than present in many of the scenes I would have enjoyed it a bit more were they not chopped up so much.

Regardless of my misgivings, Semi-Sweet: A Novel of Love and Cupcakes was an incredibly fun read. As Hannah stumbles through her recovery from losing Patrick you are able to see the wonderful person she is and all she has to offer the world. A story about finding oneself, enjoying life and making the most of every moment no matter the circumstances. A wonderfully enjoyable and quick read from Roisin Meaney!

Thank you so much to the publisher, 5 Spot, for providing a copy of this book for review!

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