BLOG TOUR & REVIEW : Stud Muffin

Title : Stud Muffin (Donner Bakery #2)
Author : Jiffy Kate
Release date : October 29th 2019

Date Read : October 29th 2019
Rating : ★★★★

“On paper, we probably don’t make sense… this big, badass cage fighter and me, a cardigan-wearing muffin maker.” I laugh, wiping away a tear that slips out, but it’s not entirely due to sadness. For the first time in a long time, I can see my life clearly. “But we’re good together.”

Stud Muffin, an all-new friends-to-lovers standalone romance from Jiffy Kate, is available now!

After Tempest Cassidy walks in on her husband banging her high school nemesis, her whole world gets turned upside down. She goes from being known as the Duchess of Muffins to the town crazy. Her new MO: revenge. Eventually, Tempest grows weary being arrested. Yet what choice does she have? If she’s not angry, then she’s simply . . . sad.

Just as she decides to get her life back on track, in walks Cage Erickson, the new bouncer at the local strip club. He’s scary-handsome and the polar opposite of her ex. She’s attracted to him, but she’s not looking for a rebound. He’s attracted to her, but he’s not looking for a serious relationship. So, they agree to be friends.

But when lines get blurred in the friend zone, will they both get burned? Or will it be a TKO?

'Stud Muffin' is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book#2 in the Donner Bakery series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

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Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/StudMuffin

Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/2khZoKt

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MY REVIEW :


Stud Muffin is my fourth Smartypants Romance read, and although it and I started on rocky grounds, I can safely say it has ended up being one of my favorites.

As mentioned, at first, I didn’t very much like how this started, this having nothing to do with the book itself or the romance in it but mostly on the cliché of “woman goes crazy because of a man”. I do not like it, at all. So I was a bit put off at first but I decided to push through still because I don’t like judging a book before the 25% mark. And I’m glad I did.

Once we get past the cliché, we get to learn more and get to know Tempest better. Tempest is one of the most endearing characters and I loved how her story unfolded. I loved seeing her realize she has an anger management issue and accept help, even though she was a bit against it at first. I loved seeing her find herself outside of her ex, which was mostly how she defined herself her whole life, so it was really amazing seeing her realize that she is more than her failed marriage, more than her anger, more than what anyone thinks about her, more than the “crazy muffin lady”.. just, more.

“It's not a sign of weakness to ask for help.”

I also loved Cage. He was an interesting character and I adored how non-judgmental he was. Every character that would rather get to know the person rather than just listen to gossip and follow everyone’s opinion on said person is an immediate “yes ma’am” for me. He is also a very caring character with a big heart. I still feel as though we still didn’t get to see much of his life pre-Green Valley in the sense that he is still kind of a question mark in some way, but I still very much enjoyed the bits we got.

You take these two characters, a woman who thinks she’s damaged goods with an anger management issue and a man who has lost everything after an injury but still wants to help people with what he know and these two just click. Tempest and Cage just make sense. He helps her through managing her anger through kickboxing and all that, while she helps him realize his life is not over just because he lost his career. Their friendship is very pure, very real, and even though all through it they have these feelings for each other they can’t seem to push away, they never make their friendship any less real or genuine. Cage is so willing to be there for Tempest no matter what, so willing to help her at any moment, no questions asked and with no expectations of anything in return that you can’t help but love them.

Another thing I enjoyed were the side characters (or at least SOME), especially Anna and Cole. I loved them, separately, so much, I would absolutely not mind having a book about them. I always enjoy it when the main character has a healthy support system, and Anna and Cole were definitely that, even though Anna still was rooting for her to get back to her ex at first, you could tell she was thinking that’s what was best and only really wanted Tempest’s happiness, but as soon as she realized that wasn’t it, she let that notion go just as fast.

Speaking of support systems, I did not like how inexistent that was in her parents, her mother more than her father. I did not like her. I felt like she was more on Asher’s side eventhough not only did he cheat on her daughter but ended up marrying the person he cheated with, yet, somehow, to her, Tempest was the unreasonable one for not fighting for him. It’s a no from me. And I’m not even going to mention the Asher mess because I don’t like wasting my breath on garbage but I will say : I do love it when Karma takes matters into her own hands and the asshole comes back crawling only to be sent back with his tail between his legs : ah Karma, you are always good to me.

All in all, I ended up really enjoying this book and it is definitely one I would recommend.