This one isn't a Midlife Meet Cute book, but it's from another series that I have been religiously reading the new releases of every Friday, Love in Maplewood. This is also a multi-author series, although these are MM romances and our main characters span the age range, but they're not young'ens.
This book contains kittens, miscommunications, and good intentions … the recipe for a beautiful small town love story.
I’ve had a soft spot for Alex since reading Can You Feel the Maple Tonight with his firm belief that he will never find love. Reading this book, I decided that I want Alex to be my best friend that I can watch Great British Bake-Off with.
Alex and Cody are relationship goals. These guys had a lot to navigate to get to their happy ending, but it was true to real life. Any budding romance is already tough in Maplewood because this town is highly invested in the love life of its residents. Both of these guys are living with family members, which add another challenge in finding moments alone during the getting to know you stage. Add that Cody is a firefighter with a not so traditional work schedule, and Alex is trying to plan the first ever Maple Cook-Off on top of his day job, time together isn’t super easy to come by.
The scene between Alex and Cody’s Aunt Viv after he meets the kittens broke and warmed my heart at the same time. Although a quick scene, it was so well written. Aunt Viv being quick to convey how excited Cody was for Alex to come to dinner was the heartwarming part. Alex’s anxiety over knowing that Cody may reject him like others had led to my own secondhand anxiety as I waited for them to talk through things.
Grey wrote the supporting characters so well that it made the book hard to put down. I am very invested in Luke and Graham (Alex’s dad and brother) and would love for them to get their own stories. I would also love the full backstory on Alex’s parents’ relationship. I also love Charlie, who we were also introduced to in a previous book, and hope he continues to pop up through the rest of the series.
Rae being convinced that Cody is allergic to maple and having that rumor spread kept me laughing. Although the true spirit of Maplewood shined through when people kept tweaking recipes not to include maple, or would let him know he couldn’t eat something because it had maple in it. And Rae’s response when finding out that Cody wasn’t actually allergic to maple had me literally laughing out loud and hoping that her quest to find him the right maple recipe that he’ll like will pop up later in the series.
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