Lari’s family owns Salt, a bakery focused on savory foods in Olinda, Brazil. Salt is directly across the street from Sugar, a sweet-goods bakery owned by the Molina family, who have been in a feud since a Molina, Lari’s great-grandmother’s best friend, betrayed their partnership by selling their secret recipe. Now Lari can’t stand the Molinas, especially their son, Pedro, who has bullied her since she was a kid. But when Lari’s beloved grandmother passes away and the neighborhood is threatened by a big chain supermarket trying to take over, Lari finds herself in a strange position. Could she and Pedro work together to unite their families against the supermarket trying to put both bakeries out of business?
The trajectory of this book is pretty clear from the first page - two sworn enemies will have to team up to save their family businesses and will fall in love in the process. That being said, the book wasn’t without surprises. There were several moments when Carvalho took an unexpected path toward and expected outcome that kept me interested. Honestly, the romance was sweet, but my favorite parts of this book were the Brazilian setting, which I so rarely see in YA, and all of the mouth-watering descriptions of Brazilian foods. I felt transported to another place through the descriptions of the baked goods, both savory and sweet, that Pedro and Lari were cooking up. I would definitely recommend eating this book with a snack on hand!
The trajectory of this book is pretty clear from the first page - two sworn enemies will have to team up to save their family businesses and will fall in love in the process. That being said, the book wasn’t without surprises. There were several moments when Carvalho took an unexpected path toward and expected outcome that kept me interested. Honestly, the romance was sweet, but my favorite parts of this book were the Brazilian setting, which I so rarely see in YA, and all of the mouth-watering descriptions of Brazilian foods. I felt transported to another place through the descriptions of the baked goods, both savory and sweet, that Pedro and Lari were cooking up. I would definitely recommend eating this book with a snack on hand!