Cake, an all-new romantic and hilarious standalone from USA Today bestselling author Carmen Jenner is available NOW!
Poppy Porter's ex is getting married ... to her ex-best friend. To land her dream job of partner in the most prestigious firm on the Upper East Side, Poppy must now pull double shifts as their wedding planner and maid of honor. And the icing on a truly craptastic cake? Leo Nass. Handsome, infuriating, womanizer, and … the best man. Despite their longstanding loathing, Poppy doesn't see Leo coming. Literally.
One ruined cake.
One archnemesis.
One hour to save the wedding.
Can they put their hatred aside long enough to save Poppy’s job and Bridezilla's head from exploding?
Piece of cake, right?
4 starsReview by Lisa Kane
Carmen Jenner never fails to deliver-Cake is sweet and full of flavor and dare I say it...Moist (yes, I used the M word!)
Poppy Porter is a junior associate at the most sought after wedding planning firm. She's trying to land a promotion, but that might be in jeopardy right now. See she just landed face first in the wedding cake, aided by Leo Nass. Other wise known as Nass the Ass. (at least that's what Poppy calls him) She's not only working this particular event, but she's also a bridesmaid.
Let me back up and explain just who the bride and groom are-Chase Vanderbilt is the groom and Claire Schaefer is the bride.
You see, the groom, Chase Vanderbilt, is my ex. The bride, Claire Schaefer? My ex-best friend.
See Chase and Poppy dated for 7 years. Then Leo, his best friend, had him questioning his feelings for Poppy.
"I hate you. You talked him out of marrying me."
"Word to the wise, Pop Tart. If a man can be talked out of marrying you after a couple of brewskies and a handful of stripper dollars, he's not the man for you."
Amen.
So Chase breaks it off with Poppy, and immediately starts dating Claire. Two months later, those two become engaged. And Claire has no problem using Poppy's company to plan the wedding and then guilting Poppy into being one of her bridesmaids.
"You're mad, aren't you? I told Chase you'd be mad. It's just with you being in the party, and given that you dated the groom, I didn't want to make it any more awkward than it already is. It's not awkward right?"
Dated? Dated? I was with him for seven years. I was going to marry the man, and spend the rest of my life with him...
Umm..I would have reacted a little differently to Little Miss Passive Aggressive, but I digress.
Turns out all the plans that Poppy had for her wedding to Chase are the same ones that Chase and Claire are using-the same cake, but the most hurtful-they are having a destination wedding in the Maldives! All of which Poppy and Chase planned.
Poppy detests Leo, Chases's best friend. But he's the Best Man so she's forced to work with him. There just may be some hot chemistry between them, but Poppy would never admit it.
"What exactly did I do to make you hate me so much?
"Hmm...let me count the ways."
I smile. "This may take a while. I'll just email you an itemized account, would that be okay?"
They both give as good as they get. I think both protest a little too much.
"Screw you." I hand the cashier my card and he swipes it.
"Well, I would, but stuck up trust-fund babies clutching their pearls aren't really my thing. I like my women wild in the sack, and something tells me everything about you is vanilla."
Let me state for the record-I detest both Chase and Claire. Hate them with the heat of a thousand suns. There would be voodoo dolls in their image stuck with sharp, long pins. Their pics would be dart boards in my den. Okay, you get the idea. Hate Hate Hate.
Cake is funny and damn right sexy and has more than a few hurtful parts. There are a few chapters from Leo's POV, I wish there had been more, particularly at the end. I wanted to read his thoughts on things that were going down. I needed to hear his side of the story. But none the less, both characters are wonderful, if not a bit frustrating. They fight so hard with themselves to make sure that they are fighting with each other. But in the end, admitting they belong together-is a piece of cake.
"And I love you too."
"Even when you hate me?"
"Especially when I hate you."
Excerpt:
I sneak closer to the bed, my heart pounding as I throw the pillow at him. The guy shifts in his sleep, and his breathing slows, but a beat later the snoring starts again and I have to resist the urge to scream. Instead, I raise my poker and jab the sheet covered body. It’s not hard, just a quick jab or two, but he still doesn’t stir.
“Hey, asshole!” I shout, and whack him hard in the butt with my poker.
The giant freak jumps up and seizes my hand. His grip forces me to drop my weapon. He yanks me toward him—on top of him—and this is how I find myself eye to eye with the beast. He breathes his heavy, stinking breath on my face, and I wince and wrinkle my nose.
Leo’s eyes crinkle in the corners as he laughs. “Morning, Pop Tart.”
“Get the hell out of my bed. And brush your goddamn teeth. What are you doing in my house, Nass?”
“Ah, still feisty, huh? Is this like an all-day thing with you, or do you eventually turn from an angry sea witch into a person? Would coffee help?”
“Fuck you, Leo.”
“Darlin’, you wish.”
“You’re disgusting. I wouldn’t touch you if—”
“Yeah, yeah, if I were the last man on Earth. I’ve heard it all before, sweet cheeks, and I don’t buy it for a second.” He flips us so suddenly my head spins. I’m beneath him, my wrists pinioned to the bed above my head by just one of his strong hands. The other glides up my side. My sheets have twisted up around us, but from this angle it looks as if Leo Nass is very much naked in my bed.
“Goddamn it,” I complain once I find my voice. “I’m going to need to burn these sheets after you leave.”
His eyebrow quirks, and the grin he gives me is all-out salacious. He shifts his weight between my legs, then he drops his hips and grinds his erection against me. I’m stunned, speechless. I have no words. They’ve all left me because my brain has turned to mush and my vagina is the only one thinking, and I’m really not okay leaving her in charge. “Why burn them when we’re not done messing them up?”
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Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2t08Ci3
Amazon Universal: http://mybook.to/CakeCJ
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About Carmen: Her dark romance, KICK (Savage Saints MC #1), won Best Dark Romance Read in the Reader’s Choice Awards at RWDU, 2015.
A tattoo enthusiast, hardcore makeup addict and zombie fangirl, Carmen lives on the sunny North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, where she spends her time indoors wrangling her two wildling children, a dog named Pikelet, and her very own man-child.
A romantic at heart, Carmen strives to give her characters the HEA they deserve, but not before ruining their lives completely first … because what’s a happily ever after without a little torture?
Connect with Carmen:
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