Baking Hearts

by Violet McBride

I wanted sweet cinnamon rolls, not a brooding cowboy and a front-row seat to my own eviction.

Running Willow Creek’s bakery should come with flour fights, missing scones, and town gossips who love a good mess.

Not Weston Callahan.

Stubborn, frustrating, infuriating, and way too hot to be my nemesis.

Now fate’s tossed us in the same co-chairs, town festival, and no escape from each other—or our slow-burning, sugar-and-spice chemistry.

Every playful jab and heated stare has the whole town watching, and neither of us can keep our hands clean.

The more flour we throw, the messier we get, and the more I fall for the man I once crushed on from afar.

He wants the bakery gone, but I won’t let go of my bakery—or the stubborn single dad who’s suddenly storming my locked-up heart.

This sweet and clean romance is ready to bake your heart!

Genres: Amazon

162 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 9, 2025

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baking Hearts is a story where Westin, the town’s banker and Lyn, the bakery owner swaps jabs with each other over late rent.  He is a widower that has a small son named Stockton that loves Lyn.  When they were young Lyn had a crush on Weston and now Weston wonders if she was the right girl all along.  But before they can get together there is the problem facing Lyn.   A developer is trying to take the bakery away from Lyn.  She has always wanted to have a bakery and her parents always believed she would and they stood  behind her every step.  However, when the big day came they had passed away and she opened the bakery and knew they would be proud of her.  She always was there to help the town no matter where the help was needed.  She couldn’t bear the thought of a developer taking over her bakery just to destroy it.  When the town puts Weston and Lyn together to be in charge of setting up the festival this year, their closeness together brings their true feelings back from years before.  Now Lyn does not have to stand and face all her troubles alone anymore.  Weston is there to stand behind the woman he believes in and along with the town stand up against the biggest enemy trying to take over the bakery that really is the heart of the town.

[Angee Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet lighthearted small-town romance that was well written. It’s a short story but it was complete and thought out. The main characters had great chemistry and fun banter. The supporting characters added to the story instead of just being filler. The towns people were mostly people you would like to know, (except for a sister-in-law), and little Stockton stole the show! I liked that the MFC was strong and independent (maybe a little too independent). There was a natural progression of the relationship which was nice and didn’t seem forced. Great Job Violet!

[PAMELA ANN READS BOOKS · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍-𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆!!! 😍😍😍

𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒇𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒍. 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝑾𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏'𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒗 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐. 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒚𝒏𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒚, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑰 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕!! 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒚𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆. 𝑰 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌. 🫶🫶🫶

[Debdutch · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Baking Hearts: A Small Town Enemies To Lovers Second Chance Romance” by Violet McBride

-A lighthearted small-town romance full of repartee, and second chances. I received a free copy and am voluntarily sharing my honest thoughts.

The chemistry and chats between Lyn and Weston makes for a fun story that keeps the reader guessing. The description of the town watching their every move is extremely comical.

Sweet, clean, and heartwarming—a wonderful story for fans of small-town romances.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is as sweet as the bakery.
Weston is grumpy. He is so afraid of doing something wrong, he forgets to live.
Lyn, Teddy, needs to prove she is an independent woman. She can do it on her own. She forgets that people want to help.
Stockton, the sweetest kid around.
These two do the dance and finally realize that maybe they are better together. That being with each other helps quiet the voice of doubt in their heads.

[Marichus Real · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lynn owns a bakery, but someone wants to have it.
Weston is a widower banker who is always after Lynn until he starts falling for her.
This was a wonderful story, but I would have liked to know who the person was who broke into the bakery.
I enjoyed Lynn and Weston's banter. I loved little Stockton and his drawings. He really knows who to love.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sheri Bolinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a sweet romance with lots of heart. Westover and Lyn have two of the biggest hearts. I loved them both so much. While Weston was grumpy, Lyn was the sunshine. You add in Weston's son, Stockton, and there is nothing but joy sprinkled in. He was their heart! I loved this story of perseverance, town heart, and fighting for the good amidst the storms. It was beautiful written!

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute Romance

This tale of overcoming grief and sweet romance is perfect for a cozy evening in. I love the Mayberry-esque nature of the small town genre and this story has it in spades. The characters were lovable and fun to read about. It’s a clean story, too. If you like sweet, contemporary romance, then give it a try.

[Nicola “Shortbookthyme” · Rating 4 out of 5]

✅Baking Hearts
By
Violet McBride
@bertiesteinauthor

🩷Slow Burn
💚Chemistry
🩷Romance
💚Banter
🩷Single Dad
💚Bakery Owner

Baking Hearts was a fun read full of rivalry and banter.
The main characters, Lyn and Weston, make for a cute couple….if they can figure out their relationship!
Loved the humor of the “whole town watching” them.
Baking Hearts is a clean romance and a very sweet romance.
#shortbookthyme
@shortbookthyme

http://instagram.com/shortbookthyme

[Debi Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

This was a great read. It has all the emotions you could possibly want or need. Weston and Lyn have both been on and off with each other until the end when the title of this book says it all about them Baking Hearts. Definitely one book I would highly recommend reading

[T.Albada · Rating 5 out of 5]

great slow burn romance
real pageturner couldn't stop reading
happily ever after

[Randy Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

This is a kind hearted baker who fights to keep her business open and the local cowboy who sweeps her off her feet. Another great romance by Violet McBride

[MsChris1161]

1 star - The story didn't keep my attention, but the narration made it so much harder to keep with it. Finally gave up.

[Jean Katchmar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lyn Harper owns the local bakery. Weston, now a widower since Carrie died is raising Stockton, his son, on his own. Lyn calls Stockton brave and rewards him with a cookie whenever he brings her a crayoned drawing. Weston is Lyn's landlord and is after her to pay her back rent. On top of everything else, they now have to co-chair the Willow Creek Harvest Frestival. Lots of laughs and banter along the way till they give in to a kiss in the rain under the school bleachers. Someone destroys her pies for the judging and then ruins her supplies to make pies and destroys her bakery. Then an eviction notice shows up on the bakery window. Now Weston takes Lyn's side in her fight to save the bakery. And maybe together they can find their HEA.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright I guess

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weird. Felt like I was dropped in the middle of a book. Why were the MMC & FMC at odds?

[Mary Ann Speel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable story and recommend it to anyone who likes a story that the H and h start off on opposite sides and end up working together to attain a goal that has become their common objective. It all revolves around the bakery building that the h owns and that a developer wants in order to demolish it and build a new building. The H at first thought the h couldn’t win her battle and she should just give up, but the h refused. Then the H begins to see the h’s point of view and supports her. In the end they find a legal way to win their case in court. Through their efforts they grow close together and develop their relationship into one of love and get a their HEA. Hope that you enjoy reading this book as much as I did. Enjoy!

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

MC: Lyn Harper (aka Teddy) and Weston Callahan, First person dual POV

This was a sweet story, but for all its sweetness there was depth. There was so much packed in the book and it kept me invested to see what would happen next. Lyn and Weston were each dealing with big life changes and they did not expect each other. Their relationship progressed naturally and you could see them lowering their guards and allowing each other in. Stockton is such a charmer and he just stole the show every time he was mentioned.

I received an ARC copy of the book and this is my honest review.