Cupcakes & Coal: A Steamy Grumpy Sunshine Christmas Cruise Rom Com

by Coral Kingston

He's the washed-up Hollywood star hosting her competition. She's the small-town baker who's about to make this Christmas cruise unforgettable.



A televised Christmas baking competition aboard a luxury cruise with a fifty thousand dollar prize—this is my dream shot at proving my small-town bakery skills belong with the pros. Twelve days of gingerbread showdowns and candy cane challenges? I was born for this.

But there's one Declan Murphy, the gorgeous grumpy host who knows absolutely nothing about baking, is watching my every move. He can't tell a whisk from a spatula. It's infuriating.

Almost as infuriating as the chemistry between us. But he's off-limits. I'm here to win. I can't afford this distraction—no matter how cute he looks when he's scowling at my gingerbread, or how badly I want to be the reason he finally smiles.



This hosting gig is my last chance at redemption. Stay professional. Avoid scandal.

Then Katie walks in—all Christmas spirit, killer curves, and passion that could thaw even this Grinch's heart. Watching her work magic with sugar and spice makes me want to believe in Christmas again. In myself again.

But I can't get involved with a contestant. One mistake and my career is over for good.

So why am I fantasizing about her covered in frosting every night? And why does the thought of her leaving feel like losing something I didn't know I needed?

If you love Tessa Bailey, Lucy Score, and Christina Lauren you'll love this steamy grumpy/sunshine Christmas romance with forced proximity, workplace tension, and a guaranteed HEA.

One-click this Hallmark-with-heat holiday romance!

★★★★★ Perfect for fans

Christmas CruiseBaking CompetitionGrumpy/SunshineForbidden RomanceCurvy HeroineHe Falls FirstForced ProximityEnemies to LoversSmall Town Vibes (Recurring Cast)Steamy Holiday RomanceGuaranteed HEAThis is the book for you! ★★★★★

Cupcakes & Coal is part of the Celestial Odyssey series—steamy standalone romances set aboard a luxury cruise ship. This is the first Christmas romance in the series. Each book features a different couple with their own complete happily ever after and can be read in any order.

Genres: Christmas

349 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 13, 2025

About the author

Coral Kingston writes short, steamy, and sweet cruise ship romances that will resonate with your heart and… umm… libido. She loves to write about swoon-worthy men and interesting women who are as imperfect as can be, but ALWAYS find their perfect match before the last page is turned.
She currently lives in Texas (within driving distance of a cruise port—yay!) with her own bearded hunk of man meat and their gaggle of children.

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Reviews

[Sandra Aranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hooked from the beginning with the CASTING CALL announcement. This perfectly set up the premise of the book for me. I was hooked even more when the Main Female Character (MFC) entered as her character was a kindred soul. The author does a great job at fleshing out all the characters and not just the MFC & MMC. As the book went along the suspense continued to build to what I believed to be the ultimate ending. Yet the author then completely threw a curve ball at the end and I was even happier with that than what I was imagining! This book was made even more special with the inclusion of the REAL RECIPES throughout the book! For a baker this made the entire thing delightful to me. I finished this book in just a few days and read chapters even when I woke up at night, haha! I am very excited to see more of this series emerge.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Mese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cupcakes and Coal review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Some spice

This was a Show on page-BTS-wonderful mix of Romance and baking goodness mixed in. I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy lately that these interactions were a breath of fresh air and fun. I’m not going to lie though-the fist BTS chapter threw me off. But the repetition of it really helped. It was fun getting some of the side characters more involved.



I think -if you like your Hallmark style romances (with HEAs)-especially during the holidays- then you should read this.



We get angst, grumps, tension, excitement -roller coaster of emotions.

🧁Enemies to lovers
🧁Baking competition
🧁plus size representation
🧁Grump and Sunshine
🧁Cute holiday read
🧁FORBIDDEN ROMANCE

🧁I want to keep adding to the list but I feel like I will eventually write a spoiler. So no more from me. But the sarcasm and back and forth. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽



Katie and Declan are two people to watch (or read about) in the first installment of the Celestial Odyssey series by Coral Kingston. Who I want to express my thanks to for allowing me the opportunity to receive this ARC and leave this honest review.

(It would have been a quick read if I wasn’t playing sleep catch up and working-can anyone else relate?).

🫶🏽Mese

[Elanda Birch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aw, this was so cute! A great read for the Christmas season. Very seasonal, very romantic and very holiday.
Katie is a small town baker, and she is our sunshine. She enters a baking contest to save her bakery that her grandmothers mother started and is determined to win and save her families legacy. She is cute, bubbly, loves everyone and tries to help and feed anyone she can. She bakes to relieve stress and feeds people to show love. When she meets Declan, she does the same thing, tries to be nice and help him. But he is grumpy personified and is not having any of it. Well, Katie is not going to be a doormat and so starts giving as good as she gets and all the sudden sparks are flying.
This is defiantly a Grumpy/Sunshine troupe, and I feel like there is a background story here that maybe I am missing. I think there may be references to other books by this author in this book that I have not read. We meet a few people in Katie's home town that may have had their own books.
When Declan and Katie finally get together, all seems right, but the no fraternization clause in the contracts may just be the thing that breaks this cute couple up!
So cute, 4.7 stars!

[The Book Ssirren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was wonderful. Katie and Declan were the cutest. I absolutely loved Katie’s confidence as a baker. She knew she was good at it and she shined through and through. And Declan, that grumpy heart of his was put into its own competition when he set eyes on Katie.
This book had a hallmark vibe. A sweet and cozy romance that had you swooning throughout.
I really enjoyed reading this and I’m really looking forward to reading more from this author. Just an absolute fun time with this one.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Debbie Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. It liked how Katie's bid for a chance to a competition to save her bakery doesn't go as planned. She loses the competition but wins much more. Katie falls in love with Declan. Thanks to an observant producer both Katie and Declan's wishes come true in unexpected ways. The way the book was done was unexpected but good.

[Heather Molin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was such a great holiday read! It really felt like halmark meets food network baking competition in the best way possible. Full of laughter, sweetness, triumph, true loveand the magic of the holiday season. The recipes that were written about in the story being included was an added bonus and I cant wait to try few of them. I cant wait to see what else Coral writes in this series.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sarah Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This storyline was absolutely charming. I love a feel good romance and that’s exactly what this book gave me. The recipes sprinkled throughout the book all sound divine as well!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC review- I adored the way this book was set up. It's a baking competition, so the chapters followed a rhythm of the competition bake-off, then narration of the perspective of the interviewing cast afterwards, and then the actual recipe for what our main character Katie baked. Such a fun idea!

Grumpy x Sunshine
Baking competition
Plus-size representation
Angst and tension
Cute holiday read
Forbidden romance

Our FMC Katie is a young woman who is motivated, determined, and genuinely sweet. I loved how she was portrayed.

Our MMC Declan is a once-popular actor who has taken on a last resort job. He is grumpy and cynical, but his growth was perfect.

I haven't read any of the other books in this series, but I really didn't need to. I read this book in one day. Perfect cosy, feel-good holiday read.