Friday: Laced with Spice

Hookup Café #5

by Fifi Flowers

When Vivienne joins an online blind-dating service and sets a date, she has him meet her at Cafélicious owned by her best friend where they can check him out to make sure he is not a dud or worse. Unbeknownst to mystery man Mason, her friends are texting her a message that reads laced with spice meaning that he is handsome and that she should show up. What will happen when he finds out that she has cheated the system?


Novella - STANDALONE - book 5 of 6


MEET all of THE COUPLES at Cafélicious...

Basil and Pansie, MONDAY, book 1
Marzi and Avery, TUESDAY, book 2
Nate and Evie, WEDNESDAY, book 3
Deacon and Saylor, THURSDAY, book 4
Mason and Vivienne, FRIDAY, book 5
Vin and Darla, SATURDAY, book 6

Genres: Novella

Unknown Binding

About the author

Fifi Flowers, an internationally known artist turn author from the Los Angeles area of California, writes romance novels and paints fantasies with a Parisian flair while daydreaming of her time spent sipping cafe crème in the cafes of Paris

She penned her love of Paris and romance to the pages of her first novel, A Window To Love, published in 2013, when she sat down, and instead of putting paint to paper, put her pen to paper and began her first novel. Since that first novel, Fifi has self-published several contemporary romances and has many more in the works.

To learn about Fifi Flowers new book releases, sneak peeks, and more.... http://www.fififlowers.com

Reviews

[Ana Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh no... The week is almost ending and I don't want to. Friday is book number 5 from the Hookup Café and I'm hooked for sure.
Friday - Laced with Spice explores the lifes of Mason and Vivienne.
Vivienne is the proud owner of a beauty salon and she loves her job. She loves that her makeovers can make people happy with themselves.
She loves to hang out with the people from Cafélicious. She loves the owners as well as the staff.
Oh a blind date she meets Mason and...
This story us spicy and hot. The characters have that chemistry that can surround us in a blanket of joy and love.
Their interactions are funny and sassy.
I lived the book so intensely that I thought that I was there with them. Beautiful and intense.
Leta get to the final book from this series

[DJ Sakata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite Quotes:

Well, at least my business life was good. My love life was in the dumps. Actually it didn’t even exist and I was sure that if not for my battery operated friend, I’d have cobwebs growing downstairs— if you know what I mean.

‘So here are my desired alerts; if he looks good send me a text Laced with Spice and if not a good match in your eyes— knowing my standards— send me a text Out of Coffee… That is the only way I am following through, like it or not ladies. You’re either with me or getting fucked up haircuts the next time you come into my salon.’ It was amazing how quickly they agreed to help me out…not that I would ever ruin my beauty engineer status for any man. I had a professional reputation to uphold.

You’re not experiencing love at first sight. You love my wit. I get that a lot and it usually goes all downhill from there. Wine… let’s order wine. It makes me look a whole lot better, I assure you.

My Review:

I adored Vivienne with her love of pink, creative flair, and exceptionally amusing manner of speaking with her ooh la las and creative nicknames for her girly parts. She was a spicy and feisty heroine who could more than hold her own when bickering and bantering with her perfect match - the bossy alpha Mason. Their story was naughty good and full of sizzle with an entertaining and amusing premise. I have very fond memories of playing the game Mystery Date as a young girl.

[KDRBCK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friday: Laced with Spice (Hookup Cafe, #5) by Fifi Flowers is the next novella in this series and my favorite read so far.
Meet Vivienne on a blind date where she meets Mason.
Mason is a great guy, so it seems. But is he really.
Meet the Cafe Delicious Crew and their friends.
Laced With Spice is a fun read and I greatly enjoyed it.
5 Stars and Thank you Fifi Flowers.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the beginning of the book, the reader will soon realize that this brief story is pervaded with sensuality. The two characters of this book are quite special. Vivienne is a woman free of any moral restrictions who knows what she wants out of life while Mason is her absolute perfect match. Their encounter is quite unusual. Mason owns a dating agency and ends up on a date with this sexy woman. He is actually convinced that this date is only a means for his own feasibility study. What he doesn't clearly realize is that after dinner the poor man will fall into the arms of this luscious woman and their unusual relationship will soon become an important bond. This book actually took my breath away. I was very fascinated by Vivienne’s open mind while Mason’s allure lead me towards naughty fantasies. This is actually the most pleasant way to end the week and the title is very appropriate. I highly recommend this book.

[Marie Brown (Marie's Tempting Reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marie's Tempting Reads ARC Review:

After reading Friday: Laced With Spice, I can say Mason is my new book boyfriend! Extremely sexy, a bit nerdy, and oh so dominant and alpha, he had me swooning from his first demand! This book was hot and heavy, sweetly awkward (in the BEST way of course!), and definitely spicy. I freaking found myself in a near pant a time or two and I did squirm a bit..ok a LOT with some of the ways Mason brought out his inner Dom.

One of my favorite things about this series is how everything is set around Cafelicious. It constantly has me craving coffee and it just feels so homey and almost like I can smell the coffee brewing and feel the crackle of energy as the romance blooms. Fifi Flowers just...KNOWS what she is doing with this series and I love how each novella is different with the heroes having such incredible personalities. Some sweet, some cocky, and some nerdy with a dominant side...ABSOLUTE YUM! Friday: Laced With Spice is my new favorite and I will definitely be doing a reread in the next few days just to get another taste of Mason!

This novella gets a GAZILLION AND A HALF SHOOTING STARS! Well it would if that was allowed, but I will settle for a SPECTACULAR FIVE SHOOTING STARS! Once you get your hands on this novella, you will see just why Mason is my new favorite...ENJOY!

[Julianna K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friday: Laced with Spice is the fifth installment of the Hook-Up Café series by Fifi Flowers.



Wow. Friday: Laced with Spice was right up my ally. I absolutely fell to my knee with Mason! (haha, see what I did there?) Anyways, Mason is sort of a nerd, but what woman doesn’t love a man with brains!? I know I do!!! In addition, he’s sexy, pure alpha and a dom. Vivienne was my favorite girl because her sass and personality was perfect! She gives as good as she takes and this woman was about to give this Dom a run for his money! Friday: Laced with Spice is a wonderful read if your looking to unwind without having to dive into a full length novel.

It's short, sexy and completely satisfying! Also, I love that we get to see previous characters. 



Tempting Sexy Thoughts
**ARC for an Honest Review**

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow another awesome book in a Oooooo so hot series. Mason boy next door looks hides a bad boy in hiding. The chemistry between Mason and Vivienne is hot and spices from the start. Being a busy business owner doesn't leave much time for dating. So Vivienne trays a new Blind dating site. Only to me the man of hear dreams. The only problem is she needs to convince him they are right for each other. Mason trays to play hard to get but Vivienne has way of rattling his cage so to speak. This book has lots of hot ,sexy and spicy sex scenes. I can't wait for the next book. This book can be read as a stand alone but you fall in love with everyone at Cafelicious. So do yourself a favor and visit all the days of the week at Cafelicious

[Sheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friday is a sexy little encounter with some fun thrown in. It brings us Mason, who is a bit more wild than you are lead to believe when you first look at him. Mason could be the perfect match for Vivienne if these two would get on the same page. Fifi has brought us another great story in a series that is perfect for reading in an afternoon or anytime.
*I was gifted a copy for an honest review.*

[Catherine Wright (Cat's Guilty Pleasure) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was a bit different from the others, Mason and Vivienne may have had an instant connection. They may have started off with a hot encounter but it kind of fizzled out some. While they embark on a business venture together, they eventually wind up back in bed together. They prove they are willing to work through anything and decide they are truly meant to be. I loved it!!

[Paula Genereau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good short story. It had all the right scenes to make you love Mason. For a short story it was awesome

[Jeanette Book-Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

***4 Stars***

[Nicole Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivienne and Mason's story is my second favorite story in this series. An excellent Hot and sexy fast read. Love Mason's dominance. I love the characters from Cafelicious. Can't wait to read more from this series.
I received an ARC and volunteered to leave a review.

[Jennifer Carlock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has turned out to be my favorite in this series so far, Vivienne is an AMAZING character that I could easily be friends with! Her sassy self would definitely keep things interesting!
She decides to try out an online dating service that sets clients up on blind dates. She is pleasantly surprised to find a sexy Mason waiting at their table in Cafélicious. He looks like the handsome guy next door type but is she in for a surprise when the date moves to her house....HOLY WOW!
Things don't go as planned after that first steamy night but that doesn't detour Vivienne, her spunky pink haired self keeps throwing her sexy body his way until she gets what she wants...earns her a few more spankings too!

[Phuong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mason might just be my favorite guy from this series. He's hot, nerdy and dominant! Vivienne is best friends with Pansie, the owner of Cafelicious!, where it seems everyone is able to find the love of their lives here! Vivienne is the owner of Salon Luxe and loves what she does. She hasn't been able to find the right guy so she decides to sign up for an online dating service. The difference between the online service she signs up for an other online dating services is that this one doesn't post pictures of the potential matches. You answer questions HONESTLY about yourself and it generates your potential matches.

The dating services shows that Mason and Vivienne are the mostly likely match for each other. The 2 set up a date at Cafelicious! so that they are meeting in a public place but Vivienne also has the chance for Pansie to check out her date and let her know if he's "Laced with Spice" or "out of coffee". Mason gets the thumbs up and there is definitely chemistry between the 2 however Vivienne doesn't think Mason is the perfect match but hot enough for a casual relationship at first!

Mason and Vivienne are hot together and there are funny situations between the 2 that shows they are perfect togehter. This is one hot book and you just have to read it.

[Cee Cee Houston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivienne thinks she's finally met her match when she goes on a blind date and has the best time of her life with Mason. The one night stand becomes a whole weekend and then he throws a spanner in the works!

"We weren’t meant to sleep together!"

It all comes tumbling down when she realizes she wasn't a real date. Mason owns the online dating company she'd used and he'd decided to try out his own methods. She was just a test subject. Not a real date.
Vivi is rightly p*ssed but she sees potential for her business to prosper in conjunction with his. This keeps them in contact and the sizzling chemistry from their one time together keeps pulling them back to each other. Vivi was hoping that if they couldn't date for real maybe they could be friends.... the with benefits kind. But, not Mason. He needed fresh data. Fresh dates and keeps Vivi at arms length. For a while.

He loves her private pool and uses it every day, which gives ViVi an idea to make him jealous and see the light.
Did he?
Well, you need to grab your own copy and find out.
Mason was one of a kind. Nerdy, and all business, but hot and sexy. The perfect mix of dominant and loving. Vivi complimented him with her sassy, sexy attitude and never give up mentality. Her crazy quirky ideas made me laugh and want to go on a real To Blind Date date.

[Jennifer Oloughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mason was kind of a jerk, and I loved how he would get jealous over Vivienne. Vivienne deals with it like a pro and I loved when Morgan got involved.

* I voluntarily read an advanced reader's copy of this book*

[Heather Jasinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about Vivienne who owns the salon near the Café. Her life was set, she loved what she did, she owned Salon Luxe but she didn’t have a love life. So she decided to do online dating and filled out information and went on a blind date at the Café. She went on a date with Mason. Oh my was he hot. He worked in communications. The chemistry between these two- you need a fan to cool off! Mason told her that he owns the dating site and that he wanted to try it out and he was his first pick also. As the story progresses you see the kinda confusing state Vivienne is in but the ending is a hea.
Parts of the story I liked:
When Mason took her to Paris
“From the moment you started arguing with me when I tried to pay you a compliment by saying you were stunning.”
Plot-5/5
Characters- 5/5
Heat- 4.5/5
Writing Style -5/5
Overall Rating 4.5/5

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC for an honest review.

Whoa! Mason was quite the alpha male in this novella & oh so HOT! When Vivienne decided to try a blind date dating service, she never imagined the man she would meet would be the man she'd fall in love with. Vivienne is the owner of Salon Luxe but didn't like the men she would find to go out on dates with. So She decided to give this dating service a try. There were no pictures posted, so you didn't know what each other looked like. She was not disappointed when she saw Mason sitting at a table at Cafelicious. I loved the way this novella was written. It's still short but didn't seem rushed. I liked where Fifi took the characters but I was sad when Mason decided to be stubborn when it came to dating Vivienne. Friday: Laced with Spice certainly lived up to its name. It was definitely "laced with spice". When Mason & Vivienne got together for some fun times, it was hot & steamy & certainly not lacking. This has been a fun series to read. You should check it out.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a copy of this novella in exchange for an honest review for Stephanie's Book Reports.

Carla's Four Star Review

From the very beginning, this book is filled with sensuality. Vivienne is a woman who embraces her sexuality, and there isn't much she won't try. Mason is her perfect match. He likes to be the dominate one in the bedroom, and Vivienne is a-okay with that. These two get off to a great start, but then they experience a few hiccups. When it comes down to it, these two are willing to work through any issues because they really do want to be together.

Laced with Spice is the perfect name for this novella. With Mason and Vivienne, you get a little sweet and a whole lot of spice.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vivienne runs the hair salon down the street from Cafélicious. She meets Mason on an online blind dating service. They click, but after their date she finds out that Mason owns the dating service and is trying to find the perfect match. Vivienne was the first blind date he went on, but he wants to test his theory with other women. He can't seem to stay away from Vivienne, though. They become friends, and soon become more.

This is another one of the Hookup Café series novellas. I would rate it 3 stars. I have read the other books but you could also read this as a stand alone. I was asked by the author for an honest review.

[Stacy Aube · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received and voluntary reviewed a copy of this book. This book was read and reviewed by Stacy Aube for Cutting Muse Blog Review.

A match made from a blind date. Defiantly laced with spice. Saturday here I come.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another thoroughly enjoyable installment to the Hookup Cafe Series. All the books in this Series are great standalone but better read together as you get to continue with the awesome characters that you have already met and hear their stories of how they met their one and achieved a HEA.

This is the story of Vivienne and Mason. She owns the nearby beauty salon and he owns an online dating agency. That meet at the cafe after both being matched through his agency.

Reviewed for Amo and Sarah's Book Corner.

I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[Jules · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novella style, so let's keep this quick and simple.
Hot, slightly overbearing, yet nerdy hero takes charge of the no- nonesense Vivienne. Plenty of spice to keep ya going.
Quick, easy fun.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laced with Spice: Vivienne is looking for love on a dating website. She arranges to meet her date at Hookup Cafe, and things couldn't have gone better, that's until she meets her date for a second time and he tells her what he does for a living, and that they would not work out! Vivienne decides to make 'him' jealous to try and entice him back into her life. I have really enjoyed reading this series so far.

[Donna Purcell Zappone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friday is the fifth in the Cafelicious series. I'm a little sad that the week long cafe series is close to an end. These are all short series that follow one employee and their perspective mate.
This installment follows Vivienne when she meets her blind date Mason... what he doesn't know is her fellow employees are texting her his "specs" so she can tell he's not an axe murderer. All is well till he finds out......

[Nicki - The Overflowing Bookcase · Rating 4 out of 5]

The business of love

From a blind date and business partners to love and marriage. This story had it all. Vivienne and Mason started out as strangers, but in the end marriage bells were ringing. Another great story with lovable characters.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT! What a fun read! Fun banter with a whole lot of spice! Mason and Vivienne have confidence, charisma and sizzle. A must read!

[Kimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Laced with Spice Stars!!

I swear just when I though these alpha men couldn't get anymore alpha in walks Mr Mason! Vivienne is one la la lucky woman, that is once she finally get Mason to pull his head out of his ass and man up.

[Latifa Morrisette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friday: Laced With Spiced is book 5 in the Hookup Café series.
Not was ting to meet just anyone in the café, Vivienne signs up for an online dating service where she meets Mason. But when it comes to him, its more than meets the eye.
I love reading about this series. I think the concept of this series is genius and I wish I could find this café in real life.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review for Stephanie's Book Reports.

Friday: Laced With Spice is the fifth book in the Hookup Cafe Series from Fifi Flowers. Each book revolves around different characters from Cafelicious. They can be read as standalone's but are more fun read in order so you know all the characters better.

Vivienne is trying something different. She has used a website that sets up total blind dates. She has no idea about the guy that she is about to meet except that on the sight he was her perfect match. Thus beings the story of Vivienne and Mason. Of course she had this blind date meet her at Cafelicious and set up ways to know that he wasn't a total dud. She new when she saw the words Laced With Spice on her cell phone that her blind date Mason was sure to not be a dud.

I wasn't really crazy about this book. There were certain terms that Vivienne used that got on my nerves so bad. I am not a fan of the lusty nest and oooo la la. UGH. Other than that Mason and Vivienne's story was pretty cute but not my favorite in the series.