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Once Burned, Twice Loved
It's the 2022 World's Best Baker competition and Elizabeth Sanders didn't expect to be competing against her ex again. Sean MacNamara had been her first love, they had even gone on to culinary school together. When disaster happened at the school internship contest they decided to go separate ways.
Eight years later, they are competing again. She now has a successful bakery and he's a celebrity in the baking world. Sean wants nothing more than Elizabeth's forgiveness but will another competition ruin his chances?
Eight years later, they are competing again. She now has a successful bakery and he's a celebrity in the baking world. Sean wants nothing more than Elizabeth's forgiveness but will another competition ruin his chances?
153 pages, Paperback
Published June 3, 2022
7 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 6, 2022
I absolutely had to have this book due to that adorable cover, and it didn’t disappoint—the cover is a great fit. This was a cute, quick read with lots to enjoy—I’ll recap as much of what I liked about it as I can recall.
💕 Reality TV vibe, mainly behind the scenes.
🥣 One sorta-pompous competitor I enjoyed being annoyed with.
💕 New friendships and competitors lifting each other up.
🥣 Lots of baking.
💕 FMC is from Florida, some of the book is set in FL.
🥣 Lots of bake-offs.
💕 Second-chance vibes.
🥣 Lead character is a small business owner, with real (plausible) money concerns.
💕 Lots of fun scenes - Karaoke, billiards and more.
Overall:
Fast-paced, fun read. Based on this, I’d absolutely read more from this author. It could use a pass by a proofreader, just a few minor things jumped out at me, such as “Disney Land” and a few minor punctuation issues, and what I think was the epilogue labeled as “prologue” … nothing that took away from the reader experience in any way.
4 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Would make a super fun audiobook as well.
💕 Reality TV vibe, mainly behind the scenes.
🥣 One sorta-pompous competitor I enjoyed being annoyed with.
💕 New friendships and competitors lifting each other up.
🥣 Lots of baking.
💕 FMC is from Florida, some of the book is set in FL.
🥣 Lots of bake-offs.
💕 Second-chance vibes.
🥣 Lead character is a small business owner, with real (plausible) money concerns.
💕 Lots of fun scenes - Karaoke, billiards and more.
Overall:
Fast-paced, fun read. Based on this, I’d absolutely read more from this author. It could use a pass by a proofreader, just a few minor things jumped out at me, such as “Disney Land” and a few minor punctuation issues, and what I think was the epilogue labeled as “prologue” … nothing that took away from the reader experience in any way.
4 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Would make a super fun audiobook as well.
January 3, 2023
Bland Read with Bland Leads
I was intrigue with the premise. Curiosity about what exactly it was that the hero did to cause an eight-year rift prompted me to power through this lackluster short story. After reading what the cause was, Id have to say Sean never recovered the good guy image that the author so blatantly tried to force. He even admitted himself that she was the better baker, and to have the result of the baking competition end the way that it did really was a bit insulting as a romance reader. Even the ending felt rushed, forced and incomplete. As if the author just ran out of ideas and wanted to finish the book already without a care about good writing and story development. Very disappointing read even of it was a short story.
I was intrigue with the premise. Curiosity about what exactly it was that the hero did to cause an eight-year rift prompted me to power through this lackluster short story. After reading what the cause was, Id have to say Sean never recovered the good guy image that the author so blatantly tried to force. He even admitted himself that she was the better baker, and to have the result of the baking competition end the way that it did really was a bit insulting as a romance reader. Even the ending felt rushed, forced and incomplete. As if the author just ran out of ideas and wanted to finish the book already without a care about good writing and story development. Very disappointing read even of it was a short story.
September 24, 2022
Sweet Second Chance Romance
Cute story with a typical plot, but I loved the ending. I loved all the side characters too. I was sad that it took them that long to move on from the hurt, especially since they had been besties for life. Six years is too long for best friends to go without talking.
Cute story with a typical plot, but I loved the ending. I loved all the side characters too. I was sad that it took them that long to move on from the hurt, especially since they had been besties for life. Six years is too long for best friends to go without talking.
November 6, 2022
Who doesn’t love a good baking show romance? The baking show was my favorite element of this book, throwing in the side character’s quirkiness made it even better. The plot was pretty typical for a second chance romance, but I still enjoyed this. The writing also felt a little amateur but overall, I thought this was a cute, quick read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
October 11, 2025
Once Burned, Twice Loved by C.K. O'Connor – This second chance romance during a covid era baking show was sweet as pie! Happy Reading!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews