Coincidence of Coconut Cake, The – A book review

The book description of The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy Reichert has “You’ve Got Mail meets How to Eat a Cupcake” on it and that had an influence on my choice to pick this one. Let’s see if this book fulfills its promise.

Have you read The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy Reichert? What other books will you recommend that talks so much of food that you end up hungry? Let us talk. Share on X

About the book

Coincidence of Coconut Cake book cover

Book Name: The Coincidence of Coconut Cake

Author: Amy Reichert

Genre: Fiction – Romance

Characters: Elizabeth “Lou” Johnson, Al Waters, Devlin, Harley, Sue

Setting: Milwaukee, WisconsinThe USA

The plot

Elizabeth “Lou” Johnson is a chef and owner of a French restaurant and has everything going on in her life. She is engaged to be married to a handsome, ambitious man, Devlin and she is excited for her birthday surprise.

But nothing goes right for her on a day that was supposed to be brimming with promise.

She walks in on her boyfriend with an intern and worse, a well respected food critic trashes her restaurant causing a huge blow to her business.

Al hates being Milwaukee and misses his family and just being in Britain. He is waiting to move on to the next job as he works as a columnist in a local newspaper. Until he meets a colorful, optimistic woman at a coffee shop, who smells of vanilla, coconut cake and bacon.

How does Al realize his blunder? Does she ever get to know that Al was the one who wrecked her business into pieces with his review? The answers form the rest of the plot in The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy Reichert.

My initial thoughts

As I picked The Coincidence of Coconut Cake, I knew I was in for a light hearted romance but I was not prepared to be overpowered by so many different food and desserts. Yes, serves me right for not reading the reviews. But hey, I am not complaining. I loved the onslaught of smells and flavors of food.

Lou and Al were likeable and so were the older couple living in their neighborhood. I always have a thing for the romance between the matured and young at heart characters and The Coincidence of Coconut Cake did a number on my heart. Not saying anything more, cuz spoilers!

The book stands as an ode for the author’s love for Milwaukee, without making it sound like a travelogue. I loved Al’s review process and how serious he took his job. He reminded me of someone else you know. wink wink

What worked for me

  • The book is filled with food and smells and flavors. Beware it might make you hungry, like it did for me.
  • The characters are sweet and adorable and well written.
  • If you are planning to or are from Milwaukee, you are in for a special treat. The author loves the city and she ensures we get a chance to know it

What may have been better

  • The plot is fairly predictable and runs on a tried and tested formula for rom-com books and movies.

Bottom line

Sure The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy Reichert is fairly predictable and fluffy, but it is heartwarming and delightful too. It is definitely perfect if you want to pick a light entertainment.

Pin me!

Coincidence of Coconut Cake book cover

Let’s chat

Have you read The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy Reichert? What other books will you recommend that talks so much of food that you end up hungry? How much weight do you give to descriptions like “Hunger games meets vampire dairies”? Let us talk.

12 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *