Imperfectly Delicious

Frame serves up a fluffy soufflé of rom-com tropes in her cute but formulaic sixth Imperfect romance (after Imperfect Strangers). Scarlett Jackson picked a spot for her New York City food truck, For Goodness Cakes, without realizing the block had already been claimed by Guy Chapman, the Gordon Ramseyesque star of the reality show Devil’s Kitchen. Guy plans to turn the whole block into a haute cuisine experience and wants Scarlett’s punny cupcakes gone. Their early run-ins end in disaster: Scarlett accidentally sets Guy on fire and gets stuck in an art installation that he must save her from. When it becomes clear that she and her truck are holding their ground, Guy declares war—and their escalating pranks end in the ruin of Scarlett’s first big wedding order. Guy offers to help bake new cupcakes, and in the process, he realizes that Scarlett’s a talented and business-savvy baker, while Scarlett learns that Guy’s profanity-laced perfectionism was made-for-TV. Though Scarlett’s acute case of clumsy rom-com heroine syndrome can be grating and Guy’s villainous ex-wife is frustratingly one-dimensional, the secondary characters add humor, and Guy’s charming, dapper assistant, Carson, steals every scene he’s in. The love story may be cookie-cutter, but it’s sure to satisfy the sweet tooth of romance-loving foodies. (Self-published)