Rise: Men of Hidden Creek Season 4 Book 5, J Hayden Bailey

Hidden Creek has a way of bringing unlikely pairs together and making it stick.  Todd and Charlie seem like complete opposites, but their love of baking and their insecurities are two things that unite them.  This was a sweet story that had some great moments and a public shaming that's well-deserved.  And with all the sweetness you can handle, Todd and Charlie are another nice addition to the Hidden Creek family.

Baking definitely rules this story.  It was all the detail and explaining so much of the process, flavor combinations, and dough lamination that dragged the story out far too long in many places.  It fit, but it was just too much.  Some of it was repetition and very little of those descriptions actually added to the story or the enjoyment of their competition.  It pulled focus from the couple that mattered.  Baking also played a huge role in the fairy godmother solution that solved every problem for their relationship, location difficulties, professional situation, and story wrap-up.  It was nice, but it was far too simple for just how many things it covered.

Todd and Charlie together were sometimes sweet, sometimes frustrating.  They both really had insecurities and with Todd they came out with his constant second-guessing and doubting and emotional lows in response to Charlie's actions and he came across as very juvenile.  Feelings and reactions that I would expect from a high school kid rather than a grown man with his life experiences were jarring to the more confident man we caught mere glimpses of.

For Charlie it was almost a Jekyll/Hyde situation where he was painfully insecure in some moments and then a fierce mama bear in others.  Both sides spoke to his upbringing but there was no real evolution there either, just a short phone conversation that was supposed to show his new backbone to the man who pretty much destroyed his self-confidence up to this point.  His new-found strength wasn't fully believable and seemed far too quickly achieved considering all the upheaval his life had gone through.

One thing that also bothered me was the insistence that they couldn't wait a week to pursue something.  And really, it wasn't even a full week either.  Where there could have been a gradual build of respect, admiration, appreciation, etc. it was a constant push/pull with a demand for immediate emotional answers to their attraction, relationship status, romantic secrecy, and competition rules.  The conflict between them could have had a better balance between the relationship and the competition.

But the sweet moments were so fantastically tender and adorable that it nearly makes up for the more frustrating parts.  I really enjoyed when they were open about their feelings and desires.  The moments when Charlie stood up for others were pretty powerful because he was able to say things that were so truthful, so righteous, and they were also all the things that should have been said in his defense.  If there had been a bit of internalization of his moments of strength where he saw that he could be his own champion I would have been so incredibly pleased.  Ending the story where it did was a little rushed in terms of timeline, but very perfect for the Todd and Charlie and fit with the happy feeling of the overall story.

*$3.99 on Amazon

“You’re the sweetest thing at the Fair.”

After leaving the military, Todd Hudson has avoided putting down roots, living with his best friends in Hidden Creek. Entering the Summer Fair baking contest sounds like a sweet time. The cute guy he takes home the night before the competition runs away, but he hasn’t seen the last of him.

Charlie Deacon never puts himself first—in bed, at work, or in life. His rescue dog, Geri, is his only company at home. Pressured to enter the baking contest, he doesn’t expect to find the hunk he regrets ditching. The competition forbids fraternizing, but their bubbling feelings are rising to the surface.

Charlie and Todd couldn’t be more opposite, and they fit together like chocolate and caramel… but they only have a week together. When Charlie’s bullying father and Todd’s career call, can they make it work when the Fair packs up for the year?