Bittersweet was one of those books which leaves you with warm fuzzies, it’s a book full with banter, fun, charming characters and mouth-watering cupcakes that you can’t help but smile your way through it.

Hudson was a talented skater, she had the raw talent, and drive to get really far, until on the night of her regionals at the empire games (view spoiler)[ she found a bra which didn’t belong to either her or her mum (hide spoiler)]. Her father always supported her through her skating career, brought her first pair of skates, paid for her training, gave her endless encouragement and was willing to huge sacrifices in order for her to get far such as selling up Hudson’ mum’s restaurant Hurley’s and moving if they had to. So this new discovery affected Hudson in a major way, her parents already had several cracks in their already problematic marriage and she didn’t want this and her skating to cause any further rifts, so she purposely decides to give up and messes up her big chance. Her life goes downhill from then on; her parents separate, she moves into a dingy small apartment with her mum and brother and are barely getting by with the takings from Hurley’s. That is until Hudson turns to making cupcakes and all of a sudden is known as the cupcake queen of Watonka. Baking cupcakes kind of saves Hudson and the rest of her family; it helps brings in more business to their restaurant, it enables them to ease the pain of their dad leaving, her passion for skating and cheers her little brother Bug up. But then Hudson gets an invitation to a skating competition (the Capriani cup), she gets the chance to compete again, right her mistakes she made when she gave up and if she wins she’ll get $50,000, so the perfect opportunity to finally leave Watonka, she doesn’t want to stay stuck in Watonka running her mum’s restaurant for the rest of her life. But first she needs to get a lot more skating time in, without her mum finding out, she doesn’t want her mum going through the heartache of remembering the memories of her dad. So she makes a deal with the school co-captains Will and Josh, in return for some practice time on the rink, she will act as a special techniques coach for them. Their form has been abysmal as of late (they haven’t won a game in ages or made it to a national competition in the last 20 years) so they’d both be helping each other out.

This book was so much fun; I could probably gush about it for a long time! Ockler created a bunch of characters which were so easy to fall in love with. Hudson, after everything she’d been through you just hoped that someone would cut her some slack (view spoiler)[ I was actually quite surprised by the end I thought the book would end in typical fashion with Hudson winning the cup, so I was quite surprised over her decisions (hide spoiler)]. This book didn’t fall short of swoon worthy guys, first there was Josh, and I was swooning over him throughout this book. There were the mixed messages between him and Hudson (view spoiler)[ and him not being able to admit his true feelings for Hudson; I thought that they would never end up together (hide spoiler)]. In a lot of ways he reminded me of Henry from Catching Jordan always defending Hudson from the rest of the guys on the hockey team, genuinely nice and (view spoiler)[ not having the courage to take the chance with Hudson, what is it with guys not being able to make the first move? (hide spoiler)]. As you all probably know I adored Henry and so this could be the reason I was drawn to Josh more than Will. Will, where do I start with him? he’s like the school hottie who has all the girls pining over him, is gorgeous, has the perfect physique and a deliciously sexy smile. Your body becomes acutely aware of when he’s around and just the briefest touch of him or a hint of his scent has your body humming. *sigh* see what I mean? Dreamy guys or what! And then there’s Bug; Hudson’s little brother, you couldn’t help but love him, he was so adorable, I loved his geeky sense of humour and the endless intelligent facts he used to spout.

I absolutely adored the hockey scenes, when the wolf pack were playing a game, but especially when Hudson was trying to train them. The majority of the boys were so full of themselves (except for Will or Josh) reckoning they didn’t need the help and especially from a girl! These scenes were so funny with everyone just goofing around and winding each other up. I loved the whole team spirit which ran through this group and the banter between the guys.

And not forgetting the cupcakes in this story, they were to die for! Whenever Hudson was baking I felt as if I was right there in Hurley’s restaurant with the aroma of cupcakes around me. Also the fact that each chapter started off with a scrumptious cupcake description, I was constantly craving cupcakes throughout the book;

“Vanilla cupcakes with crushed chocolate cookie crumbs
topped with bailey’s cream cheese frosting
and a light dusting of cocoa powder”

Overall Bittersweet is a feel good book, which will instantly bring a smile to your face. Ockler’s writing is beautiful and magnetic and pulls you into her world seamlessly.

If my review isn’t encouragement enough to pick up this book, then I’m sure these beautiful quotes will give you the extra push!

“When you’re out here alone, contemplating all the things
you didn’t do and the person you didn’t become… if you think
about it too long - if you stand here and consider the great
bleakness of it all – a hush seeps into the gray space, and the
wind will hollow at your bones, and the purest kind of loneliness
comes up from the inside to swallow you like an avalanche”

“I turn the speakers on low just in time for the opening chords
of “Bittersweet”. It’s kind of a sad song, slow and mellow and
haunted, none of that everything’s-gonna-be-all-right-fairy dust
crap they play on the radio these days, and that’s exactly what I
like about it. It tells the truth. Sometimes life rocks so hard your
heart wants to explode just because the sun came up and you got
to feel it on your face for one more day. Sometimes you get the
bitter end instead. Life is as gray and desolate as winter on the
lakeshore, and there’s no way around it, no cure, no escape”