Bake it with Love

by Luna Day

Friends can totally fake date for a reality show…right?

Sweet and good-natured Becca has bailed out her toxic sister for the last time. Now, she’s itching to start over in her dream city and expand her teashop. The only problem? Her bank account is virtually empty.

Grumpy professional baker Noah has never lived up to his family's old-fashioned standards. Going on Canada’s most popular reality show might be the opportunity he needs to finally prove his worth.

There’s just one snag: the show is for couples only. His giant crush on Becca makes the decision to fake a relationship with her the obvious choice, and the prize money is too tempting for Becca to pass up. They’re a perfect match.

As the challenges heat up, so does their relationship, leaving both to wonder if they’re really faking it or if their sizzling on-camera chemistry has real-life potential.

Are they destined to win the competition and each other’s hearts? Or will their lie be exposed on national television and threaten the very fabric of their friendship?

Genres: Romance

376 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication May 12, 2026

About the author

Luna was born in the Saskatchewan prairies and now lives with her husband and baby girl in Alberta. When she's not working full time, she can be found playing with her daughter, baking, spending time at the local farmers' market, and writing.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ✨ Thank you to NetGalley, Love Lit Press and Luna Day for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Holy moly, this was soooo syrupy sweet and utterly delicious!!!

Becca and Noah have been friends for two years, and Noah has been pining for her since day one. He enters them into a reality baking show where they will have to team up to win the grand prize. What’s the catch? Well, the teams are made up of couples. Cue fake dating hijinks!

Oh my lorddddd, this was so fun. Fake dating x friends-to-lovers x Great British Bake Off vibes?! Put it in my veins!!

Becca is a gorgeous little ray of sunshine who is burnt the fuck out on cleaning up her younger sister’s messes, and I loved getting to see her put herself first for once and let someone take care of her for a change. UGH!

Noah is a grumpy, yearning delight of a man (I’m a basic gal who loves a grump, sue me). His family dynamic is complicated, and it was so lovely seeing Becca bring him out of his own head.

The spice in this book was sooo much steamier than I was expecting - this is NOT a complaint, I ate up every last morsel. It was hot, the build up was perfect and wow does it pay off!

Please, please, please do yourself a favour and RUN to read this when it publishes. Especially if you, like me, are a sucker for fake dating/grumpy x sunshine/friends-to-lovers/a man with a filthy mouth ❤️‍🔥

[Krystin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fan of the Great British Bake Off show? Then this might be for you!

I love the show so I could see all the ways that the book took inspiration from it but with the fun added twist of making it a couples baking contest.

Noah and Becca were well developed characters, with just enough family drama backstory to have you rooting for them. The pacing was done really well and worked in the baking contest parameters so the romance didn’t come off as insta-love. The spice was for sure spicin’ in this one when Noah after dark entered the chat *sheesh*

All in all I really enjoyed this. It was cute and spicy and the baking contest portion was fun to read. My only issue was with some minor inconsistencies that stood out.

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing for this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

[Anastasia ｼ · Rating 5 out of 5]

╭ ✦ •
│ ⊹ 𝟺.𝟻 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙, 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐! ⊹
╰ ✦ •

“Bex,” he said with a sigh. “I’ve been wanting to call you my girlfriend since the second you bumped into me on the street two years ago.”

Luna Day has done it again!

I've been ARC reading books by Luna Day since her debut, Three Hearts Hideaway (an amazing why choose—which you should absolutely check out!). I love her writing style and ideas, and I can always count on her to deliver something heartwarming and spicy, and this was no exception!

I pretty much went into this blind, only knowing it was a fake dating/baking romance and that she had been teasing it since her Kiss and Make Love collection, though I haven't really been on Instagram to see all the posts promoting this one. I had hoped it was Georgia & Marco's story from the collection, but this was way different from what I expected. I've only read 1 other "reality TV" type romance book (Frost by C.N. Crawford; The Bachelor, but fae edition), I wasn't really sold on this trope, so I was a bit scared going into this. But Luna Day made this SOOO fun! I loved the bit of drama, the friendships the characters made, the cozy baking setting, and the baking challenges; it completely won me over.

────── ✧ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ♡ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ✧ ──────

I devoured Bake It with Love in just a couple of days, and honestly? I’m still thinking about it.

Becca and Noah have been best friends for just about two years, but Becca doesn’t know that Noah has been hopelessly in love with her for almost all of it. When Noah gets the chance to compete on Canada’s biggest couples-only baking show to prove himself to his family, who don't believe in him, he asks the one person he trusts most to fake date him: Becca. Five months after submitting the application, he fiiinally telld her about it... just a week before the competition, he was terrified she might say no. But of course she says yes! She's been desperate for a fresh start, away from her toxic sister, and the prize money would help her finally move to her dream city to expand her teashop. 

What could possibly go wrong?

Noah and Becca were amazing, well-developed characters, and their chemistry was off the charts!! I didn't expect kinky spice, but omg, the spice was spicing!! Honestly, the slow burn and buildup made every moment worth it; it was the perfect balance with everything that was happening! 

Noah’s pining? EXQUISITE. This man👏🏻👏🏻 Watching him try to keep it together while pretending their relationship wasn’t real had me internally screaming!! And what I loved most was how sweet and gentle he was with her. A cinna-grump with a soft center will get me every single time🥹

And Becca, I just adored her. Her character development was soo good; I loved seeing her grow. She finally chose herself and slowly realized she deserves more after all she's given.

The baking competition was fun! Honestly, I thought Becca and Noah worked so well together during all the high-stakes moments. There was so much tension, but also so many cozy, fun moments. It genuinely felt like watching a reality Baking/Cooking show unfold, except with the added bonus of knowing Noah was dying inside every time he had to pretend Becca wasn’t everything to him.

I also really enjoyed the bits of drama woven throughout the competition. Though...Sherry’s situation was kinda predictable; it added a lot of tension and made things entertaining. I will say the climax of the situation felt a little lacklustre, but I guess it didn’t take away from how much I loved the journey getting there.

Overall, Bake It with Love was a very sweeet, cozy, funny, and steamy read! I can't wait to read Luna's next book!

p.s. I can't wait to try the recipes at the back of the book🤭

────── ✧ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ♡ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ✧ ──────

⊹ 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽 ⊹

🩷fake dating
🧁forced proximity
🩷only one bed
🧁friends to lovers
🩷cinna-grump x sunshine
🧁reality tv (GBBO-inspired)
🩷slow burn
🧁a cat named jiji
🩷small business owner
🧁tea lover fmc
🩷Studio Ghibli references
🧁Canadian content
🩷recipes at the back of the book

Thank you for the ARC, Luna ♡

_________________________________
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[Ro Szymkowiak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this absolutely delicious book in one sitting, and for very good reason. I have always been a sucker for a fake dating trope, but this one takes the cake, pun intended. Becca and Noah’s chemistry is apparent from the beginning, and getting to see both sides of this budding romance was a total plus.

I love the couples baking show plot, such a good way to keep them in close proximity, and have all the cute fluffy moments leading up to the more spicy side of this adult romance. I love that Noah had been pining for so long, his desire for Becca being hidden behind such an innocent ask- to help him win this baking show, and split the prize money. I especially love that he wanted to follow her lead, never doing anything she might be uncomfortable with. A true grumpy gentleman.

Becca’s sunshiney kindness really balanced out the fake couple during their competition time, being the one to do most of the socializing. Her love of pink, passion for tea, and her kind and caring heart shine throughout the whole book. No wonder Noah is so helplessly head over heels for her!

The pacing felt perfect to me, not too last minute slow-burn and not too love-from-the-start. We get our spicy scenes exactly where they need to be, and boy did Luna Day treat us with those scenes. I found myself giggling and giving my roomies a play by play, and each scene I relayed earned their fair share of “oooooh”s.

Everything in this story resolved perfectly, the background characters had their own depth, and the representation was also just right. My first five star read this year. Gods know I can’t wait to have this book physically in my hands this May!

[Lolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, Thank you to NetGalley, Love Lit Press and Luna Day for the ARC!

Stars - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice - 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Recommend to a friend - Yes

Favourite bits;
MMC & FMC perspectives - i love a good change of chapter perspective between characters!
Becca's overall character - such a sweet and innocent soul!
Noah - What can you even say about Noah, the Hopeless Romantic that some girls yearn for!
Fake Dating Trope - PLEASE
Forced Proximity - YES
Room with one bed - We are here for it!

Can we just appreciate how good fake dating tropes are especially when he's been in love with her since they met?

I loved the entire set up of the story along side Great British Bake Off(GBBO) inspiration! and sectioning the story into the different challenge weeks like the show, i devoured this entirely as an avid fan of any baking show, especially GBBO!

I absolutely their character development and i loved how they worked together and truly fell deeper for each other, especially when Becca had no idea, i mean come on, even i'd fall for Noah without having seen him from this book! so innocent!

Every moment Becca had those little lightbulb moments about Noah, truly melted my heart!

The other character builds in this book were perfect too! no one was left out.

The spice...I have no words. Sheer perfection! without any spoilers, i was giddy and squealed at every moment!

I've not read any other books by Luna Day but i really enjoyed her writing style and everything about this book!

[saracosycorner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

I absolutely adored Bake It with Love by Luna Day!

I’m not usually the biggest fan of friends-to-lovers, but this book completely won me over. The concept alone was genius — a Canadian version of The Great British Bake Off but for couples? And they have to fake date to compete? I was hooked immediately. The week-to-week competition format made it so easy to binge, and it genuinely felt like watching a reality baking show unfold. The little illustrated touches throughout just added to that cozy, charming vibe.

Becca and Noah both had so much more depth than I expected. Becca’s journey of finally choosing herself after always cleaning up her toxic sister’s mess felt empowering and real. And Noah? The grumpy baker trying to prove himself to his traditional family while secretly being completely gone for Becca? I loved him. Their dynamic was sweet, funny, and full of tension in the best way.

And the spice?! I was not expecting it to be that steamy. The chemistry between them absolutely sizzled — it balanced perfectly with the emotional development and didn’t feel thrown in just for shock value. It made the transition from fake dating to something very real feel believable and intense.

This was cozy, romantic, funny, and unexpectedly hot. If you love reality show settings, grumpy/sunshine energy, and friends-to-lovers done right, this one is such a treat. 🍰💕

[Kaitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noah has had a crush on Becca for years, but hasn't acted on it out of fear of rejection. Noah secretly signs both of them up for a reality baking competition on television and now just has to convince Becca to say yes.

🩷 One Bed
🧁 Baking Competition
🩷 Friends To Lovers
🧁 Happily Ever After
🩷 Forced Proximity
🧁 Baker x Teashop Owners

What could possibly happen when there's only one bed and they are around each other 24/7 for the next few weeks? 😏

I will say the spice was amazing and exceeded my expectations! All of Noah's yearning definitely pays off. I think their chemistry together was great, but I do wish Noah would have just spoken up about his feelings rather than throwing a baking competion onto her knowing that it's for couples. So not only is she not a baker, but now she's forced to act like a fake couple with him. The competition itself was fun and I loved how many different things they baked. I always enjoy when books include recipes at the end of the book. Noah's espresso chocolate chip cookies sounded amazing, so I might have to give those a shot! Thank you to Netgalley, Love Lit Press, and Luna Day for an ARC of this book! 💖

[danie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my new favorite book. I am absolutely in love with everything about it. It had the perfect amount of fluff, drama, spice, everything was just *chef's kiss*. I already want to reread it, it's that good. The writing was excellent, the pacing was fantastic, the plot was intriguing and so immersive I could not put this book down if I tried. The characters were so well done, the villains were on point, and the the side characters weren't just half baked and thrown in, they all had a purpose and it was refreshing to see that. I highly recommend this one, it's so, so good and definitely a new favorite for me.

[Kendra The Book Gnome · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sugar and spice in Bake it with Love was perfect and this book had absolutely everything I was craving. Sweet and a bit indulgent, with a surprising depth of flavour, I know it has me begging for a second helping. Give me a fork full of this fake dating, friends to lovers, only one bed bed triple layer treat! Perfect for anyone who loves a good pastry week challenge where more than just the choux gets cream filled. Bake it with Love turns up the heat in the baking tent as Becca and Noah explore more than just some new recipes in this perfectly balanced story, that showcases vulnerability and what it can look like when you fall for a grumpy baker.

[Madeline Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun and spicy book. When I read the dedication I knew it was going to be something amazing and I really was. This has some amazing tropes such as friends to lovers, fake dating and forced proximity.

I adored Becca and Noah they are absolutely amazing characters with beautiful depth to them. Their relationship was amazing and they were definitely steamy together 🥵

I absolutely love GBBO so this being inspired by it was more than I could have imagined. I loved all the challenges and different bakes they made. And the drama was really quite enjoyable.

[Amy Gower · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
This was such a quick, delightful read! Super cute and fun, but with surprising depth—especially in the way Becca navigates the weight of her sister’s struggles. I loved the baking show element (I think I’ve unlocked a new microtrope obsession!), and the sweet, heartfelt moments balanced everything beautifully. Definitely recommend! The perfect sweet treat to sink your teeth into. 🍰✨