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Welcome to Sea Port #1
From Scratch
Sea Port is a tiny southern town on the verge of collapse looking to entice people to move to the middle of nowhere and start life anew.
Mary Woods, stinging from her life as a failed academic, takes the opportunity by the reins and resettles in Sea Port to try her hand as a small town baker. A few days before the opening of her shop, Confections by Mary, she runs into small town cop, Miguel Santos, and small town fire chief, Billy Knox and there's a whole lot of chemistry to go around.
Welcome to Sea Port, where the town baker, cop and fire chief fall heavily in lust.
Mary Woods, stinging from her life as a failed academic, takes the opportunity by the reins and resettles in Sea Port to try her hand as a small town baker. A few days before the opening of her shop, Confections by Mary, she runs into small town cop, Miguel Santos, and small town fire chief, Billy Knox and there's a whole lot of chemistry to go around.
Welcome to Sea Port, where the town baker, cop and fire chief fall heavily in lust.
221 pages, ebook
First published December 18, 2017
78 people are currently reading
900 people want to read
About the author
Katrina Jackson
53 books727 followersKatrina is a seasoned spinster with an active imagination, a love of romcoms and a keenly critical nature. She's a college professor by day who writes romances by...weekend. Right now she also happens to be on summer vacation. She enjoys yogurt, sparkling water and her three cats, who don't appreciate her love.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews
December 6, 2020
This was cute! A solid read. 3.5 Stars
From Scratch is only the second time that I've read a romance that features a polyamourous relationship and I must admit that Jackson did it well. Not only did I enjoy reading about a plus sized Black woman who owned her own business, but she was also unapologetic about her attraction to two men (one was a firefighter and the other was a police officer). This is also one of the few times that I read a book that took place in a small town setting. I was surprised about how much I enjoyed the idea of reading a book about a close knit community. I will forewarn that this book does contain a pretty instantaneous attraction between the main characters. While that doesn't necessarily bother me, I know that some people may not enjoy that. Nevertheless, I found the connection between the three to be done really well. And there was great queer representation. While Mary is figuring out how to manage her feelings and attraction to two men, Know and Santos attempt to figure out their attraction to each other.
There were a few things that I think could have been done better. This book is extremely info-dumpy. I completely understand Jackson's intentions in having us understanding the background of her characters especially when their pasts are so vital to understanding how they function in the relationship; however, it became too much in some parts. In fact, it slowed the story down in certain areas. I think there could have been a more effective way to work on her character development. With that being said, I think a closer read and another edit of this story would have worked to Jackson's benefit. Another issue I had with this story was with the ending. I'm not if it was me, but it felt a little unwarranted. There was no build up to the conflict so it appears as though it was thrown in for the sake of creating conflict. I with that this would have been planned out in a more effective manner.
Overall, I did enjoy this story. I found the characters to be interesting. I loved the plus sized representation and the queer rep as well as the normalizing of a polyamourous relationship that worked based on effective communication. I'm looking forward to continuing the rest of the series.
From Scratch is only the second time that I've read a romance that features a polyamourous relationship and I must admit that Jackson did it well. Not only did I enjoy reading about a plus sized Black woman who owned her own business, but she was also unapologetic about her attraction to two men (one was a firefighter and the other was a police officer). This is also one of the few times that I read a book that took place in a small town setting. I was surprised about how much I enjoyed the idea of reading a book about a close knit community. I will forewarn that this book does contain a pretty instantaneous attraction between the main characters. While that doesn't necessarily bother me, I know that some people may not enjoy that. Nevertheless, I found the connection between the three to be done really well. And there was great queer representation. While Mary is figuring out how to manage her feelings and attraction to two men, Know and Santos attempt to figure out their attraction to each other.
There were a few things that I think could have been done better. This book is extremely info-dumpy. I completely understand Jackson's intentions in having us understanding the background of her characters especially when their pasts are so vital to understanding how they function in the relationship; however, it became too much in some parts. In fact, it slowed the story down in certain areas. I think there could have been a more effective way to work on her character development. With that being said, I think a closer read and another edit of this story would have worked to Jackson's benefit. Another issue I had with this story was with the ending. I'm not if it was me, but it felt a little unwarranted. There was no build up to the conflict so it appears as though it was thrown in for the sake of creating conflict. I with that this would have been planned out in a more effective manner.
Overall, I did enjoy this story. I found the characters to be interesting. I loved the plus sized representation and the queer rep as well as the normalizing of a polyamourous relationship that worked based on effective communication. I'm looking forward to continuing the rest of the series.
February 16, 2019
This is a story about a plus sized black woman who opens a bakery in a small town leaving her life as a professor in the big city behind. In her new home she meets the fire chief and the chief of police, two men of color who have been friends for years. After meeting our leading lady they each want to pursue her and our female protag enlightens them to the fact that they like each other as well as her. Here begins the polyamorous relationship.
Now I thought this was a fun concept and i love that this author gave us the opportunity to read about a beautiful, confident, fat black woman being loved up on by two gorgeous men of color (one is black and the other latinx). As well as both our leading men being bisexual! The representation in this was lovely. My issue is that this felt like a rough draft of a story rather than an actual book/novella. The pacing was off, the info dumps on all the characters, the poor development of the characters and the rapid development of the romance all led the story to feel like it was in the beginning stages of being written.
Further more the climatic drama was so...rushed and frankly ridiculous. It added almost nothing to the story and took precious time away from building up these characters and their relationship properly. So as a result this story ended up feeling simply like porn with a plot. Which was good and sexy but a story with potential like this deserved a little bit more time and attention.
Pros
-Bi rep!
-Fat rep!
-Healthy polyamorous relationship
-All the main characters are poc (black and latinx)
-The steamy scenes are fantastic!
-Fun to read
-Fluffy story with lots of food descriptions to make you hunger for baked goods 😂
Cons
-Shoddy character development
-Info dumps
-Pacing issues
-This also may have needed another round of edits
-The big conflict in this book felt strange and like it came out of nowhere, it came much too late in the story and it added nothing.
Now I thought this was a fun concept and i love that this author gave us the opportunity to read about a beautiful, confident, fat black woman being loved up on by two gorgeous men of color (one is black and the other latinx). As well as both our leading men being bisexual! The representation in this was lovely. My issue is that this felt like a rough draft of a story rather than an actual book/novella. The pacing was off, the info dumps on all the characters, the poor development of the characters and the rapid development of the romance all led the story to feel like it was in the beginning stages of being written.
Further more the climatic drama was so...rushed and frankly ridiculous. It added almost nothing to the story and took precious time away from building up these characters and their relationship properly. So as a result this story ended up feeling simply like porn with a plot. Which was good and sexy but a story with potential like this deserved a little bit more time and attention.
Pros
-Bi rep!
-Fat rep!
-Healthy polyamorous relationship
-All the main characters are poc (black and latinx)
-The steamy scenes are fantastic!
-Fun to read
-Fluffy story with lots of food descriptions to make you hunger for baked goods 😂
Cons
-Shoddy character development
-Info dumps
-Pacing issues
-This also may have needed another round of edits
-The big conflict in this book felt strange and like it came out of nowhere, it came much too late in the story and it added nothing.
May 17, 2018
I am so in love with this book but I won't tire you out by making you read 20,000 words. Let's do some bullet points:
-the diversity is so good and like felt casual as heck. I love black writers who are so talented into putting in both social commentary and fluff in a book.
-heroine is: fat, black (dark skinned too, yay for melanin), a baker and an ex-professor of literature. There is nothing about Mary that I don't adore. Including how she came to her own power in the process of the book. She is so strong and she has experienced some real loneliness that made her fight for the comfort she got with Santos and Knox.
-Knox, hero #1, is black, bisexual (in page!) and has experienced a shitty childhood by negligent parents which only made him more loving, caring and amazing to his best friend and to Mary. He's the one that'll make you smile, for sure.
-Santos is Mexican-American and is confirmed pansexual by the author here. Santos is practically in love with his best friend Knox and when Mary enters their life, he finds the trio to be the source of comfort. He's quiet and might come off as stern but he's the caretaker of the trio.
This book has such good social commentary on cops and the police, on misogyny by a gay man directed at Mary, on friendship (Mary's girl friends all deserve their own HEA) and on how the three found their own way of working their polyamory relationship.
Some people have asked some questions and it's third person, all three have points of views, and yes Knox and Santos are as into each other as they are into Mary. You could label this as friends-to-lovers, small town romance.
It was short, pure, fluffy, filthy, emotional, healing and amazing. Please read it.
-the diversity is so good and like felt casual as heck. I love black writers who are so talented into putting in both social commentary and fluff in a book.
-heroine is: fat, black (dark skinned too, yay for melanin), a baker and an ex-professor of literature. There is nothing about Mary that I don't adore. Including how she came to her own power in the process of the book. She is so strong and she has experienced some real loneliness that made her fight for the comfort she got with Santos and Knox.
-Knox, hero #1, is black, bisexual (in page!) and has experienced a shitty childhood by negligent parents which only made him more loving, caring and amazing to his best friend and to Mary. He's the one that'll make you smile, for sure.
-Santos is Mexican-American and is confirmed pansexual by the author here. Santos is practically in love with his best friend Knox and when Mary enters their life, he finds the trio to be the source of comfort. He's quiet and might come off as stern but he's the caretaker of the trio.
This book has such good social commentary on cops and the police, on misogyny by a gay man directed at Mary, on friendship (Mary's girl friends all deserve their own HEA) and on how the three found their own way of working their polyamory relationship.
Some people have asked some questions and it's third person, all three have points of views, and yes Knox and Santos are as into each other as they are into Mary. You could label this as friends-to-lovers, small town romance.
It was short, pure, fluffy, filthy, emotional, healing and amazing. Please read it.
January 27, 2019
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
*I was sent an e-copy of this book in exchange of an honest review*
CW: explicit sex scenes, mentions of molestation and domestic abuse.
Full review originally posted on my blog: Word Wonders
Guess who is a dumbass and forgot to get a quote out of the book while reading it yet again? ME! This is literally the story of my life when I get sucked into a book, I get carried away and forget about everything but READ READ READ!! Ah well, this isn’t a bad thing, it just goes to show how addicting and fun this story actually is.
The writing in this one is pretty good, it’s simple but also lively, the main characters’ voices shine through every and each one of the POVs and the author did a great job at separating them and giving them each a distinct personality that show through the narration. The one issue I had with it though is NOT a style issue, which as we’ve established, I actually enjoyed very much. It was an editing issue, and listen, I’m not too fussy about editing especially when it comes to self-published and indie books because they don’t have the same resources, but when there are so many typos and errors that it starts bugging me, I have to bring it up. It read very raw and unpolished and that bummed me out a bit.
My favourite part of the book is Mary, HANDS DOWN, she’s such a strong, fierce and confident woman. She uprooted her whole life in Academia as a professor because it made her miserable and decided to move to a small town in the middle of nowhere to open a little bakery and finally be happy and that’s something I admire so much. I loved how the message of the book was that it’s never too late to decide that your career path isn’t working for you and decide to change it for something that really brings you joy. Another thing I appreciated is how in control she was, she’s the one who approached the guys and suggested they all should date each other, including Santos and Knox (with each other) because she could see how in love with each other these two disasters were before they even did. She’s flirty, straight forward and goes after the things she wants.
Santos is pansexual (confirmed by the author), he’s stern and grumpy but so soft, he’s also direct and blunt, which works in his favor more often than not. He loves taking care of both Mary and Knox and he gives me all the warm fuzzy feelings. He’s level-headed and makes sure they don’t get carried away and actually take care of themselves and one another. Then we have Knox, he’s bisexual (in text) and the exact opposite of Santos. He’s like a ray of sunshine, outgoing and quick to laugh, that being said, he has a lot of baggage and I really appreciated how his trauma wasn’t a mystery or a source of conflict but it just *was*. It impacted him and shaped him as a person but it didn’t get the best of him.
There’s no way around it, this is SMUTTY AF, hella hot and sexy and I was 100% here for it. The tension between all three of them was so palpable and the chemistry so well done, I couldn’t help but cheer for them start to finish. The romance felt like the next natural step in Santos and Knox’s relationship and Mary was the missing piece, she fit right in to make it work out. They all communicate so much with each other and the banter and relentless teasing made me grin like the biggest fool. They just work so well.
Can we just appreciate how the conflict was external and they had to work TOGETHER to solve it? That being said, I felt like it was very rushed, I wish it was introduced earlier in the story and we had time to care about it enough before it got its resolution. Another thing that felt VERY rushed to me is the beginning. I think that it would’ve worked better if there was some build up to three of them getting together, because the first thing Mary basically said to them after she met them is that she wants to be with both of them at the same time, they could’ve been serial killers for all she knows. Oops.
A couple things that are worth mentioning before I wrap this review up, is the excellent discussion of police corruption, considering how Santos joins the police force and is very reluctant to do so at first because of how corrupt the system is. The other -very unrelated to my last point- thing that I want to mention is Mary’s best friends, THEY’RE SO GREAT AND SUPPORTIVE! We only got glimpses of them through phone conversations but I could already tell their separate personalities apart and I say they all need their HEA.
*I was sent an e-copy of this book in exchange of an honest review*
CW: explicit sex scenes, mentions of molestation and domestic abuse.
Full review originally posted on my blog: Word Wonders
Guess who is a dumbass and forgot to get a quote out of the book while reading it yet again? ME! This is literally the story of my life when I get sucked into a book, I get carried away and forget about everything but READ READ READ!! Ah well, this isn’t a bad thing, it just goes to show how addicting and fun this story actually is.
The writing in this one is pretty good, it’s simple but also lively, the main characters’ voices shine through every and each one of the POVs and the author did a great job at separating them and giving them each a distinct personality that show through the narration. The one issue I had with it though is NOT a style issue, which as we’ve established, I actually enjoyed very much. It was an editing issue, and listen, I’m not too fussy about editing especially when it comes to self-published and indie books because they don’t have the same resources, but when there are so many typos and errors that it starts bugging me, I have to bring it up. It read very raw and unpolished and that bummed me out a bit.
My favourite part of the book is Mary, HANDS DOWN, she’s such a strong, fierce and confident woman. She uprooted her whole life in Academia as a professor because it made her miserable and decided to move to a small town in the middle of nowhere to open a little bakery and finally be happy and that’s something I admire so much. I loved how the message of the book was that it’s never too late to decide that your career path isn’t working for you and decide to change it for something that really brings you joy. Another thing I appreciated is how in control she was, she’s the one who approached the guys and suggested they all should date each other, including Santos and Knox (with each other) because she could see how in love with each other these two disasters were before they even did. She’s flirty, straight forward and goes after the things she wants.
Santos is pansexual (confirmed by the author), he’s stern and grumpy but so soft, he’s also direct and blunt, which works in his favor more often than not. He loves taking care of both Mary and Knox and he gives me all the warm fuzzy feelings. He’s level-headed and makes sure they don’t get carried away and actually take care of themselves and one another. Then we have Knox, he’s bisexual (in text) and the exact opposite of Santos. He’s like a ray of sunshine, outgoing and quick to laugh, that being said, he has a lot of baggage and I really appreciated how his trauma wasn’t a mystery or a source of conflict but it just *was*. It impacted him and shaped him as a person but it didn’t get the best of him.
There’s no way around it, this is SMUTTY AF, hella hot and sexy and I was 100% here for it. The tension between all three of them was so palpable and the chemistry so well done, I couldn’t help but cheer for them start to finish. The romance felt like the next natural step in Santos and Knox’s relationship and Mary was the missing piece, she fit right in to make it work out. They all communicate so much with each other and the banter and relentless teasing made me grin like the biggest fool. They just work so well.
Can we just appreciate how the conflict was external and they had to work TOGETHER to solve it? That being said, I felt like it was very rushed, I wish it was introduced earlier in the story and we had time to care about it enough before it got its resolution. Another thing that felt VERY rushed to me is the beginning. I think that it would’ve worked better if there was some build up to three of them getting together, because the first thing Mary basically said to them after she met them is that she wants to be with both of them at the same time, they could’ve been serial killers for all she knows. Oops.
A couple things that are worth mentioning before I wrap this review up, is the excellent discussion of police corruption, considering how Santos joins the police force and is very reluctant to do so at first because of how corrupt the system is. The other -very unrelated to my last point- thing that I want to mention is Mary’s best friends, THEY’RE SO GREAT AND SUPPORTIVE! We only got glimpses of them through phone conversations but I could already tell their separate personalities apart and I say they all need their HEA.
May 26, 2018
3/5
I scooped this up after it was recommended to me on twitter and didn't even realise this was about a throuple until I was just about to start reading it. I've never read a book with a throuple before, so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but this was a short, sweet, sexy and fun romance with a M/M/F throuple who are all into each other.
Since this was kind of short, I was worried this would lack the development I wanted to see, and unfortunately I was right. The first 3 chapters were all info dumps about the 3 main characters and how they got to be in Sea Port. Beyond this and some other small parts of the rest of the book, I didn't really get to know the characters very well. They all certainly had chemistry, and Knox and Santos already knew each other, but I still would've liked to have seen them get to know each other even more (especially before saying they love each other).
There wasn't much of a plot, but the drama thrown in at the end was rushed and (imo) unneeded. It lasted maybe 3-4 chapters and I just don't really see the point of it? I will say that although I wasn't a fan of this drama tacked on at the end, I'm glad that for once it was an outside influence on the relationship and not drama cause over miscommunication, etc.
My only other issue with the book is the lack of editing. Usually I can move past a few mistakes, but the grammar in the first part of this book was really, really bad. There were commas and words missing, and I had to reread some paragraphs 3 times to understand what was actually being said. Further, a question ends in a question mark! I speak questions in different tones than statements, and therefore I read them differently as well. Sometimes I had to reread over parts when I realised some sentences were questions rather than statements because question marks were not used properly.
Overall, this was a short, fun novella, but I personally think it could have used some more character/relationship development and some more editing.
I scooped this up after it was recommended to me on twitter and didn't even realise this was about a throuple until I was just about to start reading it. I've never read a book with a throuple before, so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but this was a short, sweet, sexy and fun romance with a M/M/F throuple who are all into each other.
Since this was kind of short, I was worried this would lack the development I wanted to see, and unfortunately I was right. The first 3 chapters were all info dumps about the 3 main characters and how they got to be in Sea Port. Beyond this and some other small parts of the rest of the book, I didn't really get to know the characters very well. They all certainly had chemistry, and Knox and Santos already knew each other, but I still would've liked to have seen them get to know each other even more (especially before saying they love each other).
There wasn't much of a plot, but the drama thrown in at the end was rushed and (imo) unneeded. It lasted maybe 3-4 chapters and I just don't really see the point of it? I will say that although I wasn't a fan of this drama tacked on at the end, I'm glad that for once it was an outside influence on the relationship and not drama cause over miscommunication, etc.
My only other issue with the book is the lack of editing. Usually I can move past a few mistakes, but the grammar in the first part of this book was really, really bad. There were commas and words missing, and I had to reread some paragraphs 3 times to understand what was actually being said. Further, a question ends in a question mark! I speak questions in different tones than statements, and therefore I read them differently as well. Sometimes I had to reread over parts when I realised some sentences were questions rather than statements because question marks were not used properly.
Overall, this was a short, fun novella, but I personally think it could have used some more character/relationship development and some more editing.
April 16, 2018
4.3 Stars
OMG I loved this. Yes, things moved really fast but you know, with the way Mary was honest with herself in admitting what she wanted (and telling both Knox and Santos) it kinda made sense. She didn't have the time or energy to fart around, to play coy or whatnot. So she went for it. And the guys were mature, friendly, in touch with their own sexualities...I kinda adored that they were such good friends, cared for each other so much, that it didn't really hit them that there could be something more to their feelings.
Seriously, if you're looking for a good, funny, sexy MMF story...this is it. The Unicorn has been found!!! Also, can I get a HELL YEAH for that cover?
I do have to say that I found it both odd and refreshingly honest that the
Thank you, Cat Sebastian, for putting this one on my radar!!
OMG I loved this. Yes, things moved really fast but you know, with the way Mary was honest with herself in admitting what she wanted (and telling both Knox and Santos) it kinda made sense. She didn't have the time or energy to fart around, to play coy or whatnot. So she went for it. And the guys were mature, friendly, in touch with their own sexualities...I kinda adored that they were such good friends, cared for each other so much, that it didn't really hit them that there could be something more to their feelings.
Seriously, if you're looking for a good, funny, sexy MMF story...this is it. The Unicorn has been found!!! Also, can I get a HELL YEAH for that cover?
I do have to say that I found it both odd and refreshingly honest that the
Thank you, Cat Sebastian, for putting this one on my radar!!
June 24, 2020
A lovely & steamy, queer & polyamorous romance with rad POC leads set in a cozy small town setting! Delicious and delightful fluff!
Read
July 31, 2018I found this contemporary m/m/f polyamorous erotic romance utterly delightful! It has so many things I love, all together in one fluffy package: a lovely meet-cute, a really sweet friends to lovers arc, humor, heat, heart, baked goods, queerness, excellent friendships, polyamory, stellar fat representation. I laughed out loud more times than I could count, and fell really hard for all three of the main characters; the moments when they were sweet to each other were just so swoony.
Read my full review on my blog.
Content Warnings
Read my full review on my blog.
Content Warnings
December 14, 2018
I love a good triad romance, especially one that's so comfortably queer. This one in particular is a really lovely and sexy romantic fantasy. It mentions some heavier topics (due other things happening in my life on the day I read it, those things were more significant for me than they might have been otherwise, and I think this made the book even more compelling), but the story itself is incredibly hopeful and optimistic. Right now I am really into books about people recognizing and claiming the happiness they deserve, and this book falls squarely into this category.
May 26, 2023
From Scratch
Welcome to Seaport, Book 1
I Picked Up This Book Because: I cannot remember. It’s been on my TBR for a while and I decided to finally pick it up.
Media Type: eBook
Source: KindleUnlimited
Dates Read: 5/8/23 - 5/21/23
Stars: 4
Narrator(s):
The Characters:
Mary Woods:
Miguel Santos:
Billy Knox:
Various residents of seaport
The Story:
Mary has upended her stable life in the academic world to move to a new town and start a bakery of her own. little did she know this move would change not only her profession but her love life in ways she never imagined. There was a lot to unpack in these few pages, but the author did it well and I love Mary's story.
The Random Thoughts:
Welcome to Seaport, Book 1
I Picked Up This Book Because: I cannot remember. It’s been on my TBR for a while and I decided to finally pick it up.
Media Type: eBook
Source: KindleUnlimited
Dates Read: 5/8/23 - 5/21/23
Stars: 4
Narrator(s):
The Characters:
Mary Woods:
Miguel Santos:
Billy Knox:
Various residents of seaport
The Story:
Mary has upended her stable life in the academic world to move to a new town and start a bakery of her own. little did she know this move would change not only her profession but her love life in ways she never imagined. There was a lot to unpack in these few pages, but the author did it well and I love Mary's story.
The Random Thoughts:
May 10, 2022
2.5⭐️
Why a man of color heard the police force in the town he lives in was corrupt when mentioning he was thinking of joining and still joined anyways is beyond me and a weirdly ridiculous throwaway moment for the author to put in.
But anyways…
Mary, at times, is weirdly omnipotent but that got pretty easy to block out over time and just accept. The chemistry and relationship between Knox and Santos was very interesting.
A bit insta-lovey and the big conflict was super bizarre.
It was overall ok.
CW: explicit sexual content, brief reference to corrupt police, brief references to parental abuse + abandonment, homophobia (brief)
Why a man of color heard the police force in the town he lives in was corrupt when mentioning he was thinking of joining and still joined anyways is beyond me and a weirdly ridiculous throwaway moment for the author to put in.
But anyways…
Mary, at times, is weirdly omnipotent but that got pretty easy to block out over time and just accept. The chemistry and relationship between Knox and Santos was very interesting.
A bit insta-lovey and the big conflict was super bizarre.
It was overall ok.
CW: explicit sexual content, brief reference to corrupt police, brief references to parental abuse + abandonment, homophobia (brief)
September 15, 2021
Mary had long since accepted that her life was not a romcom, or a straight romance. It was a pure, unadulterated, comedy, a farce to be exact.
This was sweet, for sure, but I don't really feel too strongly about it. I love reading poly romance, but this went by so quickly I can't really call it satisfying. It's definitely tropey in all the right ways (professor quits her job, moves to a small town to become a baker, shacks up with the local police chief and fire chief, men who've been friends for years) but I wanted more. When I read a romance novella, I'm prepared for insta-love or insta-lust, but the speed at which this relationship moved was super fast, even keeping that in mind. Which was all well and good, because their chemistry was absolutely everything and they had fun banter and I was really rooting for them, but the way we sprinted to declarations of love did nothing for me. The conflict came literally out of nowhere. We don't learn anything about our characters' pasts organically; everything is just dumped on us in blocks of text. The prose has a very casual, almost conversational style, and it didn't exactly not work? But I'm not sure how much I liked it. It might just be a case of me needing to get used to it; this is my first work by this author. But I really came out of this feeling like we only had a very superficial understanding of the characters (even considering that this is a novella!) and caring more about the concept of this throuple rather than the relationship itself.
But, I mean, I did really like all of our characters, and this was sexy as heck. The main character is fat and black and thriving and I was always cheering for her. The humour didn't always work for me, but when it did, it was pretty amusing. A lot of my issues with this would probably be cleared up with more thorough editing (this is just a nitpick, but there were so many questions in dialogue where a question mark wasn't actually used, and it was driving me up a wall, haha). I've been meaning to try this author for a while, and I'm glad I did! I'll definitely try at least one more book in this series.
Content warnings: .
November 14, 2018
This is a novella with alot of elements that I adored, great diversity in characters, a great setup for a town and some delicious MMF action. The only reason I’m not rating this higher is that there was so much stuff to unpack, and too much exposition that didn't flow that well, especially to set up each character and the town. It was a full length novel’s worth of backstory, jam packed into novella length and the resulting story is a bit choppy. I would be interested in exploring more by this author though, so if you love MMF, you may enjoy this.
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June 1, 2020
This was a cute read! Fairly low conflict and a great option if you want to read about a polyamorous relationship in a small town. It’s a baker, cop, and a fire chief, all of whom are POC! (It's a little odd to read a cop hero right now in light of current events but at least Miguel specifically picked a town that has no history of police brutality or corruption and he's a person of color himself.) I really wish I could go to Mary’s bakery because it sounded amazing. I also loved her cat.
CW: references to domestic violence and child abuse in the line of work, heroes are both former Marines, Knox’s parents were addicts and abusive, sexism, homophobic discrimination (countered)
CW: references to domestic violence and child abuse in the line of work, heroes are both former Marines, Knox’s parents were addicts and abusive, sexism, homophobic discrimination (countered)
March 9, 2021
I accidentally read the holiday novella sequel - Her Christmas Cookie - first, and so I’d already met Mary, Santos and Knox before this. I came back to their origin story anticipating something soft and hot, which is exactly what I got. We meet Mary, a burnt out academic, when she moves to Sea Port, a small town on the verge of collapse. In an effort to repopulate and stimulate the economy the Mayor is offering small business loans and reduced rents for start-ups. Leaving teaching behind her Mary follows her passion and opens a bakery; which leads her to discover two new passions. One, Billy Knox, the local fire chief and two, Miguel Santos, the local police chief, best friends who served together in the Marines before settling into civilian life. Both men have an instant attraction to Mary, who gives them a push to explore their long simmering love for each other.
It’s short and a bit bare bones in terms of characterisation, but I very much enjoyed it. It’s all about chasing your joy and allowing yourself to have things that make you happy or give you pleasure. There is barely any angst at all, and what there is is balanced out by doughnuts and pastries.
It’s short and a bit bare bones in terms of characterisation, but I very much enjoyed it. It’s all about chasing your joy and allowing yourself to have things that make you happy or give you pleasure. There is barely any angst at all, and what there is is balanced out by doughnuts and pastries.
February 17, 2021
While this book was a mix of sweet and sexy, I just couldn’t get with the 3rd person POV. (Which is actually a POV I’m used to) it just felt weird to me I’d describe the POV as a “floaty presence” it wasn’t my favorite and kept me from connecting with the story.
But overall this was a steamy, pure, and sugary sweet read🥺
But overall this was a steamy, pure, and sugary sweet read🥺
September 4, 2018
Sexy, cute fun!
November 23, 2018
This book murdered me with feels. Omg. What even.
So I don't read a whole ton of mfm romances but I was really curious about this one because the premise is just so everyday? like, "I just became a baker in this small town and oops I'm really into the fireman and the cop here, guess I'll just have to hook up with both of them." And that's basically what it was! except! unexpectedly awesome!
So first of all I just loved the characterization. None of the three MCs was at all stereotypical and they were all so different. You have
-Mary, a woman who used to be a professor but couldn't get tenure and decided screw it, I'm gonna move to a small town and be a baker instead.
-Santos, who looks reserved and frowns a lot but is actually very chill about his pansexuality and is pretty up for everything.
-and Knox, who is outgoing and flirtatious but also a little shy and hesitant to start things and accept love and all that.
And Jackson takes the time to develop all three of these characters before plunging into shipping them, which I really appreciate. And once the shipping got started, I was here for it. They're all just so horny and direct. I mean they flirt like mad the first time Santos and Knox meet Mary, and from there on in Mary is just like, "So, guys, I like you but I really like both of you, so, like, do you wanna" and they're like "maybe we wanna" and then they just kind of go for it and it's so sweet. Constantly dying over Mary and Santos being incredibly direct and Knox being like, "How am I supposed to deal with this?"
Just a really good book honestly. I was lent this through my usual book lending sight and I'm really glad the timing worked out this way because a lot of Katrina Jackson's stuff is on KU and I just got KU for three months so I will for sure be trying that out!
So I don't read a whole ton of mfm romances but I was really curious about this one because the premise is just so everyday? like, "I just became a baker in this small town and oops I'm really into the fireman and the cop here, guess I'll just have to hook up with both of them." And that's basically what it was! except! unexpectedly awesome!
So first of all I just loved the characterization. None of the three MCs was at all stereotypical and they were all so different. You have
-Mary, a woman who used to be a professor but couldn't get tenure and decided screw it, I'm gonna move to a small town and be a baker instead.
-Santos, who looks reserved and frowns a lot but is actually very chill about his pansexuality and is pretty up for everything.
-and Knox, who is outgoing and flirtatious but also a little shy and hesitant to start things and accept love and all that.
And Jackson takes the time to develop all three of these characters before plunging into shipping them, which I really appreciate. And once the shipping got started, I was here for it. They're all just so horny and direct. I mean they flirt like mad the first time Santos and Knox meet Mary, and from there on in Mary is just like, "So, guys, I like you but I really like both of you, so, like, do you wanna" and they're like "maybe we wanna" and then they just kind of go for it and it's so sweet. Constantly dying over Mary and Santos being incredibly direct and Knox being like, "How am I supposed to deal with this?"
Just a really good book honestly. I was lent this through my usual book lending sight and I'm really glad the timing worked out this way because a lot of Katrina Jackson's stuff is on KU and I just got KU for three months so I will for sure be trying that out!
September 4, 2018
I love these books that have people going to a small town for a new start. When the new start is because they town is trying to come back it’s all the better. So as I started reading this one I was smiling, as I kept reading I felt like the author knew what my favorite tropes are and managed to roll them all into this one and I’m kicking myself for not reading this one sooner.
I really loved that Mary took a chance on this no name town, not even on a map, to do something that would make her happy. As Mary was coming up to her bakery opening you could see that she was happy, happy she took the chance and happy to bake every day, a big change from her teaching job. When Mary encountered Knox and Santos…well…things became happier. I loved that Mary, knowing she was attracted to both, let each know, almost put a challenge out to the guys. It was ballsy and paid off big for them all! It helped that Knox and Santos had a decades long friendship to base things on. I also liked that when the 3 of them decided that yes indeed there was a 3 of them they didn’t hide or pretend there was a relationship between only 2 of them and the odd man out was just a friend. I didn’t expect the reaction from the town, on both fronts. The first was horrible, the second started out iffy, but man…the mayor came through big at the end, putting people in their place. I loved the last scene, loved how happy Mary, Knox and Santos were!
I can’t wait to read more in this series!
I really loved that Mary took a chance on this no name town, not even on a map, to do something that would make her happy. As Mary was coming up to her bakery opening you could see that she was happy, happy she took the chance and happy to bake every day, a big change from her teaching job. When Mary encountered Knox and Santos…well…things became happier. I loved that Mary, knowing she was attracted to both, let each know, almost put a challenge out to the guys. It was ballsy and paid off big for them all! It helped that Knox and Santos had a decades long friendship to base things on. I also liked that when the 3 of them decided that yes indeed there was a 3 of them they didn’t hide or pretend there was a relationship between only 2 of them and the odd man out was just a friend. I didn’t expect the reaction from the town, on both fronts. The first was horrible, the second started out iffy, but man…the mayor came through big at the end, putting people in their place. I loved the last scene, loved how happy Mary, Knox and Santos were!
I can’t wait to read more in this series!
September 13, 2018
Spicy!
So., after reading and loving Layover, I was eager to read more from Katrina Jackson. This book was completely different from the first book, but I enjoyed it.
While they s isn't my first time reading about a polygamous relationship, it is the first featuring people of color. I assumed that Knox and Santos were already a thing, but we get to see the relationship from its very beginning. Which is interesting.
Anyway, this is quite the read. Lots to enjoy here, so don't pass this one up!
So., after reading and loving Layover, I was eager to read more from Katrina Jackson. This book was completely different from the first book, but I enjoyed it.
While they s isn't my first time reading about a polygamous relationship, it is the first featuring people of color. I assumed that Knox and Santos were already a thing, but we get to see the relationship from its very beginning. Which is interesting.
Anyway, this is quite the read. Lots to enjoy here, so don't pass this one up!
February 19, 2019
Ohmygodddd it was so gooood!!!
m/f/m romance!!!
dark skinned Black MC!!! She’s an ex-academic turned baker!
Black and Latino LIs!!! Ex-Marines, fire chief and policeman respectively!!
Great Love Scenes!
Fluffy and Nice! Not a lot of Drama/Angst!!!
A cat named Cat-leen Cleaver!!
(tws mentions of homophobia, past trauma related to abuse)
m/f/m romance!!!
dark skinned Black MC!!! She’s an ex-academic turned baker!
Black and Latino LIs!!! Ex-Marines, fire chief and policeman respectively!!
Great Love Scenes!
Fluffy and Nice! Not a lot of Drama/Angst!!!
A cat named Cat-leen Cleaver!!
(tws mentions of homophobia, past trauma related to abuse)
December 18, 2018
This was my first ever m/f/m romance and I loved it. I usually skip these pairings because it's not my bag. This book, however, is my bag. This was fun yet heart warming and quick. I love this whole town. I want to be friends with the people in this town. I'mma read this whole series. Watch.
June 25, 2021
Was this actually 220 pages? It felt much much shorter. While I loved the on page rep for this book, I felt slightly let down at the actual execution. I live for baker MCs, yall know that, but I wish we got more baker attention. also, someone convince me that a baker can create as many items as Mary did and not be working 12+ hours a day. It just wasn't realistic from a baking standpoint and as a baker, it bugged me. This point is probably not gonna bother most other readers tbh but its a pet peeve of mine.
I also felt the writing was a little stilted and didn't flow well. While I loved all the MCs, their narratives sometimes blurred and you could tell this needed another edit because sometimes the actual POV changed midscene and didn't actually make sense. The timing was weird, in that all of sudden months or weeks had passed without much description.
The other thing that felt off for me was the conflict near the end. It was only vaguely hinted at yet also overdone? I don't know how else to describe something that felt sudden yet simplified at the same time.
As a whole, I did enjoy this one enough, but it isn't my favorite.
rep: midsize Black MC, pansexual/bisexual Latinx MC, pansexual/bisexual Black MC, poly relationship
CW: one of the MCs is a cop and the other is a fire chief. There's discussion of corrupt police departments at the beginning but the actual cop rep is very lowkey since it takes place in a small middle of nowhere town with virtually no crime.
I also felt the writing was a little stilted and didn't flow well. While I loved all the MCs, their narratives sometimes blurred and you could tell this needed another edit because sometimes the actual POV changed midscene and didn't actually make sense. The timing was weird, in that all of sudden months or weeks had passed without much description.
The other thing that felt off for me was the conflict near the end. It was only vaguely hinted at yet also overdone? I don't know how else to describe something that felt sudden yet simplified at the same time.
As a whole, I did enjoy this one enough, but it isn't my favorite.
rep: midsize Black MC, pansexual/bisexual Latinx MC, pansexual/bisexual Black MC, poly relationship
CW: one of the MCs is a cop and the other is a fire chief. There's discussion of corrupt police departments at the beginning but the actual cop rep is very lowkey since it takes place in a small middle of nowhere town with virtually no crime.
December 20, 2020
I didn’t know what this was about going in because i’m making my way through katrina jacksons backlist and decided to go with this novella series first.
There were so many aspect of this book that annoyed me, especially time skips that didnt even tell you that it time skipped ?? I understand it’s a novella but even if it was stated at the start of the chapter it would have made it less confusing.
I didn’t like any of the characters really and their relationship just felt weird to me. They had no chemistry and the conflict was so off. There were also so many grammer and spelling mistakes that irked me, especially the random commas that didn’t belong in places 😫
There was a lot of different rep in this book, including POC characters and bisexuality. There is also talks of domestic abuse if that is a trigger for you.
Either way, i’m going to give the rest of the series a go and see how I feel from there!
There were so many aspect of this book that annoyed me, especially time skips that didnt even tell you that it time skipped ?? I understand it’s a novella but even if it was stated at the start of the chapter it would have made it less confusing.
I didn’t like any of the characters really and their relationship just felt weird to me. They had no chemistry and the conflict was so off. There were also so many grammer and spelling mistakes that irked me, especially the random commas that didn’t belong in places 😫
There was a lot of different rep in this book, including POC characters and bisexuality. There is also talks of domestic abuse if that is a trigger for you.
Either way, i’m going to give the rest of the series a go and see how I feel from there!
April 18, 2020
Cute smutty polyamory. Nice~
My main complaint would be how little build up there was to them being in a relationship. As in, there was none at all. They went from 0 to WE NEED TO HAVE SEX literally upon setting eyes on one another.
Basically anything outside of the smut was rushed and bare bones. If you wanted to keep it novella length, a lot of the background info dump could have been trimmed down to make room for a more substantial plot.
I can forgive all this and bump it up to 4 stars, though, since it was an all parties in love with each other kind of polyamory. It’s just so dang hard to find.
My main complaint would be how little build up there was to them being in a relationship. As in, there was none at all. They went from 0 to WE NEED TO HAVE SEX literally upon setting eyes on one another.
Basically anything outside of the smut was rushed and bare bones. If you wanted to keep it novella length, a lot of the background info dump could have been trimmed down to make room for a more substantial plot.
I can forgive all this and bump it up to 4 stars, though, since it was an all parties in love with each other kind of polyamory. It’s just so dang hard to find.
March 2, 2021
I really enjoyed this novella, not least because it acknowledged almost immediately how problematic the police are, and then made one third of this throuple the deeply honorable police chief. Add his best friend the fire chief, and the professor turned baker who is new in town, and mix.
All three MCs are POC, there is instalust, followed swiftly by quicklove, but the characters are so soft together, you can’t help but root for them. There are a lot of small copy editing mistakes, but I don’t care. I hate Amazon, but I am glad it has made it easier for people to self publish great little pieces like this.
All three MCs are POC, there is instalust, followed swiftly by quicklove, but the characters are so soft together, you can’t help but root for them. There are a lot of small copy editing mistakes, but I don’t care. I hate Amazon, but I am glad it has made it easier for people to self publish great little pieces like this.
April 21, 2020
YES!
+Donuts and polyamory!!!
+Mary is very clear, and not at all shy, about what she wants.
+Miguel is pansexual! Billy is bisexual! Well, the words aren't used, but they're described as such.
+DP!
+No fight or breakup!
NO!
-So many typos! Her cat receiving "Christmas parents" was my favorite. Also, horrible grammar in the beginning.
-It took awhile for me to settle into the writing style. It felt more suited to MG.
-Random, unneeded, undeveloped drama at the very end.
+Donuts and polyamory!!!
+Mary is very clear, and not at all shy, about what she wants.
+Miguel is pansexual! Billy is bisexual! Well, the words aren't used, but they're described as such.
+DP!
+No fight or breakup!
NO!
-So many typos! Her cat receiving "Christmas parents" was my favorite. Also, horrible grammar in the beginning.
-It took awhile for me to settle into the writing style. It felt more suited to MG.
-Random, unneeded, undeveloped drama at the very end.
maybe
April 8, 2018Free on Amazon 08-04-2018
https://www.amazon.com/Scratch-Welcom...
https://www.amazon.com/Scratch-Welcom...
Want to read
April 9, 20184/8/18 - free on Kindle
May 14, 2018
A small town, polyamorous romance between the baker, the fire chief, and a cop. Ooh la la.
Very entertaining, great characters.
Very entertaining, great characters.
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