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Hearts of Snow Lake #1

Motorcycles and Macarons

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Layton:

As a biker, I've always loved the open road—and no man ever compared. I’ve mastered the quickie, the one-night stand, and I’m not into changing things up. Why mess with perfection?

When I roll into Snow Lake to take over my uncle’s mechanic shop, the last thing I want to do is settle down. Until I lay eyes on Grayson, who is not the kind of man suited for a one-night stand. He’s domestic as all hell, running his bakery and doing cute sh!t with his son all damn day. Not. My. Type.

But I can’t take my eyes off of him. Every time I see him, my heart pounds; I go weak in the knees. I dream about holding up a ring, and making him mine forever.

I never wanted this life—I always thought it was a trap. But Grayson, gorgeous and kind, is giving me a sweet tooth for his baked goods and all his other delights.  

I just might want to make a home on this road where I’ve landed. If Gray is with me, I might fall in love with Snow Lake after all.

Grayson:

My partner left the minute Harry came into our lives. Ever since then, it’s been me and my boy, all on our own. I didn’t want to be a single dad, but Harry makes it all worthwhile. Sure, I’m not going on any dates, but romance can wait. I’m done with the heartbreak of losing my man, and I’m not pulling Harry into any relationship that won’t last forever.

That’s why Layton comes as a surprise. He’s everything I never wanted—a bad boy with bedroom eyes, and thighs muscled from gripping his motorcycle. He keeps showing up in my nighttime fantasies—and at my bakery every morning, looking like he wants to take a bite out of me.

When I slip up and let him get a taste, I know he’s all wrong. I can’t keep a man like Layton happy, and I need him out of my life for good. It’s too bad because I was a little bit in love.

I never imagined it would hurt so much to leave Layton behind—or that my sweet boy would want to have Layton around. Layton keeps telling me he’s for real, that he’s in this for keeps. I’ve never been the kind of guy to take a chance, but maybe this is the time to give it a try.

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 18, 2019

126 people are currently reading
208 people want to read

About the author

Ashton Cade

23 books102 followers

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5 stars
110 (27%)
4 stars
159 (39%)
3 stars
110 (27%)
2 stars
20 (4%)
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5 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
Profile Image for Gustaf.
1,444 reviews199 followers
December 27, 2021
Reread again December 2021.

Reread 20/4/11
Everything I said before stands. Hearts of Snow Lake is an amazing series, highly recommend!

A great start for Cades new series.
I loved Harry. Such a cute kid.
However, the relationship between the two MC’s was a little too much off/on for me and some of Graysons actions was almost childish. Especially for a 34 year old man.
So not a full five star rating but pretty close.
Profile Image for Mitticus.
1,167 reviews240 followers
April 20, 2020
2.5 stars

A nomad biker and minor metal rocker goes to Snow Lake to take care of his Uncle's mechanical business , there meet a cute single parent. But he is not ready for commitement-

Worse than singledom—single-dad-dom.

I am a little disappointed with how this book turned out. It has good characters, and a good idea, but I feel like it stayed in sketch form, that it never sank its teeth into the story as such.

There are many things that don't make sense considering that one is a single parent who knows he can't rush, and the other goes from 'I don't want trouble in a small town' to going out on a date with someone who knows he can't play. The fact that they understood each other after speaking a couple of times, and that Layton went from having horror of the children to considering that Harry is sensitive and charming after having see him only twice ... seriously? So rush.

Layton doesn't even give much of a bad boy vibe, really - unless the super friend tells about his past and for his own reasons. Because when the biker decided to take over his uncle's garage, he had already accepted that he wanted to change and settle down. But then he panics when he sees things get serious with Grayson.

There are good things, like when Grayson indicates that he disagrees with aggressive behavior at the bar; and how Layton deals with the issue of bullying.
But I would have liked it to go deeper and not just on the surface; otherwise it is no more that a story more full of cliches.

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Un motero nómada y rockero de metal va a Snow Lake para hacerse cargo del negocio de mecanica su tío, allí se encuentra con un atractivo padre soltero como vecino. Pero él no está listo para el compromiso.

Estoy un poco decepcionada de cómo resultó este libro. Tiene buenos personajes y una buena idea, pero siento que se mantuvo en forma de boceto, que nunca hundió los dientes en la historia como tal.

Hay muchas cosas que no tienen sentido teniendo en cuenta que uno es un padre soltero que sabe que no puede apresurarse, y el otro pasa de 'No quiero problemas en un pueblo pequeño' a salir con alguien con quien sabe que no puede jugar . El hecho de que se entendieron después de hablar un par de veces, y que Layton pasó de tener horror a los niños a considerar que Harry es sensato y encantador después de haberlo visto solo dos veces ... ¿en serio? Demasiado apresurado.

Layton ni siquiera da mucho pinta de de chico malo, cuando menos hasta que el súper amigo cuenta sobre su pasado y por sus propias razones. Porque cuando el motociclista decidió hacerse cargo del garaje de su tío, ya había aceptado que quería cambiar y establecerse. Pero luego entra en pánico cuando ve que las cosas se ponen serias con Grayson.

Hay cosas buenas, como cuando Grayson indica que no está de acuerdo con el comportamiento agresivo en el bar; y cómo Layton trata el tema del acoso escolar.
Pero me hubiera gustado que fuera más profundo y no solo en la superficie; de lo contrario, no es más que una historia más llena de clichés.
Profile Image for Hemmel M..
805 reviews54 followers
August 27, 2021
Did not finish at 60%.

I missed subtlety. It reads: "Grayson suddenly feels like an important figure in my life". Oooookay? Maybe some build-up, before telling us? Like "I would like Grayson to become more important in my life".

And this one:
"Hello Bo, may I introduce you to my neighbour Grayson." "Hi Grayson. Did he pop your cherry?" Bo and I were such good friends, we could tell each other everything.

Uuuuh... No. That is not a scene that proves to me Layton and Bo have intimate conversations.

Other annoyances: no arc. You have to imagine what these men hope for in the future yourself.
And a perfect cookie-cutter child. Yuk.
Profile Image for Nerea.
735 reviews33 followers
April 6, 2021
Cute small town story!
The Mc end up in this small town to run his uncle garage, he's not convinced about staying here because his life always has been more on the wild side... but of course he starts falling for his neighbour who is a single dad, loves calm life and owns a bakery :) !
Profile Image for Diane Dannenfeldt.
4,032 reviews78 followers
October 19, 2019
We have the story of Grayson who is a single father running his bakery business. His ex was a POS & glad we never saw him. They were married and decided to have a child, enter Harry. The ex then decides he doesn't want to be a dad any longer & make Grayson chose, him or Harry. Well Grayson made the right choice & dumped his husband. Since then he has build a wall around his heart and doesn't want to Harry to get attached to someone for them to just walk away. Harry was so cute. Layton is a bad boy, he rides a motorcycle, plays in a metal band and is an all around man-whore. He has a large string of one night stands & that is all he wants. Settling down is not in his vocabulary. Until he inherits his uncle's garage. He decides he is heading to Florida & has Layton take over the business. I think he did that in part so that Layton would put down some roots and stop his wandering ways. From the moment Layton sets eyes on Grayson, he is smitten. It is not an easy road for Grayson to learn to trust again and for Grayson to realize that he isn't that guy anymore. Things are going along pretty well until a friend of Layton comes to town & stirs up trouble. It will take a lot for Layton to prove that he was wrong and win Grayson back. I really did enjoy this book and liked a lot of the secondary characters. I can't wait to continue with this series.

ARC provided by LesCourt Services in exchange for an honest review
3,566 reviews38 followers
October 30, 2020
Who would have thought a baker and biker would find romance? Especially when the baker has a seven year old son and has always lived in one small town. The biker has wandered the country playing in bands and living the life of a tumbling stone. But all this changed when the biker's uncle turned over his mechanic shop and gave him the opportunity to settle down and join a community.

A sweet romance with lots of love, sweet boys and lots of wonderful baked goods!



Profile Image for Shannon.
2,163 reviews46 followers
April 20, 2020
This was a cute little read. I never saw Layton as some bad ass biker so his changes weren't all that surprising. It read a bit like a Harlequin which isn't necessarily a bad thing just not a deep book that I'll remember tomorrow. I did like it enough to read more from the series.
Profile Image for Natalie  H.
3,814 reviews30 followers
March 1, 2020
It was sweet but annoyed me. The family moments were adorable but it had a Grease vibe. Curious about Porter. Light and easy going with a little drama and bullying.
Profile Image for Lizzie.
343 reviews19 followers
November 13, 2019
There will be spoilers...

*Sigh*...again it appears I'm in the minority here. But, alas, I cannot be anything but honest.

This story definitely had potential. That's why I read it. It sounded interesting. And the title was pretty intriguing too.

But I was not impressed. The MCs, quite honestly, seemed immature at times. The way things were handled, the back and forth, the communication - it just just didn't work for me. I didn't connect with either of the MCs. Like I said, they were immature to me.

The issues they had almost seemed like they were just thrown in there so the author could make a story.

And each MC so easily just let go of their hangups (hangups they had for years, mind you) and fell head over heels into this relationship. They fell in love quickly, moved in quickly, married quickly. It all just didn't feel "real" and didn't connect with me.

Now, I'm not one of those readers who needs lots of angst and drama in my books (in fact I actually get annoyed if the story is dragging along with too much of that) but this one just skipped all issues the MCs had.

Like at the very beginning, Layton says that he doesn't like guys who have kids. He's not into that, he doesn't even think he himself likes kids. He even goes so far as to say that he is turned off by seeing Grayson get sentimental about his son.

Then...that just disappears. Layton seems to forget about his hangups with guys with kids, and becomes totally involved in Grayson's life. And, get this, he's a natural with Grayson's son. 🙄 All righty then.

I'll stop for a moment and give the author props for giving us the physical description of each MC. Thank you. I do appreciate that. AND she gave us the ages of each MC as well. Another thing I appreciate.

The story just fell flat for me. I didn't really feel much of anything while reading it.

I saw one review where they stated that the heat level was like super steamy or something.

Um...no. It's not. Maybe it's just because I've read INCREDIBLY raunchy, dirty stuff, so this was very bland.

The whole book was just bland to me.
1,552 reviews12 followers
November 25, 2020
I really enjoyed this story! I loved the small town setting, it’s always one of my favourite as it makes me feel almost as I am a part of the community, as the various books go on…
Layton and Grayson are all in all good characters, but all in all, so indecisive for being two full-grown men. The push and pull from both MCs was a bit exhausting sometimes, but there are a lot of super cute, funny and sexy moments, which made the story very enjoyable.
Profile Image for Anna Torres.
385 reviews10 followers
October 23, 2019
A love story between biker and a baker, and everything in between!

Layton inherited a business from his uncle and he is trying to make a go of it, in a new town. He is a rock musician and a biker. Grayson owns a bake shop and is a single dad. His husband left him when their son was born.

What could they possibly have in common? This is a sweet story of two people hoping for different things in their lives. Finding out that they are not totally different from each other at all and realizing that what they have been looking for is already right in front of them.

Sweet characters, Harry is adorable. This is an easy to read, sweet love story, just at the right pace for a small town setting. I love it!
Profile Image for Kendra T.
3,098 reviews39 followers
March 21, 2021
Layton is new to town, is used to one night stands, and is not ready to settle down. Grayson is a father who is not interested in casual. Layton tried to convince himself that Grayson wasn't what he wanted or needed, but he just couldn't stay away. They were great together, and Layton was so good with Grayson's son. I liked reading about Layton's internal struggles and watching him come to realize that he wanted a better life for himself and that it included Layton and Harry. Harry was such a cute kid. I really enjoyed this.

I am voluntarily reviewing an ARC provided by LesCourt Author Services
Profile Image for Celine.
803 reviews2 followers
October 24, 2019
Beautifully sweet story

This was a very lovely read, with just a little angst to make it even better.

I love books by Ashton Cade and this new series is of to a promising start.

It was sweet, loving, sexy and had its emotional moments.

I loved Layton and Grayson. They are quite opposites but mesh quite well when given the time to grow.

I really loved the ending, it was just perfect and so fitting to their story.

A great book overall, I can't wait for the next story
Profile Image for Angie.
985 reviews6 followers
Read
November 21, 2019
DNF 47%

This series sounded so good and I LOVE the covers but this book was all over the place. At one point these 2 MCs go on a weekend trip after never having any real conversation and at another point the MC talks about his family drama and the other MC reacts to it as if this was his first time opening up about his past BUT the way it is written makes it sound like he knew the basics but no details. When? Off page? I'm not a fan of that type of writing. I hate reading and stopping to think when did that happen...did I miss something? I'm sad because these sounded so good. :(
Profile Image for Tanya.
854 reviews1 follower
November 2, 2019
another great small town romance

Ashton has gotten me to call in love with a small town and everyone in it. Shouldn't have surprised me after the Rainier family but not everyone can pull off small towns. I'm already anticipating stories to come for some of our new found family
Profile Image for Wide Eyes, Big Ears!.
2,644 reviews
May 2, 2021
Layton is a biker and ex-musician. New to Snow Lake, he moves in across the road from baker and single dad, Grayson. Layton has never been keen on kids but he’s keen on Grayson who is still nursing a broken heart from a broken marriage. I’ve really enjoyed the later books in this series, and I loved the premise of this book but I felt the story failed to capitalise on it. I thought the issue of a gay man being hesitant about kids was a good one - it’s rarely raised in m/m romances and could have been really explored here. Instead Layton shrugs it off pretty quickly. I also felt that Grayson’s wounded heart healed fast. I understand the series generally aims for a sweet vibe with a serious issue, but the other books cut the sweetness with more believable angst. I also found Cam Walker’s narration a bit flat and his character voices harder to distinguish - he does a great job in later audios.
Profile Image for Ashley D.
1,358 reviews11 followers
June 12, 2020
I started out liking the book and then there was one point, where I was screaming at the characters in my mind because they were being stupid. While the characters were being stupid it just made me fall in love with the book a bit more. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series, to see how the towns cast of colorful characters and who will get their happy ever after.
Profile Image for Amy.
472 reviews81 followers
Read
January 9, 2023
DNF at 19% for unlikeable MCs - MC1 was so obsessed with weight watch to the point it triggered me. MC2 commented about his barber being good EVEN IF he was flamboyant (as if that mattered somehow over the guy's skill?, or as if that was an annoying part of going to the barber?) and also complained about the salon Dyeing Divas having a dumb name (maybe he hates it bc it's flamboyant too....)
Profile Image for Anita.
2,022 reviews27 followers
September 30, 2024
So this is me, not the book but I couldn't get past the similar nature of the names - Layton and Grayson. It kept sort of rhyming in my head. Anyway, sort of a soap opera like drama. Fair amount of telling instead of showing. Has been a while since I've read this author's work and now I remember it... It was an okay read.
Profile Image for Robert Fontenot.
2,080 reviews31 followers
November 26, 2021
I mean, this was ok. Nothing about the characters was memorable, none of the conflicts felt earned, and the steam was lukewarm and sparse. At the same time I kind of enjoyed the small town world building and I would consider trying the next book in the series.
Profile Image for Catarina Águas.
2,374 reviews209 followers
March 8, 2022
Very good book. Layton trying to decide what he really wanted was so good to watched. He just needed a little bit of courage and guts to be with Grayson. Grayson was a man that needed someone to be there for him and love him and his son without any problems.
Profile Image for Angelica Holmes.
573 reviews1 follower
July 10, 2022
I found this story to be quite easy to listen to. I believe this was my first time reading this author and im really glad I chose to. The story itself was very well done and easy to follow. The characters make you wanna invest in their story and where it's going. Especially Grayson's son Harry.
As for the performance, it was very well done as well. the narrator had a pleasant voice and did very nicely switching his inflections and accents between characters.
Profile Image for Melissa.
1,949 reviews3 followers
July 16, 2021
Good

It was a decent storyline not my favorite book I have read. Not sure what was lacking. It's not a bad book
Profile Image for Cindi.
1,722 reviews84 followers
March 9, 2020
Overall, a nice story, but it didn’t wow me because I had a hard time seeing these two together, especially after Layton says early on that love and monogamy are b.s. I get that people can change, but had it not been for the epilogue I wouldn’t have really believed that he planned to stick around for the long haul. I'm all about a reformed bad boy, but I just wasn't seeing it with Layton.

I guess I liked Grayson well enough. After Layton did something stupid and came running back, Grayson made him work for it - as he should have. I liked Harry, Grayson's son. I liked some of the townspeople and even a couple of Layton's biker friends. I just had a hard time with the two main characters.

I did love when Layton and Grayson finally declared their love for each other. I also thought the epilogue was sweet.

Full review (with spoilers) can be found at -

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Profile Image for Patti.
989 reviews7 followers
March 10, 2020
Bad boy turned good

Oh love a rocker, motorcycle riding bad boy turned good for a single dad... Awesome... some angst... great story line... enjoyed it, looking forward to more of Snow Lake.
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