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Have Your Cake
Can she have it all? Or will starting over leave a bad taste in her mouth?
Abigail Mullins is in the business of happy ever afters. Owner of a London boutique cake shop, she caters to brides wishing to express themselves in unusual ways, and relishes her small, creative life.
That quiet life is disturbed when intriguing, albeit lonely, socialite Dillon Wheeler literally crashes into her life, and one of her clever cake concepts becomes an overnight sensation. Now the media is asking questions about the woman behind the cake. Not only does this new-found popularity threaten the anonymous life she's created, but it brings in a customer who might otherwise never have found her. A customer from Abigail's life before London, who knows what Abigail did to escape it, and who could ruin everything.
For who's going to trust her with their happy ever after once they know what she did to sabotage her own?
A compelling contemporary romance that touches on issues of domestic violence and substance abuse, Have Your Cake is about a woman's self-reinvention, determination against all odds, and ultimately, her way back in to love.
Abigail Mullins is in the business of happy ever afters. Owner of a London boutique cake shop, she caters to brides wishing to express themselves in unusual ways, and relishes her small, creative life.
That quiet life is disturbed when intriguing, albeit lonely, socialite Dillon Wheeler literally crashes into her life, and one of her clever cake concepts becomes an overnight sensation. Now the media is asking questions about the woman behind the cake. Not only does this new-found popularity threaten the anonymous life she's created, but it brings in a customer who might otherwise never have found her. A customer from Abigail's life before London, who knows what Abigail did to escape it, and who could ruin everything.
For who's going to trust her with their happy ever after once they know what she did to sabotage her own?
A compelling contemporary romance that touches on issues of domestic violence and substance abuse, Have Your Cake is about a woman's self-reinvention, determination against all odds, and ultimately, her way back in to love.
- GenresFiction
200 pages, ebook
Published April 4, 2020
5 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Elise K. Ackers
18 books30 followersElise K. Ackers is a freelance editor and a fiction author published with Harlequin’s Escape Publishing and Penguin Random House, and indie published across multiple platforms.
She's a magnet for unusual accidents, way too competitive about laser tag, and an enthusiastic couch commentator. She tends to end up on a plane when she's bored and owing to a broken internal compass, she needs to factor getting lost into her travel time.
Spend long enough talking to her and she’ll want to know your MBIT type. Spend too long talking to her and she’ll convince you to adopt from an animal shelter.
You can find more of her work at elisekackers.net or connect with her on Twitter and Facebook. Sign up for her newsletter for exclusive content, giveaways and more: http://alturl.com/gub48
Elise was a finalist in the Romance Writers of Australia Romantic Book of the Year and Romantic Novella of the Year awards, and winner of the Chanticleer CLUE Awards for Mystery, Thriller and Suspense.
She's a magnet for unusual accidents, way too competitive about laser tag, and an enthusiastic couch commentator. She tends to end up on a plane when she's bored and owing to a broken internal compass, she needs to factor getting lost into her travel time.
Spend long enough talking to her and she’ll want to know your MBIT type. Spend too long talking to her and she’ll convince you to adopt from an animal shelter.
You can find more of her work at elisekackers.net or connect with her on Twitter and Facebook. Sign up for her newsletter for exclusive content, giveaways and more: http://alturl.com/gub48
Elise was a finalist in the Romance Writers of Australia Romantic Book of the Year and Romantic Novella of the Year awards, and winner of the Chanticleer CLUE Awards for Mystery, Thriller and Suspense.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 28, 2020
***I received an advanced e-copy from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review
Abigail Mullins is the owner of Boucake, a boutique cake shop that makes all things cupcakes and specializes in cupcake bouquets and centerpieces. She is on the way to deliver an order to a wedding when someone runs into her van and not only is her van destroyed but also all of her hard work. Dillon, the one who caused the wreck, keeps trying to make things right with her and he has fallen for her in the process. But thanks to something in her past her heart is off limits. When her boucakes become a media sensation things from her past come back that she thought were long buried and they threaten the happiness and success she has worked so hard for.
This book was so good. It was told in alternating parts between past and present until the two merged into one. You know right off the bat that the relationship that she ran away from was a bad one but you don't know all the details of what happened, so you get those meted out slowly throughout the book. This is a great book for all those chick lit/romance/just love a good story people out there.
Abigail Mullins is the owner of Boucake, a boutique cake shop that makes all things cupcakes and specializes in cupcake bouquets and centerpieces. She is on the way to deliver an order to a wedding when someone runs into her van and not only is her van destroyed but also all of her hard work. Dillon, the one who caused the wreck, keeps trying to make things right with her and he has fallen for her in the process. But thanks to something in her past her heart is off limits. When her boucakes become a media sensation things from her past come back that she thought were long buried and they threaten the happiness and success she has worked so hard for.
This book was so good. It was told in alternating parts between past and present until the two merged into one. You know right off the bat that the relationship that she ran away from was a bad one but you don't know all the details of what happened, so you get those meted out slowly throughout the book. This is a great book for all those chick lit/romance/just love a good story people out there.
April 13, 2020
Charming, funny, heartbreaking and sweetly romantic, I really loved this book.
It’s the perfect balance between light and dark, past and present which shapes the two main characters into the flawed but endearing people they are.
I loved that the protagonist, Abigail, is strong, smart and creative, and I adored living vicariously through her unique cake business in London. And her romantic counterpart Dillon is a mess, but a sweet and sexy one that you can’t help but like.
The author has such a way of writing that I felt like I knew the characters and the setting... I could almost taste those cupcakes!
From the moment I picked this book up, I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend... and make sure you have a sweet fix at hand because you’ll crave one after this!
It’s the perfect balance between light and dark, past and present which shapes the two main characters into the flawed but endearing people they are.
I loved that the protagonist, Abigail, is strong, smart and creative, and I adored living vicariously through her unique cake business in London. And her romantic counterpart Dillon is a mess, but a sweet and sexy one that you can’t help but like.
The author has such a way of writing that I felt like I knew the characters and the setting... I could almost taste those cupcakes!
From the moment I picked this book up, I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend... and make sure you have a sweet fix at hand because you’ll crave one after this!
April 4, 2020
*****Copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review******
Ok, so this needs a different cover. From the cover you expect a romance with baking - and although the blurb says it’s a contemporary romance that “touches on issues of domestic violence and substance abuse” this does much more than touches on it. I wouldn’t really count it as a romance at all. It’s much darker and very little romance at all. Really not for me. Really not.
Oh and the details about London and the British political system are frequently wrong and also internally inconsistent. I wish this was better. I wanted a lovely romance with cakes and some redemption but this is not that. Hey ho.
Ok, so this needs a different cover. From the cover you expect a romance with baking - and although the blurb says it’s a contemporary romance that “touches on issues of domestic violence and substance abuse” this does much more than touches on it. I wouldn’t really count it as a romance at all. It’s much darker and very little romance at all. Really not for me. Really not.
Oh and the details about London and the British political system are frequently wrong and also internally inconsistent. I wish this was better. I wanted a lovely romance with cakes and some redemption but this is not that. Hey ho.
January 1, 2022
WARNING: The cover does not match the content. This book is heavily filled with multiple incidents of domestic abusive situations as well as substance abuse.
I started this book summer 2020. It was a hard DNF after several items were ticked off that just didn’t seem to be good things for a second chance romance or a non-toxic relationship.
The cover is a trap. It is beautiful, featuring what Abigail does for a living. She is a fabulous and artistic baker with one other employee, Brittany, who is a sweetheart. Abigail has a lot of emotional baggage that still affects her that she hasn’t really worked through. Not that big of a problem, except when history repeats itself or you change who you are for someone else.
Dillon meets Abigail when he crashes into her work van. Later, maybe after the 35% mark somewhere, he admits that he previously had serious issues with alcohol….and he hit her while he was drunk. Ahem, I’m sorry, “hung over”. He also admits that the previous night at their date, he felt she was a shitty date and slept with some rando from the bar!
And Abigail was OK with that! WTF!
NO.
That’s where I ultimately had to draw the line. And she kept trying after that!
And then suddenly it is very “you belong to me – promise it’s just me”. WAAAAAAY too possessive. Such dramatic swings is not a foundation for a relationship.
Up to the almost 50% mark, there wasn’t anything that really indicated a romance at all. Just some like.
The writing was stilted and overall the book hard to move through, even from the beginning. There are multiple stories being told and no clear way that Ackers fully planned for them. There is so much jumping around, back and forth between multiple points in time, that it is not clear or easy to follow.
I started this book summer 2020. It was a hard DNF after several items were ticked off that just didn’t seem to be good things for a second chance romance or a non-toxic relationship.
The cover is a trap. It is beautiful, featuring what Abigail does for a living. She is a fabulous and artistic baker with one other employee, Brittany, who is a sweetheart. Abigail has a lot of emotional baggage that still affects her that she hasn’t really worked through. Not that big of a problem, except when history repeats itself or you change who you are for someone else.
Dillon meets Abigail when he crashes into her work van. Later, maybe after the 35% mark somewhere, he admits that he previously had serious issues with alcohol….and he hit her while he was drunk. Ahem, I’m sorry, “hung over”. He also admits that the previous night at their date, he felt she was a shitty date and slept with some rando from the bar!
And Abigail was OK with that! WTF!
NO.
That’s where I ultimately had to draw the line. And she kept trying after that!
And then suddenly it is very “you belong to me – promise it’s just me”. WAAAAAAY too possessive. Such dramatic swings is not a foundation for a relationship.
Up to the almost 50% mark, there wasn’t anything that really indicated a romance at all. Just some like.
The writing was stilted and overall the book hard to move through, even from the beginning. There are multiple stories being told and no clear way that Ackers fully planned for them. There is so much jumping around, back and forth between multiple points in time, that it is not clear or easy to follow.
April 8, 2020
Reading Have Your Cake has had me thinking about some of those things we all try not to think of too much: abuse, manipulation, fear, loneliness and self worth. The actions of the protagonists in this story are coloured by the impact these things have had on their lives to date.
Abigail, who’s escaped an abusive relationship and recreated herself in a new place, is slow to trust and quick to think the worst. Dillon, financially a huge success, is lost in his world of riches. He’s a slick, showy and successful salesman in his business world but in his own life he is alone and lonely, an alcoholic who drinks and parties to excess but he isn’t a happy man. Both Abigail and Dillon enjoy massive highs and face devastating lows.
These two are a most unlikely couple and their relationship is far from conventional. It’s certainly a rocky road and yet through the cracks shine two people who are perfect for each other.
I loved that their story was set in London, a city packed with quirky and unusual things to do and places to visit. It was fun checking out some of these with Abigail and Dillon. I loved too the fact that while theirs is a challenging relationship, these two still find plenty to laugh about. I ended this story with a big grin on my face.
Abigail, who’s escaped an abusive relationship and recreated herself in a new place, is slow to trust and quick to think the worst. Dillon, financially a huge success, is lost in his world of riches. He’s a slick, showy and successful salesman in his business world but in his own life he is alone and lonely, an alcoholic who drinks and parties to excess but he isn’t a happy man. Both Abigail and Dillon enjoy massive highs and face devastating lows.
These two are a most unlikely couple and their relationship is far from conventional. It’s certainly a rocky road and yet through the cracks shine two people who are perfect for each other.
I loved that their story was set in London, a city packed with quirky and unusual things to do and places to visit. It was fun checking out some of these with Abigail and Dillon. I loved too the fact that while theirs is a challenging relationship, these two still find plenty to laugh about. I ended this story with a big grin on my face.
October 19, 2020
This book was quite different in tone to what the cover suggested, in my opinion. The hero wasn't appealing to me at all, and the heroine's ex was pretty intense in the narcissism department, so I found it a bit of a hard slog to get through as the story cranked up. The quality of writing, however is great, and the heroine is nicely quirky. My favourite part of all was the supporting character of Brittany.
April 4, 2020
I enjoyed the real-ness of the characters and how everything wasn’t a fairytale for them, but this book was hard for me to get into. There was Dillons current story, Abigail’s current story, their story together, Abigail's past story... it just jumped around a lot and didn’t develop as smoothly as I would have wanted.
April 9, 2020
i was given this ARC from publisher and netgalley for my honest review
this book i felt was a heavy read at times that dealt with troubling things but had a nice change to it of humor and romance. the characters are faced with abuse, fear, being lonely, struggling with self worth etc. But even with all these issues they are able to love and be with each other for romance.
this book i felt was a heavy read at times that dealt with troubling things but had a nice change to it of humor and romance. the characters are faced with abuse, fear, being lonely, struggling with self worth etc. But even with all these issues they are able to love and be with each other for romance.
August 22, 2021
I’ve been in a reading slump for sometime now but this book really brought me back to life (in a literary sense) it’s witty, funny, sometimes heartbreaking and downright cute. I throughly enjoyed this read and didn’t want it to end!
April 4, 2020
Such a great book. I loved the story and the flow of the book. The characters were so well do you find yourself really caring and getting attached to them.
February 28, 2020
This was not a meet-cute. Abigail first meets Dillon when he crashes into her delivery van while out of it from a bad hangover. Abigail has started up a business where she makes interesting cupcakes to use in place of lower bouquets in centerpieces and even for brides to carry down the aisle. Dillon is so mortified to have damaged her van and her delivery for a wedding that he helps her to make a replacement set of cupcakes and then asks her out.
From that unpromising meeting, they eventually start seeing each other and having lovely-sounding dates looking for artistic oddities in her Soho neighborhood. Their romance would have been enough to keep my interest, but there is also an overlay of a plot with flashbacks from the life and abusive fiance that Abigail had fled sex months earlier. The two plots together really drew me in and kept me up late reading until I could find out what would happen.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.
From that unpromising meeting, they eventually start seeing each other and having lovely-sounding dates looking for artistic oddities in her Soho neighborhood. Their romance would have been enough to keep my interest, but there is also an overlay of a plot with flashbacks from the life and abusive fiance that Abigail had fled sex months earlier. The two plots together really drew me in and kept me up late reading until I could find out what would happen.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.
May 26, 2025
Me: Oh, this has such a cute cover, I bet it's...GAH! What the heck did I just read? So, yes, the main character might make cupcake bouquet arrangements for a living, but if you think this is going to be a light read, think again. This one needs to come with a pretty strong trigger warning for domestic abuse. We also have a main character who struggles with substance abuse. Like, this is a pretty serious book. If you were looking for a cutesy read, like the blurb suggests, run away. If you want something more complicated...like a serious novel, though it's still a romance novel, this might be something interesting for you. It's technically a clean romance. No sex scenes. That's not to say that characters aren't getting busy, but I'm thinking the author wanted to focus on thematic elements more. Like I said...serious book.
Abigail Mullins is getting her life back together and now has a newly started cupcake business. Things are going good--that is until some guy smashes into her delivery van, destroying cupcakes for a wedding she's going to. He's a trooper, though, and not only offers to take care of her van, but helps her redo the cupcakes just in time. But what happens when this nice "bad boy" becomes interested in her? Is she ready to try again? Or will it be her ex all over again?
Dillon Wheeler, meanwhile, has been drifting through life, drinking himself into oblivion. The first time he's felt okay? Since he hung out with a cake-decorating beauty. He has to get to know her better. The more time he spends around her, the better he feels. But is he using her as a crutch for his drinking? Is dating her enough to make the serious changes he needs in to really make things stick?
Besides the cover issue, I wasn't fond on the overreliance of twelve step programs to "fix" the issue for Dillon. Amazingly enough, if you ever actually spend any time in the rooms, very large chunks of the newcomers relapse, if not once, several times. Some continuously do so. And when literature and media makes it seems like people who go in the room immediately get better, it does a disservice to people trying to get help. Gosh, I'm rambling. That means I'm about done. If you do pick this one up, just be prepared for something much different and darker. If you go into it knowing what it's going to be like, then it'll be much more enjoyable.
Abigail Mullins is getting her life back together and now has a newly started cupcake business. Things are going good--that is until some guy smashes into her delivery van, destroying cupcakes for a wedding she's going to. He's a trooper, though, and not only offers to take care of her van, but helps her redo the cupcakes just in time. But what happens when this nice "bad boy" becomes interested in her? Is she ready to try again? Or will it be her ex all over again?
Dillon Wheeler, meanwhile, has been drifting through life, drinking himself into oblivion. The first time he's felt okay? Since he hung out with a cake-decorating beauty. He has to get to know her better. The more time he spends around her, the better he feels. But is he using her as a crutch for his drinking? Is dating her enough to make the serious changes he needs in to really make things stick?
Besides the cover issue, I wasn't fond on the overreliance of twelve step programs to "fix" the issue for Dillon. Amazingly enough, if you ever actually spend any time in the rooms, very large chunks of the newcomers relapse, if not once, several times. Some continuously do so. And when literature and media makes it seems like people who go in the room immediately get better, it does a disservice to people trying to get help. Gosh, I'm rambling. That means I'm about done. If you do pick this one up, just be prepared for something much different and darker. If you go into it knowing what it's going to be like, then it'll be much more enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews