DNFing pg 75I wanted to like this the heroine is a brewmaster when does that ever happen But immediately when she meets the hero s friends the hero owns a new bar and she wants him to sell her beer all they can do is comment on her appearance does the carpet match the drapes etcand it was super annoying Then the heroine kisses the hero and then gets all upset by it and it was just odd Everyone acted too over the top or perky It just didn t feel like realistic people to me Suzanne Baltsar 3. 5 stars Cute rom com centered in the food beverage world Piper is a craft beer brewer who is working on getting her brews sold in local bars when she meets Blake owner of The Public a new hot gastropub in town Given that this is a rom com sparks fly but Piper doesn t want to mix business and pleasure Will it be possible for these two to work together without it leading to For those who are fans of Amy Reichert who isn t be sure to check out a new voice in this fun genre Thank you to Simon Schuster for an advanced copy All opinions are my own Suzanne Baltsar What a tragic start to the new year Suzanne Baltsar 3. 5 stars Loved the title s play on words it was the first clue that this was going to be a fun and flirty read This dreary rainy day could not have been better placed I curled up and in no time immersed myself in Piper and Blake s world reading for hours enjoying the snappy dialogue and ebb and flow of this easy reading chick lit story Piper is an ambitious young woman who is hellbent on making a name for herself in the traditionally all male brew making business When one day out hawking her product she fatefully meets Blake a hunk with gorgeous hair who is opening a gastropub It is a double whammy love at first sight Enjoyed these two their banter and the friends they hung out with Suzanne Baltsar 1 1 2 starsI was pretty excited about this book as I am a huge craft beer fan Craft beer still feels like a pretty male dominated industry for workers and to a lesser extent customers I have had random guys come up to me in the liquor store to help me pick out a beer when they knew less about beer than me and been condescended to by servers who decided I wouldn t like a certain kind of beer so I was really looking forward to this I also tend to like food themed books so this seemed like such a great choice for me The problem was it just wasn t very good I wanted this to be an ode to beer in the same way some of the culinary romance books are an ode to food However it never really felt like a celebration of craft beer Instead the brewery just felt like an obligatory setting The love interest was kind of cocky and boring and I really didn t like him The plotting keeping the characters apart felt forced and there was a whole subplot about the love interest s family that didn t really go anywhere I was also super irked by the epilogue and I felt like the protagonist reacted really out of character to something I did relate to one scene where the protagonist was being patronized by an waiter and the fact that it made me stop and think about the ratio of female head brewers in Vancouver even though it is an exploding market but as a novel it just wasn t very good I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Indigo Books and Music in exchange for an honest review Suzanne Baltsar

Trouble Brewing By Suzanne Baltsar

1501188313

9781501188312

English

320

Paperback

This sweet savory and satisfying novel perfect for fans of The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy Reichert follows a smart ambitious woman making her way in the male dominated world of beer brewing Piper Williams is used to being the only woman in a room full of men but she isn t used to being instantly drawn to someone she s in business with After working long hours brewing in her garage Piper is determined to prove herself and to ignore the chemistry she has with Blake Reed owner of Minnesota s newest gastropub who is going to stock four of her brews She wants her craft beer to stand on its own merits and knows that the tight knit male dominated brewer community will assume the worst if she starts anything with one of her vendors No way she ll risk everything she s invested in her budding business on a guy who might not stick no matter how charmingly handsome and funny he is right And Blake has a conflict of his own his haughty family wants him to ditch the gastropub and support his father s political campaign Well that and the fact that he knows Piper s snark and sass is the perfect blend of crisp and refreshing for him So Blake and Piper make a she ll go out with him if and only if two additional pubs start carrying her beer Sticking to the pact proves harder than either of them expected especially since the attraction is off the charts between quirky independent Piper and smart charming Blake Then Piper gets a once in a lifetime offer that could launch her company to the next level and take her away from Blake Are she and Blake just drunk in love or do they have something real that s worth risking her dreams for Trouble BrewingI thought this book was a great read it was funny and nice and keeps you interested i really lovrd reading about piper and blake this was my first book ive read by Suzanne Baltsar and im looking forward to read books by her Suzanne Baltsar I ll be honest at this point in my life and reviewing career I should know better than to take the advice of publisher blurb recommendations but I live in hope and occasionally find a gem But the comparisons in this blurb don t connect on any level with the exception of food and drink And that isn t to say that this book was horrible but using a story that contained both depth and emotion and comparing it to a far lighter and less well developed romantic comedy is a failure doing a disservice to the author and the story she brought forward In this book we meet Piper a brew master who has just scored a coup the local gastro pub is going to stock four of her beers and the owner Blake a guy she finds attractive and is giving her a shot at her dream Now moving onward Blake has made a deal with Piper if she can convince two pubs to stock her beer she ll go out with him So not so bad but a far cry from the depth and solid heroine working for her dream that I hoped for And from nearly the first interactions through the last the humor and Piper s character were off carpet matching drapes comments are not only in poor taste but when you first meet Blake s friends and they talk like that Seriously And not only does she miss this infantile behavior as being a giant red flag but she kisses Blake and then gets all oh I shouldn t have about it a total backpedal where things just seemed to be thrown up to push them together or pull them apart without regard for the actual reason we are there her touted dream of making her own craft brewery work I don t know where the editor was on this one and if the story was to be about her struggles in breaking into the industry as an anomaly female brew masters are relatively rare and then Blake being one of the stones on the path that s one thing But this muddled mess of romance and dream chasing with a bit of family drama from Blake s side being thrown in at random points without really going anywhere the book was disappointing and lacked a solid plot or identity Sadly even as I hoped for something development in characters a seriously solid sense of place the real struggle to move toward capturing a dream and it never came There s a solid story when all of the chaff is blown away here but it was far too muddled and required an identity leaving me with no doubt that the blurb and comparing this title to one from Amy Reichert was a huge miss I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review I was not compensated for this review all conclusions are my own responsibility Review first appeared at I am Indeed Suzanne Baltsar 3 5 stars I like beer but I wouldn t call myself a beer aficionado I like what I like and I enjoy going on brewery tours but I don t think much about how it gets made or the steps between idea to actual sales As such I ve never thought about it being a male dominated industry and I was highly intrigued when I learned Trouble Brewing is about Piper a female brewer and what she faces on her quest to start her own brewery. I admired her drive and passion for her work as well as the frank understanding of the obstacles she faces in addition to the rampant sexism and misogyny in the industry I didn t always understand her reasoning particularly when it came to Blake but I could empathize with her struggle in wanting to be treated fairly while also wanting to date the guy she s interested in The sexism she did face felt heavy handed and I wish this element of the story had been handled with nuance It s a hard critique to make because I really appreciated the way the story didn t back down from Piper s roadblocks and how infuriating it is we women are still dealing with this BS It made me that much grateful Blake understood the double standards Piper faced and that he was supportive of her no matter what. Even though Piper and Blake have a few things stacked against them I was really rooting for their relationship once it got started and hoping they d have a happy ending Blake was a magical unicorn in some ways and a conundrum in others He has an extremely toxic family but he still goes to family dinners His best friends said really inappropriate things when they first met Piper I think we re supposed to see them as lovable goons but I just wanted to tell Blake to find better friends Blake also has a hard time not trying to fix things for the people he cares for regardless of what they want This could be aggravating to watch He has growing up to do and while I wish he d had to grovel he does make some big moves that were satisfying to watch While I had some nitpicky issues I really did enjoy reading it Piper s foray into brewing and watching her ups and downs was fascinating to me and that s the real reason to give this one a a try Disclosure I received an advanced copy from Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review Suzanne Baltsar 3. 5 starsThe differentiation of this writers romance books is that she has female characters who are working in what are typically male oriented fields ie beer brewing football coaching boxing I did read the 2nd book in this series previously so I m doing this out of order So I knew what ultimately happens with these characters but that was ok Some humor Great characters w chemistry Good story. Quick easy read I will read the next book as I want to see Bear Sonja s story Suzanne Baltsar I received an advance reader copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review Piper is a brewmaster in a male dominated world Blake is an owner of the new gastropub in town Romance ensues with a side of beer I thought this was a cute charming book I ended up really liking this book and finished it in a couple of days I don t read a ton of romance novels but I liked the story description As mentioned in someone else s review this romance isn t hot and steamy it is sweet and funny I enjoyed the supporting characters as much as I enjoyed the main characters I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 stars because I didn t really believe Blake s parents They and the sister were just obnoxious and forced but they were about 5%of the book Choose this book if you are looking for a quick sweet read that might teach you something about beer By no means is it an encyclopedia on brewing but they have several tidbits thrown in that the average reader wouldn t know Overall this book is a sweet charming read I feel like this book could easily turn into a Hallmark Movie Suzanne Baltsar .