I may have briefly mentioned Suzanne Nelson’s works before as her Heart and Salsa novel was the book that got me into the global coming of age series, S.A.S.S.

Today I’m going to focus on her Foodie series which is just as the title implies- A collection of stand-alone novel focusing on how sweet and savory treats bring couples together and solve all problems.

Oh, and lots of food puns.

This is higher middle grade series in which most of the protagonists are in eith grade and thus are looking toward the future like careers and high school. Inevitably that brings them up against familial expectations or challenges with steps, lack of communication or friendship troubles. Alongside these family/friendship issues is the romance that is either a help or a distraction to the heroine where many of them follow a rivals to lovers arc that Nelson seems to be quite fond of.

Oh, and their family owns or they work at a specialized pastry shop as one can guess from all the titles.

One might not guess from the summaries in the back but Nelson’s characters are quite diverse, Mexican, Brazilian, Hawaiian, Indian and Persian descent that often inform their family business or special treats they enjoy like pofaki and rasmalai cookies. This also extends to the friends and love interest cast. It does touches on it such as one mentioning how it’s difficult to be biracial in the Midwest or being confused with the other Asian girl in school but never goes deeper than that because it’s not that kind of book. Still, it’s casual diversity is refreshing.

Even though the plot seems formulaic, she provides variations in the novels so they don’t feel repetitive if one reads all ten in a row like I did.

For instance, Macrons at Midnight does its own spin on Cyrano De Bergenac with Lise roping her new friend, Vivian to be her in person to meet her crush because she can’t reconcile his harsh, nitpicky persona in the newsroom with the sweet artist she met one night. Sounds like a recipe for disaster and while the premise seems ripe for miscommunication and lack of trust on his side, Nelson manages to weave the fine line by exploring Lise’s insecurities with herself in her new school and her new blended family.

Pumpkin Spice Up Your Life is the sole novel that is a friends to lovers thread with planner Nadine struggles to help her best friend, Daniel, get his crush while hiding her feelings. Daniel is such a pure, cinnamon roll and romantic and their friendship is so wholesome that I just loved the romance. But it is not so clear cut when Daniel’s big is better gestures ends up bringing a rift in their friendship when he interferes with Nadi’s family issues.

A Batch Made in Heaven and I Only Have Pies for You allow for the couples to get together sooner and were my favorites because the couples felt more mature and organic compared to the other rivals to lovers. In Batch Made, Mina helps with a bulk of Flynn’s character development where the cookie contest plot takes a backseat to Mina learning that she can’t fix everyone and everything and having to accept things she can’t change. Pies on the other hand takes its distinctly Texan setting to show the bonds of baking and small towns that gave me Waitress feels.

My other favorite would have to be Sundae My Prince will come, the longest novel in the series, with another delectable love interest with Lanz butting against future ballerina Malie. In exchange for working at her mom’s ice cream shop and English lessons, Lanzo offers private lessons with his prima ballerina mom. For free! It’s another simple premise you might see in other novels.

But I enjoy how Nelson combines the layered plot threads of Malie dealing with her current boyfriend who she realizes she may have fell for because he was her best friend and it’s comfortable, not love. As well as chasing after dreams while balancing realistic expectation of finances because even though she hates her mom’s arguments, she does have a point. Does Malie believe in herself enough that she wants to work hard and continue to be a dancer even if the chances for success are slim?

Other novels in the series are good but sometimes fall short like in Hot Cocoa Hearts that give surpreme Christmas vibes befitting any Hallmark movie. I’m not a Christmas person but this even made me believe in the magic of the holiday. However, it’s marred by the Secret Santa plotline where it’s so obvious you want to yell at the girl.

Shake It Off is fine as it is, just nothing too unique with its city girl transplated to Iowa and learning how to work and that her real friends are pretty shallow. Same with You’re Bacon Me Crazy with its food trucks vs resturant establishment plotline.

Others like Donut Go Breaking My Heart and Cake Pop Crush almost stick the landing if I wasn’t caught up in the male love interest claiming he loved the girl at first sight. I mean, I can believe he fell in love at second interaction but first sight when they’re sneering at the heroines for chewing them out of their rude behavior. Eh, not as realistic. Like rivals to lovers or love at first sight, stick to one or the other. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.

They’re all fun books to occupy your day. Maybe some light summer reading. It certainly makes one hungry so it’s good that Nelson provides recipes in the back of each novel. I’ve only tried out a few but they’re legit. Nevermind that my macrons and bacon cupcakes look nothing like they should. They’re still delicious.

Go on, and take a bite, you won’t regret it.