macarons at midnightRating: 3.5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel


Born to the Livingston dynasty, Henry Livingston has chosen to work for a living and grow a wonderful bakery out of nothing. Henry has finally made a name for himself as a baker, outside of his family name and his family spotlight.

It’s not that Tristan Green hates his job. It’s only that he despises the people he works with. Advertising in the states is so much different than in England and he misses his family and his home as each day passes.

After a chance meeting on a dark night—Tristan lost on his late night walk and Henry working over to fill an impossible order—the men form an instant connection. After spending the night watching Henry make macarons for a teen’s birthday party, Tristan accompanies him the following day to deliver them. Then joins him for their date soon after. From then on, Henry and Tristan find ways to meet or talk to one another throughout their days. As their attraction grows stronger they open up about their families.

Tristan loves his family. They’re extremely close and he misses them terribly. But Henry’s relationship is a little more complicated. He’s lost more than one relationship to the cold indifference that permeates his family. When Henry’s sister insists on bringing Tristan to dinner, Henry is certain all hope is lost. Luckily Tristan wants Henry and not his family, but when Tristan’s advertising firm discovers who he’s dating and attempts to land their biggest client in history on Tristan’s coattails, Tristan and Henry’s relationship will be put to the test.

Ah. This story is sweet, like soft-melt-in-your-mouth-chocolate-chip-cookie kind of sweet. Which, let’s face it, makes this title perfect. Well, it’s perfect in the way that the macarons at midnight are exactly how Henry and Tristan meet. I liked this story. It was adorable. The relationship between Henry and Tristan is enough to give you a cavity.

I won’t lie, the beginning drags on a bit, but then Henry and Tristan finally meet and it was a wonderful feel-good moment for this story. It’s a little odd to me that a native New Yorker would simply invite a random guy into his closed shop in the middle of the night, but I’m going to do my best to suspend disbelief for a bit because the meet cute was, in fact, cute.

Of course, I really liked Henry and Tristan, but the development of their relationship was a bit stilted and awkward at first. They also spend weeks with Tristan spending the night at Henry’s place with nothing but kissing. I can understand maybe once or twice at the start of the relationship, but weeks?  I just have a hard time believing these guys have little more than a relationship of BFFs who kiss for weeks and nothing happens.

Much like the dragging in the first part of the book, the middle runs on for a bit until Tristan meets Henry’s family. Not to say that things don’t happen. A relationship happens and it’s sweet. We get to know Henry and Tristan a bit better, but it’s all very straightforward, nothing of significance to speak of.

I do like the recipes interspersed in between each chapter. Very crafty. Also they look super delicious. I may actually try one or two or all of them. Who knows?

So, I absolutely liked this one. I didn’t love it, but I liked it. If you’re looking for a sweet, feel-good story, Macarons at Midnight is definitely that.

A review copy of this book was provided by Dreamspinner Press.

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