Mitch Knight
1. Loves a good challenge
2. Never turns his back on a dare
3. Loves to create nicknames
4. Nobody cooks better than him
5. Doesn't believe in love
When Parker Welsh sells Mitch Knight his organic restaurant, Willows, he not only gives Mitch ownership; but everything entangled with it. Including the annoying pastry chef who supplies the muffins and cupcakes.
1. Loves To-Do Lists and Five-Year Plans
2. Has her dream job of baking sweets
3. Always tries to make others happy
4. Never seems to succeed with her family
5. Is still a virgin, waiting for love
Hayley played by her mother's rules for the first eighteen years of her life, instead of heading to college as her family expected, she rebelled and opened a bakery, Pieces of Heaven. Her family expects her to fail and head back to school and their wish may come true once Parker sells his restaurant to the handsome, arrogant Mitchel Knight. It's either join forces with him or lose her dream.
This is a book that would have been perfect for First Impression Friday! This book was a whole load of confusing at the beginning. Seriously, talk about a crazy, messed-up family! I honestly couldn't keep track of who everyone in Hayley's family was, there definitely needs to be a family tree at the front of the book!
Hayley comes from a very rich family in New York, but she's not the average rich girl spending daddy's money. She broken away from the family expectations and opened her own bakery, being an independent woman, although that doesn't stop her family butting in and adding their thoughts on how she should run her life. I really liked this independent side to Hayley, it really made her an interesting character, especially with the hidden vulnerability she keeps concealed as it slowly wares away at her.
In
Standing By the chapters alternate between Hayley and Mitch's POVs. I really liked Hayley's chapters, although honestly Mitch's did nothing for me. I felt like I gained absolutely nothing from his chapters. He's a nice enough character, I just preferred reading about him in Hayley's chapters rather than through his own. Maybe this all stems from the fact that a lot of the time I couldn't differentiate between the two chapters and was completely unaware of who's POV I was reading. In my opinion there needs to be a change in the narrative tone and the language used to distinguish between the characters. Yeah, there is a name at the beginning of each chapter, but a lot of the time I was reading on my Kindle App in the wee hours as I travelled on the train.
Standing By is a sequel, I never read the first book, but I don't feel that I missed out on anything or that my enjoyment of the Standing By was affected. That's why, in my opinion, you really don't need to read the first one in order to enjoy Standing By.
One thing that bugged me throughout reading was this question — what is Mitch's accent? There are references to him having a British accent but it was never outright stated. I would have really liked it to be a lot clearer. Other than that small issue I really liked Mitch, he sounded gorgeous (as most fictional men do) and he was so adorable and sweet behind the cocky and teasing persona.
I ended up really enjoying Standing By, it was perfect to read during my morning and evening train journeys. Have you read Standing By? Let me know what you think of it in the comments!
'Standing By (A Knight's Tale #2)' by Claudia Y. Burgoa
4 Stars
Labels: 4 Stars, A Knight's Tale #2, Book, Claudia Y. Burgoa, M, New Adult, Published 2014, Review, Romance, Standing By
