Review: Dances and Cookies by Felicitas Ivey

Title: Dances and Cookies (A Daily Dose Story)

Author: Felicitas Ivey

Pages/Word Count: 54 Pages

At a Glance: The story offers much more than suggested by the blurb.

Reviewed By: Jennifer

Blurb: After living hard in the big city, Paavo settles down in the country with a bakery and his cat. He tutors the local college students, and life is good. Chinese exchange student Xue needs a little more help than some, and Paavo motivates Xue with the promise of a dance if he passes his lit class. Xue is smart and funny, and Paavo wouldn’t mind getting to know him better, even with the age difference. But he doesn’t know if Xue is interested or even gay.

Maybe the dance they’re both looking forward to will make the feelings between them clear.

Review: This story was a cute, short piece for Dreamspinner’s Daily Dose. It involved a bakery/coffee house (which had me reaching for a cup and craving sweets at midnight when I read this), an energetic exchange student, and a well-intentioned former stockbroker (at least I think that’s what his job was).

Paavo is the owner of a bakery in a college town, and he tutors students. He falls for the energetic and different Xue after tutoring him, but he doesn’t want to take advantage of his position as tutor until Xue makes a move on him. I loved that about Paavo. And when a former colleague of his shows up wanting him back—even though Paavo never belonged to him in the first place—Xue asserts his control over the situation.

I loved that there was relatively no drama in this book. It was short, and though Ivey could have added a ton of angst with misunderstanding, she doesn’t. Thankfully. Sometimes you want a book that will appease your sweet tooth, just like a good cookie and a sweet cup of coffee. Dances and Cookies does that.