And this is a shame.īecause I would say that Save the Cake had a potential to be better, had it been allowed more time to stew. The characters aren’t allowed to breathe. New developments are shoveled in before the characters can even process what had just happened. Nothing changed with how they are written, with how they talk and react–but they are talking and reacting to things that shouldn’t have happened yet. The characters continue to feel whole though. It’s like there’s not enough time for everything to happen, and the structure suffers because of the breakneck pace the story suddenly employs. What I do know is that starting with Chapter Twelve, the pace suddenly goes into hyper-drive. I don’t know if they have a deadline to beat, or if the novels were longer and had to be shortened for physical printing, or what.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t know how Mina Esguerra’s Romance Class works. The author took time to establish the world Eloisa lives in, the family she lives with, and the people who orbit around her–but the pacing never lags. The first ten chapters of the book was a breeze to read. Which means the author had done her job well with the character. There’s just something about her, something I can’t put my finger on, that makes her breathe–that makes her come to life. I have to commend author Stella Torres for how grounded in reality her character feels. Which is why it was such a pleasant surprise to find that, from the moment we meet Eloisa Carreon, I knew she was a Filipina–even with her background in New York and Singapore. When I pick up local books that are in English, there is always a tendency for the protagonists to read and talk like western characters. Not because I had high expectations to begin with, but because my expectations rose while reading the book. Ignoring the fact that the back blurb of the book was misleading, I’m still a little disappointed with Save the Cake. With the wedding of the year fast approaching, Eloisa has a decision to make: Should she play it safe to avoid heartbreak, or take the risk on happiness with someone who can show her how to love again?” The attraction between them is undeniable, but Eloisa is weighed down by family expectations and emotional baggage from a past relationship. They discover a shared outlook on life and a mutual desire to escape the excesses of the nuptials.

When she is tasked with creating a masterpiece for a high-society wedding, Eloisa meets handsome videographer Sean Alvarez. She yearns for the independence she had while living in New York and Singapore, but her overprotective parents and big brother monitor her every move. “ Twenty-eight-year-old Eloisa Carreon has come home to work at her family’s bakery as a cake artist after years of studying and working abroad.

Save the Cake by Stella Torres