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The Molinas and Ramires families have been feuding for several generations. The Ramires own savory bakery Salt and the Molinas sweet bakery Sugar. They’re right across the street from each other in Olinda, Brazil. They either yell at each other or try to ignore each other, but customers keep both shops busy with orders of their delicious baked goods.
But then the uneasy balance of their lives is upset when a big supermarket builds in the area. Foot traffic in the cute neighborhood of family-owned shops gets less and less. And both families are worried.
Lari Ramires has been studying hard in school so she can be “the first Ramires to go to college.” Her mother wants her to follow in the footsteps of her late father, whom she never knew, and work in finance. Not that Lari actually wants that. But her world is upended when her beloved grandmother, the heart of Salt, dies. She begins wondering what she really wants for her future. And worrying about the future of Salt.
Pedro Molina is the grandson of the owner of Sugar. He is a promising chef in his own right. But he’s the enemy. Even so, Lari ends up proposing that the two work together to protect both their families’ bakeries. The situation is that dire.
Of course, as they spend some time together, Lari starts wondering if Pedro isn’t actually as bad as she had thought. He’s actually kinda nice. And cute. But can they possibly trust each other? After all, as her grandma said, “Trust neither thin-bottomed pans nor Molinas.” And even if they succeed in saving their bakeries, would their families accept the two of them… together?
Salt and Sugar is a really cute story. There are definitely serious elements: Lari is dealing with grief and hurt. The families are facing the possibility of losing their livelihoods. And there’s not a lot of witty banter here between the two love interests. There’s a lot of hurt and misunderstanding. But once they start to open up and allow for the possibility of trust, the teens find a lot of common ground. It’s very sweet. Lari and Pedro both get to figure out what they are passionate about and how to make their careers happen. That’s fun to watch as well.
On top of it all is the icing sugar on the cake: the constant talk about delicious food! Brazilian native Rebecca Carvalho shares many details about savory and sweet traditional foods and sets a delightful scene in an area of Brazil near the larger city of Recife. It made me want to visit for sure. Luckily, I WILL be visiting Brazil soon, as it happens, so the timing of hearing about this book and reading it was perfect.
Rated: Mild. Profanity includes a couple of uses of mild language, and 6 instances of the name of Deity in vain. There are a few scenes of kissing.
