Review: Very compelling story - must read!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 27, 2014
Okay so WOW!  This book was nothing like what I expected.  This is neither good nor bad.  It's just taking some time to wrap my head around it.Saint Kate of the Cupcake by L.C. Fenton, what a deceiving title that is.  I'll be honest I was expecting lots of sweet, syrupy, sugary, romantic gush.  What I got was a very detailed account of one woman's marriage and the ultimate fallout of an affair she has.  It's written in such a way that I dare any married woman to read this an not find real comparisons within their own marriage.  It's my opinion that marriages go through many ups and downs and at some point we've all felt the way Kate does in this book.  L.C. Fenton is a very very good writer.  I am very impressed that this is only her second book.  There is a certain maturity and eloquence in Ms. Fenton's writing style. The author delivers a story here that is both compelling and intriguing.Kate Winters is living the life many women would be envious of.  She's married into "old money" when she agrees to wed Jack Preedy.  She was an Australian transplant, working as a lawyer in London when she met him.  Their relationship to me seemed to always have issues but if you were to believe Kate she truly did love Jack.  She was living a life of aristocracy with Jack, one that she knowingly signed up for.  Their twin boys were away at school, when Kate really began to despair over the lack of intimacy in her marriage.  Every time she approaches Jack on the subject he shuts down.  Kate's self esteem takes a healthy blow and she dives even further into her career writing cookbooks.  As she slowly becomes a celebrity in the cooking world, Kate also continues to struggle with her relationship with Jack.A ski holiday to France, surreptitiously gives Kate an opportunity to have an affair with Anders Larsen.  Anders is currently LA's hottest leading man.  He's a television star and one that Kate has secretly been attracted to.  Like many women he's her celebrity crush.  Their chance meeting couldn't have come at a better or maybe worse time.  Anders is definitely not shy and he makes it quite clear to Kate early on that he's attracted to her.  One thing leads to another and they find themselves sneaking romantic visits while Jack is off skiing with their friends.  The affair continues though even after Kate returns home to England."It was like he was a block of delicious chocolate and I had to sit there looking at it, not allowed to eat. What is worse is the chocolate wanted me to eat it. The only thing stopping me was my own willpower, which was not one of my greatest strengths. I could never eat just one of anything, biscuits, chips, chocolate, cake – if they were there and open, they were eaten. My only defence against them was just not to have them at all and to give away anything I baked so it wasn’t there to nibble at."There is a lot of back story in Saint Kate of the Cupcake.  You literally go with Kate on this journey as she guides from the beginning of her marriage to Jack, right up into the end result.  Kate doesn't take having an affair lightly.  It wasn't a whim, well maybe at first it was.  It quickly becomes painstaking process for her.  One that she evaluates and re-evaluates, before, during and after.  She continuously struggles with the difference between being happily ensconced in everything Anders and her duty to her husband, sons, and everything entailed with being a Preedy.  She does not shy away from accepting responsibility.  She tries very hard to convince herself that she's confused about her feelings for both men.  But in the end Kate does manage to find her happily ever after.“People will forgive a lot of things you do for love,” Lindsay continued. “The only exceptions are where money or fame is involved, then they become a lot more cynical and the latitude you might otherwise get evaporates. The more money or fame, the less latitude. Unfortunately for you, you symbolise both money and fame and you are going to be crucified if you leave Jack for Anders.”As for the back story, well lets just say there's lots of juicy stuff in this book.  Lots of scandalous family secrets.  I was slightly disappointed that they weren't developed more.  I think this book could have been much more intriguing and deep if they hadn't been glossed over.  In fact there is a story line surrounding Crispin that really could have and should have been so much more.  I did have a bit of a timeline/continuity issue with Crispin.  Something is revealed later in the book that should have been discussed earlier.  It made earlier encounters with him appear confusing.  Kate's responses in my opinion would have and should have been different.I did find myself confused by Kate's background.  I still can't figure out where she went from being Lawyer to baking in her kitchen writing cookbooks.  If I missed it, where did I miss it?  Why did she quit being a lawyer?  This doesn't necessarily take away from the story, it just left me scratching my head a bit.  I also felt that Kate's tale albeit in depth was somewhat aloof and impersonal.  Her grief/heartache at times were hard to grasp when the rest of the time she seemed shut off.  I found this to be the case in her relationship with Anders.  Maybe because of the lack of dialogue.  I needed to be outside her head more so that I could maybe hear his thoughts, feel his actions, understand exactly how he made her feel.  All of that should be relayed in the tone and sometimes it felt rushed or even forced.  In fact, I didn't believe, like really truly believe Kate felt the way she did till the end.  Maybe that was the authors intent.  I'm not sure.  But it wasn't until some of her final scenes that I actually felt emotion and believed it.This is a very good story as a whole.  One that will leave you contemplating, possibly even re-evaluating your own relationships.  You may even find it difficult not to draw comparisons with Kate.  I look forward to seeing what the future holds for L.C. Fenton as she garners more support and fans of her writing.A copy of this book was kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*