Synopsis: Now that high school is over, Ari is dying to move to the big city with his ultra-hip band―if he can just persuade his dad to let him quit his job at their struggling family bakery. Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot fathom a life wasting away over rising dough and hot ovens. But while interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an easygoing guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. As they become closer over batches of bread, love is ready to bloom . . . that is, if Ari doesn’t ruin everything.
Review: Bloom is a cute romance between two guys, Ari and Hector. I’ll be honest, I didn’t like Ari that much. He doesn’t stick up for Hector when his friends make fun of Hector. He also uses Hector and it made me feel uncomfortable. That might also be because I saw a lot of similarities between Ari/Hector and Me/SomeoneINoLongerTalkTo. But the situation with me didn’t end with a cute romance, so I might just be bitter. I did love Hector though. He was so sure of himself and what he wanted. He also knew enough from past relationships to realize when he needed to step away from Ari. That was a comforting attribute.
The general romance was cute. Ignoring how I felt about Ari, the set up of Hector starting work at Ari’s family bakery was fun to read. Hector really makes Ari think about why Ari is trying to leave. And he helps Ari find what he loved about his hometown again. There was a scene where Ari is in the shower and listens to his parents as they discuss telling him something, but they never actually bring it up again. Unless I missed that part of the story.
I don’t feel great about rating this story because of how personal Ari and Hector’s relationship hit me. It’s a fairly popular gay romance, so definitely check it out if it sounds up your alley.
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