Brioche in the Oven - Victoria Brownlee

I was pleasantly surprised when I read Fromage à Trois last year. It was a fresh and funny story, a great debut. For that reason, it was a no brainer to read this second part.
The story continues right where it ended in the previous book. Ella and Serge are now together and she loves cheese and France. But now, there’s a new ingredient in the story, un bébé. Life is about to change for both of them. More so, because Serge wants to go to the country and settle down there.
I liked the new setting of the story, the French country seems to be beautiful but most of the time, when talking about books in France, we get to see stories with a Paris setting. Therefore, it was a nice change.
We also get to know Ella and Serge in a different environment, out of their comfort zones and it certainly will not be easy for them and their relationship.
The story develops smoothly and is fast-paced. The writing continues to be fresh and enjoyable. Nevertheless, I did not like Ella as much as I liked her in the first book. There were many misunderstandings and a lot of things that seemed silly to me, but I guess it was a part of the story. What I felt about the ending was that it seemed a little bit rushed. Like everything was solved quickly. The part about the birth and the first days did not seem very accurate either (but again, it is a fiction novel, right?). I did like the Epilogue and it makes me wonder if there will be a third book (I’d read it, of course). I also liked the new characters like Chuck and seeing a new side of old characters such as Ella’s Mom, Clotilde and Chris, and more of characters like Billie.
Overall, it was a nice story, a perfect book to read in one evening. Although it was not as good as the first book, at least for me; I enjoyed it and will keep an eye for Victoria’s upcoming books.