Old-Fashioned Cupcake

I'm honestly stunned that there aren't any reviews for this series, so I felt like I had to add one. This is a basic slow-burn romance between a middle-aged man and his work subordinate. The romance progresses slowly, but the plot never feels slow -- the actual events of the story are well paced and fall into line with the heightening tension. It feels good, it has a satisfying ending, it's just overall nice. While the plot isn't necessarily stunning, it's pretty good. The art is absolutely amazing. The backgrounds are consistently gorgeous, without being overwhelming or distracting. The way the author illustrates food is incredible andconsistently amazes me throughout the story. While the character design is nothing crazy, the characters' expressions are unique and well, expressive, and the art style really suits the way they are executed. I also love the way clothing is drawn for all the characters, even those in the background. The characters were also a big draw for me. The main character consistently plays on his age, but rather than it being "I'm too old to be embarrassed about these things," it's "Oh my god this is so embarrassing I'm too old to be doing this," which creates a really fun energy. His loud, difficult characteristics play well off of the love interest's more subdued personality. Their dialogue also works very well together. One thing that surprised me a bit was the humor -- it was subtle, but consistently made the story more enjoyable and the characters almost felt more real for it. The dialogue is full of quips, sarcasm, and other expressiveness that I wouldn't typically expect from the genre (though it's not unwelcome!). It's not overplayed or heavy handed, but rather lightens the story as a whole and breaks the tension after heavier scenes. Just a more personal slant, but as a trans person, I actually read the main character as trans. He regularly expresses desire to have grown up as a woman, and multiple times starts thoughts with "If I were a woman..." This lead me to read this story as an older person, who has accepted that they will never actually transition, gets to live out some of the aspects of girlhood they have always wanted. I understand that this was probably not the author's intent, but it made the story that much sweeter to me. Anyway, I'd definitely recommend giving this a read. Even if it's not your style, it's short, sweet, and pretty to look at.