All's Fair in Love and Pizza: MM Grumpy-Sunshine Romance

All’s Fair in Love and Pizza by Lane Hayes is the story of two ex pro football players who have pizza and bagel shops next to each other, start a feud over pizza bagels, and end up falling in love. Mateo Cavaretti was a football player who started a pro career but had it cut short when his Uncle Sal got sick and his father passed away. Their pizza parlor, Boardwalk Pizza, in Haverton, California, had been in the family for several generations and it was now up to him and his cousins Sal, Vanni, and Jimmy to run it. He had a business degree so he ran the financial side and Sal was head of the kitchen and the others helped out, but Mateo wasn’t sure that this was where he wanted to spend the rest of his life. They had hoped to expand the parlor when the business next door closed but it was bought by someone else. Rob Vilmer had played pro ball for several years and always knew he wanted to start a bagel shop because his grandfather had one in Philly and he had loved growing up there. Both he and Mateo had played college football at Haverton College but didn’t know each other very well then. Now it was 8 years later and he had the shop, Great H Bagels, and his best friend Amber, who went to cooking school, would help him with it. Both men had been in the closet but Mateo was out now and Rob was going to come out when the time was right. They meet outside the shop and Rob tells him he wants to make pizza bagels and Mateo promptly tells him he can’t do that next to a pizza…

I had to be patient with this, and hope that it wouldn’t be another enemies to lovers story that I just really wanted to be over. Rob & Mateo started out as rivals but it was stupid and unnecessary. Like, really contrived. Mateo being angry and wanting to hate Rob literally made no sense. But the story reveals - after they’ve started sleeping together - that Mateo was sad and angry and bitter. And because of that he was still a jerk over halfway in. It made sense but none of that was Rob’s fault. Plus it’s revealed that Mateo was a “hothead” according to his family, and temperamental even in his early football days. If you can be patient and get past that, it’s a cute story.

I loved this super sweet mixed with spice low angst quick read. Who knew sexual tension and pizza bagels would cause an all out war that ends in love. Matteo has a pizza shop and who else but Rob, an ex football player he went to school with is opening up a bagel shop next door and starts selling......gasp......PIZZA BAGELS! Well Matteo wasn't about to have that and neither was Rob even if he had a crush on Matteo back in the day. He may still be good looking but he was a grump and wasn't going to make him back down. Even as sparks fly when they're near each other they chose to ignore that and instead chose a bake off. Now they're meant to compete and face off and pretend to be enemies when really they want each other. But they're better off ignoring that until it can't be ignored anymore. This was a fun read and I had a good time reading it.

Standalone. Former teammates. Adversarial to lovers. Small town. Quick read. Dual POV. Retired from professional football, all Rob wants to do is open a bagel shop in his small college town. However, he doesn’t expect fireworks and anger from his business neighbor and former teammate Matteo, and especially not the sparks that fly from their mutual attraction. I was happy that this story balanced the bake-off concept with the romance brewing, leaning more into the relationship, which was fine with me. Matteo embraced his anger, fear for his family business, and snark, never really backing down given that he slowly was becoming more attracted to Rob. And Rob was the golden retriever energy to Matteo’s black cat, was genuinely confused by Matteo’s attacks, but still wanted to protect Matteo once feelings started to grow. I found myself smiling through a lot of this story which had banter, steam, and a group of secondary characters that were secretly supporting the Matteo and Rob ‘ship. This was a fun romp with the small town feel and two men that couldn’t deny their connection. 4.5 rounded up

I had already read the short story this novel is based on, and I loved reading this longer story with deeper characterization, added side characters, and just so much heart. Mateo and Rob start off as "enemies" due to Rob opening a bagel store next door to Mateo's family's pizza parlor and an accidental threat to make pizza bagels. There is simmering tension between them, fueled by Mateo's insecurity in the face of Rob's NFL resume. Once their attraction overrides their rivalry, it's game on between them and their cooking competition. I loved seeing these two become lovers and (reluctant on Mateo's part) friends. Good family side characters, small college town feels, and a low-angst happy ending guaranteed!