Sweet Heat

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What to expect

'Hilarious, hot and heartfelt' MEG CABOT
'Romantic, sexy, fun, delicious and important' MARIAN KEYES
'A triumph' BETH O'LEARY

🔥🔥🔥

The most hotly-anticipated romcom of 2025, from the author of Reese's Book Club Pick and TikTok Book Awards winner Honey & Spice...



Not every relationship makes it out of university.
But Kiki and Malakai were supposed to be forever.
Everything was perfect, until it all went up in flames.

Three years after their epic break-up, Kiki's worked hard to forget her first love. But just as she thinks she's got her life under control - jumping into the distractions of her romance-by-calendar-invite boyfriend, and plans for her best friend, Aminah's, wedding - Kiki's career implodes, the family business teeters on collapse, and Malakai returns . . .

As Malakai takes up his role as Best Man opposite her Maid of Honour, suddenly Kiki can think of nothing else: their simmering chemistry, what went wrong, and why it is now impossible to act normal around each other.

Juggling a new job, the prospect of her parents' restaurant being sold, and keeping her best friend from going full bridezilla, dealing with The Ex is the last thing she needs. But somehow the spark between them is only getting hotter - and threatening to ruin everything.

They just have to get through the wedding, so why does it feel like playing with fire?

Heart-melting, hilarious and completely addictive, Kiki and Malakai return in this standalone second novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Bolu Babalola.

💖 LOVE FOR BOLU BABALOLA'S WRITING 💖

'Rarely is love expressed this richly, this vividly, or this artfully' CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS

'Bolu understands desire better than anyone else' ANNIE LORD

'Incisively funny' ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

'Absolutely intoxicating' CASEY MCQUISTON

'Everything you could ever want from a romance and more - the vibes are simply immaculate' ZOELLA

'Babalola's writing shines' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

'Breathes new life into the genre with its vibrant characters and sexy, authentic voice' RED

'Romance will never be dead, as long as Bolu is writing it' JESSIE BURTON

Critics Review

I savoured every word of this searingly sexy second-chance romance. Bolu Babalola is in a league of her own - she has an Austen-like ability to capture the essence of a person, a feeling, in just a line. I didn't think she could top Honey & Spice, but she absolutely has.
Beth O'Leary
Epic! A classic in the making. Bolu delivered-and with extra spice! Fans of Honey & Spice will Eat. This. Up.
Lizzie Damilola Blackburn
Sweet Heat is a reminder that Bolu Babalola understands the minutiae of not only romantic relationships, but also the complexities of human behaviour in every beautiful, strange and sometimes painful circumstance. With both a lightness of touch and a depth of feeling, Sweet Heat is about the love that keeps looking for you no matter the cost, and with Babalola's signature humour, a story you'll want to read over and over again.
Ore Agbaje-Williams
Whip-smart, super sexy and brimming with Babalola's characteristic wit, Sweet Heat is an intoxicating read that will make you consider sending a risky text to your favourite ex
Yomi Adegoke
Babalola expertly captures the frustration and tension that emerges when we encounter old flames, and asks us to consider how love can be equally transformative and disruptive. It's exactly the kind of book you need this summer.
Guardian

User Reviews

Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
5.0
5.0
I did not think Babalola could impress me more than she had in Honey & Spice, but 20% in and I knew this book was somehow better.

She builds up and expands Kiki's life so broadly and in detail before finally revealing that Malakai is no longer in her life. The slow reveal of the crumbling of their relationship in the past while they spend more time together in the present.... What a tension. To show the devastation while feeding me hope.

Weruche Opia is an undeniably and incredibly talented narrator in this. The speed and rhythm increases when Kiki hits a spiral, the cracked, hoarse voice when a character is crying, the clear enuncation that pops in my ear as she emphasises the poetry in the prose... She adds such depth to already 3D characters. She breathes life into them, and made me laugh and cry along with them.

Sweet Heat was a really lovely read that covered a lot of the difficulties people face with milestones and quarter life crisis. It didn't not stay contained to the romantic relationship but did show how am the struggles knocked into each other and cause us stress. I did appreciate it greatly.
ahbuggrit 28/01/2026
5.0
5.0
PBee 05/01/2026

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