The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Babalola, Bolu. Honey and Spice. Headline Publishing Group. 2022. Kindle.

The protagonist of the novel, Kiki, narrates the story in first-person past. Kiki was in her second year at Whitewell College in England, but she had spent most of her time at school keeping to herself and running her radio show, Brown Sugar, in which she gave dating advice to the other Black students, who playfully called themselves the “Blackwell” community. However, after a negative experience in high school, Kiki never dated anyone seriously because she did not want to get close to anyone except her best friend, Aminah. To stave off boredom, though, Kiki had been secretly hooking up with Zack Kingsford, the president of Blackwell and the Black Student Union. Zack was rude and unintelligent, though, so Kiki broke things off with him and walked out into the hallway where she ran into Malikai, a transfer student she had never seen before. She was shocked to find that he was handsome and charming, but she assumed he was just like every other worthless man.

Kiki went to the radio station to record her show with Aminah. When she asked about the transfer student, Kiki learned that Malikai had been dating multiple women from different cliques and causing discord and drama between them all. Kiki decided to go on air and warn all the Blackwell women to stay away from the “Wasteman of Whitewell.”

The next day, Kiki met with her advisor and learned that if she wanted to earn a spot at the summer pop media program at NYU she had been dreaming about, she would have to grow her audience for Brown Sugar and work more closely with the community. Dr. Miller suggested that Kiki should work with a new film student who might inspire her.

Kiki went to the weekly Blackwell party, FreakyFridayz, and was confronted by Zack, who tried to win her back. He would not leave her alone, so she ran up to Malikai and asked him to kiss her on a whim. He hesitated, but then he kissed her. They spent the night pretending to be interested in one another for show, but then Aminah ran up to Kiki and warned her that the women of Blackwell were online accusing her of warning them away from Malikai so she could have him to herself. Kiki got flustered and accused Malikai of kissing her to make him look bad. He did not deny her accusation, so she threw a drink on him and left.

The next morning, Aminah told Kiki that the women of Blackwell had loved seeing her throw a drink at Malikai. Kiki learned Malikai was the talented film student Dr. Miller had told her about. She apologized to Malikai and complimented his film. He said he was working on a new movie about romance in college and said he wanted her to help him because of her expertise on the subject. She agreed to do so as long as he would pretend to date her so she could create a new segment for her show: Gotta Hear Both Sides.

Kiki went to the library and talked to her classmate, Adwoa, who asked her to use Brown Sugar to protest Zack’s debate about Black Lives Matter with the racist Whitewell Knights. Kiki said she did not want to get involved with politics. Malikai invited Kiki out to dinner, and they started to get to know one another as they began filming the movie and recording the radio segment.

Kiki started spending more time socializing as Malikai’s fake girlfriend, and she befriended Chioma and Shanti. She told them the truth about how she had started dating. They promised to keep her secret. Malikai surprised Kiki with tickets to the book festival, RomCon. When they returned to Malikai’s apartment, they spent the night together cuddling. In the morning, they started to kiss, but then Malikai stopped them, and Kiki left. She did not see Malikai until the next weekend when everyone went to Ty Baptiste’s country house for a big birthday party. Malika apologized for rejecting her and said he cared about her and their relationship so much that he was afraid to mess it up. They kissed and spent the night together.

Kiki and Malikai started authentically dating for a couple of weeks. A protest broke out in front of the radio station. Kiki found Adwoa and asked her what was happening. Adwoa explained that Zack had been taking bribes from the Whitewell Knights to sabotage the Black Student Union. Kiki went on air and called for Blackwell to demand a by-election to replace Zack with Adwoa for president, Shanti for events secretary, Chioma for student liaison officer, and Aminah for press officer.

Kiki and her friends threw a campaign party, but Zack ruined it by going online and accusing Kiki of trying to ruin his life because she was a jilted lover of his. He shared intimate photos of her that he had taken in secret to prove his point. Kiki ran out, humiliated.

Kiki hid out at the library the next day. Malikai found her and the two got into a silly fight that escalated into a real fight. They decided to end their relationship. Kiki spend two weeks in her room until her friends arrived and forced her to come out and take Zack down. Kiki and her friends went to the AfroWinter Ball and put on a live show of Brown Sugar in which she admitted the truth about her relationship with Malikai and denounced Zack as a liar. Malikai then put on a screening of his movie. He and Kiki admitted their love for one another. In the end, Zack was expelled from school and Kiki decided to run as president before going to her summer program at NYU.