Reviews with content warning for Cancer - The Romance Recipe

I think my one problem with this book is that it never seemed to be able to decide what kind of story it wanted to be, so to speak. There are plenty of common romcom tropes and conventions here. At the same time, there are a lot of heavier, more serious themes, such as Sophie figuring out her bisexuality and dealing with the aftermath of her break-up, and even more prominently so, Amy's continued grief for her mother and her attempts to reconnect with her Dad. Now, it's fully possible to balance romcom tropes and heavier topics, but I don't feel like the author reached the right balance here. For me, the book constantly swung back and forth between a couple of very different moods. One moment, I'd be reading a fairly lighthearted melodrama; then I would turn the page and find myself plunged into something far more emotionally bruising.

For what it's worth, I feel like the author did an excellent job portraying all those heavy feelings and experiences. I'd love to read some less romcommy books from her, perhaps some angsty, hurt/comfort-ish contemporary romance with a real focus on the hard feelings. I think she'd be amazing at that! But this book was marketed as a romcom and tried to actually be a romcom half the time, so. Yeah.

I did very much like both leads and their relationship. Even through all of the misunderstandings, they have the kind of connection where they both lift each other up. Amy helps Sophie restore her confidence. Sophie helps Amy learn to accept help. It's so clear how they make each other's lives better and more complete, and I really, really shipped them. I guess Amy's arc resonated with me more—I have a soft spot for characters who have no idea how to deal with feelings, so they decide they're Just Not Empathetic and spring into action instead of making connections while feeling entirely too much under the surface. But Sophie was also a really interesting character with a full personality and a logical arc. I loved her relationship with her mother: rocky yet accepting. And her relationship with cooking, too—how she felt like now that it was her job, not just her passion, she wasn't good enough, and how she rekindled the "passion" part over the course of the story.

My other favorite parts involved Amy's relationship with her twin and all the moments focused on the restaurant: all the day-to-day in the kitchen, the glimpses of the staff's interactions, and of course all the tv show parts. I wish there was more focus on all of that, tbh!

Content Warnings