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kajoreads's review against another edition
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It took me almost half the book to get invested in the romance, but I was flying through the pages by the end.
I picked this up for the enby rep, but ended up liking Dahlia’s storyline more. If you ask me, she was the better written character out of the two.
That’s not to say I disliked London, I just couldn’t quite grasp what their personality was supposed to be like. Their characterization felt inconsistent to me.
The cooking show setting was fun & definitely my favourite part of the book. #TeamDahlia
I picked this up for the enby rep, but ended up liking Dahlia’s storyline more. If you ask me, she was the better written character out of the two.
That’s not to say I disliked London, I just couldn’t quite grasp what their personality was supposed to be like. Their characterization felt inconsistent to me.
The cooking show setting was fun & definitely my favourite part of the book. #TeamDahlia
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Transphobia, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Biphobia
Minor: Blood, Dysphoria, Classism, Animal death, and Cursing
msradiosilence's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Transphobia, Alcohol, and Bullying
booksandharps's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Transphobia, and Biphobia
Minor: Dysphoria
froggydanny's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Transphobia, and Cursing
Moderate: Alcohol and Dysphoria
annorabrady's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
As an ace person, reading romance novels can be weird because it's hard to identify with or understand different experiences and feelings. like when someone turns you on so much you want to lick the scar on their hand or having any desire to have someone's toes in your mouth. So naturally there were some parts of this story that felt so unnatural to me though I imagine others would find them equally natural.
I do like the story though. And I appreciate that both the characters had their own insecurities to work through, goals to discover and work towards, and relationship challenges both inside and outside the romantic relationship to overcome. I did feel like the some aspects were too rushed. But overall it was good
I do like the story though. And I appreciate that both the characters had their own insecurities to work through, goals to discover and work towards, and relationship challenges both inside and outside the romantic relationship to overcome. I did feel like the some aspects were too rushed. But overall it was good
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Transphobia, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Homophobia, Dysphoria, and Deadnaming
purplepenning's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Read during the #TransRightsReadathon March 20-27, 2023..
Sweet, silly, spicy, serious, sensual. This is a contemporary rom-com between two cooking show contestants who are each experiencing a bit of a quarter-life crisis. Dahlia (f/queer) is recently divorced from her high school sweetheart and feels disappointing and directionless. Teaching herself how to cook and develop warm, comforting flavors has helped her get through the worst of it. Winning the $100k competition prize might help her get through the rest. London (nb/pan) is settled in their non-binary identity even if they're still unsettled by their father's lack of acceptance. They're hyper-focused and prepared — to put the strained relationship with their father aside, to ignore the trolls, and to establish their place as the first non-binarycontestant winner of a major cooking competition so they can use the prize money to start a nonprofit for LGBTQ kids. There's an undeniable spark between the two, but is there a future together ahead of them?
An entertaining and enjoyable read that had me laughing out loud in places even as I cringed at others. The writing is vivid and tactile. Which is generally great, but ... I don't ever want to recall someone's hands working with raw chicken when they're in the middle of a sensual massage. There's also a large cast of secondary characters and not nearly enough time to develop them, and a background of socioeconomic disparity that's not explored much. Overall, a really good debut with excellent LGBTQ rep!
Sweet, silly, spicy, serious, sensual. This is a contemporary rom-com between two cooking show contestants who are each experiencing a bit of a quarter-life crisis. Dahlia (f/queer) is recently divorced from her high school sweetheart and feels disappointing and directionless. Teaching herself how to cook and develop warm, comforting flavors has helped her get through the worst of it. Winning the $100k competition prize might help her get through the rest. London (nb/pan) is settled in their non-binary identity even if they're still unsettled by their father's lack of acceptance. They're hyper-focused and prepared — to put the strained relationship with their father aside, to ignore the trolls, and to establish their place as the first non-binary
An entertaining and enjoyable read that had me laughing out loud in places even as I cringed at others. The writing is vivid and tactile. Which is generally great, but ... I don't ever want to recall someone's hands working with raw chicken when they're in the middle of a sensual massage. There's also a large cast of secondary characters and not nearly enough time to develop them, and a background of socioeconomic disparity that's not explored much. Overall, a really good debut with excellent LGBTQ rep!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, and Transphobia
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Dysphoria, Excrement, and Blood
misgendering (alluded to and explored without being explicitly written), coming out, unaccepting family, internet trolls (alluded to and explored, not explicitly written), cooking gore and detailed descriptions of animal proteins, food-related sex play, public sex, divorce (backstory), pressure to have kids (backstory), socioeconomic pressure and disparityandloveistoolong's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, and Transphobia
Minor: Mental illness and Dysphoria
kshertz's review
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
This is such a sweet love story. Finally, a non-binary main character ! Their love story is amazing and you fall in love with them both. I love the cooking perspective and the cooking show. It was such a fun ride. I highly recommend for those who want to read an lgbtqia+ Romance.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Outing, and Transphobia
lunarmagi42's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Transphobia
Minor: Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Panic attacks/disorders
gracelyn's review against another edition
5.0
I don’t know what to say. Majority of people I know who have read this book kind of feel like it’s “mediocre” but I loved it. Only once did I stop and be like “seriously, are we stereotyping this still?” which happened to be that “all” lesbians dress in “farmer clothes”.
Trigger warnings: misgendering
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Dysphoria