Reviews

North to You by Tif Marcelo

journeyingjo's review

emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.5

mostlyshanti's review against another edition

4.0

I haven’t really read much romance before, but I really enjoyed this book. The conflict didn’t feel too engineered, and both Drew and Camille and strong, resilient characters who feel genuine. I liked the element of finanaces and how that affects decision making, and how sweet—and salty, and sour, all the flavours because this is a food book—the story was. Marcelo manages to wrench your emotions and cradle your hopes, all while creating a sexy, fun romance with some depth and no vulgarity. I’m so glad I read this!

afoolsingenuity's review against another edition

4.0

This book was utterly adorable. I'm so glad Nick pointed it out to me and told me to read because this is one of those books which is just such a joy to read.

This book is about the romance and the food. Those are the central points for me. I really liked that this was a second chance romance but also a kind of enemies to lovers romance as they were on opposite sides without even realising. It was different and fun and the characters were utterly charming.

theladyinreds's review against another edition

2.0

This started cute and there were paninis but the longer it went on the more my eyes rolled back into my head. I am becoming less and less able to read twenty-something characters. I get that young business owners make mistakes but the heroine makes some huge ones here and it didn't make sense and it made my brain explode. And the book doesn't seem to acknowledge this?

Also, the hero's uncle is a loan-shark-eque character and no one has a problem with this? WTF. I'll be over here screaming about how that's not how financial aid works and what the hell were you thinking until my face turns blue, thank you very much. I also found it ridiculous that all of these characters kept accidentally running into each other in a city the size of San Francisco despite living in different neighborhoods.

This story had potential but I couldn't put aside all the other things that bothered me.

alexalovesbooks's review

4.0

NORTH TO YOU is the kind of read that left me feeling happy, all those warm fuzzies crowding in my chest. While I do wish that there had been a little more buildup and tension between the couple, it was still great! Loved the foodie aspect to the story, and all the Filipino references made my heart happy too.

justkeyreads's review against another edition

4.0

Check out my review for this Filipino full of love, family & culture here on my blog.

kstutz's review against another edition

yes to all the food. plus really awesome family dynamics and swoony romance.

itisallmydoing's review

3.0

I'm getting old and cynical. Love the food, not so fond of the side dishes. Two twenty-somethings who never found each other on Facebook when social media features heavily in the story? A jerk of a best friend whose aggressive behavior towards others is excused by a drinking problem, which is miraculously solved by one good talking-to? I wanted to like this more than I did because I have no doubt the paninis are excellent.

xanthe's review

3.0

True North is the story of Camille and Drew who had a thing when they were in ninth grade and then run into each other ten years later, both back in San Franscico and both at crisis points in their lives. Camille is doing everything she can to make a success out of her food truck, Lucianna, so she can provide stability and art school tuition for her beloved younger sister, while Drew is on leave from the army, awaiting deployment to Iraq, and home to face his difficult relationship with his father and work at his family’s restaurant. So, I loved the setting and the great ordinary details about Camille and Drew’s lives and their families, plus even though I’m not a foodie, I do love it when people write about food and all the different ways that it can be prepared, served, and angsted about. What didn’t like what that this story boasted another miscommunication plot where Camille and Drew decided not to share their full lives, deliberately misled each other and omitted information so that when everything finally came out, there are scenes of recrimination and betrayal that derailed their real relationship issues and delayed their ultimately happy ending. (What kind of deeply upsetting secrets can they keep from each other about food trucks and family restaurants? Just you wait.) Also, the very real obstacle of Drew’s deployment to Iraq was mostly skipped over as Camille struggled with it and then the epilogue just picked up after he had returned. I suppose that would have been another several chapters of them skyping or whatever, but it felt like that we brought up and then ended up being a non-issue as it was happening. This probably makes it sounds as if I didn’t enjoy this book, which just isn’t so. The parts about their families and their respective foodie businesses were great, but I read the parts where they lied to each other while cringing. Despite that, this was a delightful story of connection and I’m a sucker for people reconnecting later in life after being parted. I’m definitely interested in reading more by this author, but hoping that she keeps the misunderstandings and secrets to a minimum.

souslesignedelalune's review

3.0

cw i think one side character is alcoholic, mention of dead family (parents + grandmother)

• foodie romance
- heroine owns a food truck in memory of her grandmother
- hero's family owns a Filipino restaurant

• second chance romance
- they were together in high school until one day she moved suddenly
- one day at a party, a guy won't stop following her so she asks Drew to kiss her, and she realized it's him only after the kiss. They decide to date without putting pressure on themselves because his deployment is happening in a few weeks. IT WAS CUTE

• family + expectations
- Camille lives with her younger sister, and she considers her best friend to be their family. It's them against the world
- Drew doesn't know how to explain to his family that he wants to be in the military and not in the food industry


I liked this story and I will probably read the next one because I loved Bryn and want to know more about her (also: fake dating!!) but i have to be honest, it was very long sometimes and I had some problem being invested, but nonetheless it was cute and well-written.