Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
i didn’t really have any strong feelings on either of them, but i thought their relationship was sweet. the scene where dahlia and her mom patched things up almost made me tear up lol and the stuff with london’s dad was also sad. i’m kind of a sucker for an mc with parental issues. anyway good book, not mind blowing but still fun!!
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Dysphoria
Minor: Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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:
Yes
I liked very much that London wasn’t misgendered even when repeating unkind things other contestants had to say about them.
Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly is a cute and steamy contemporary queer romance. We follow our two main characters with alternating points-of-view.
Dahlia is trying to reinvent herself after her recent divorce via the reality competition series Chef's Special. London, who plans to come out as nonbinary on national television during the first episode, is placed at the station behind them.
I selected this as my Book of the Month pick back in January 2022, and I'm glad I did! I had a hard time putting it down, and the world needs more romance novels featuring nonbinary protagonists. I saw a lot of myself in Dahlia, a queer woman who probably has ADHD though that wasn't directly spelled out.
The competition seems to be modeled off of MasterChef, which is one of my biggest guilty pleasure tv series. The contestants are all home chefs vying for $100,000. It was really cool seeing the literal behind-the-scenes for the making of a show like that. I wish we got a bit more depth with the other contestants, though. The book is very tightly focused around Dahlia and London.
The romance is a bit insta-lust and starts off with a bang. Due to their forced proximity, that mostly made sense to me, so I went along with it. They also had amazing chemistry. I loved the author's focus on consent for everything; our two leads communicated very well when it came to intimacy.
I'm never a fan of a third act breakup and the one here threw me out of the joy of reading the book for a hot minute since it was due to miscommunication (my least favorite trope).
Tropes in this book include: reality show competition, forced proximity
CW: transphobia, homophobia, implied misgendering, divorce, dysphoria
If you want to see more from me, check out my blog, Bookstagram, TheStoryGraph, or Twitter.
Dahlia is trying to reinvent herself after her recent divorce via the reality competition series Chef's Special. London, who plans to come out as nonbinary on national television during the first episode, is placed at the station behind them.
I selected this as my Book of the Month pick back in January 2022, and I'm glad I did! I had a hard time putting it down, and the world needs more romance novels featuring nonbinary protagonists. I saw a lot of myself in Dahlia, a queer woman who probably has ADHD though that wasn't directly spelled out.
The competition seems to be modeled off of MasterChef, which is one of my biggest guilty pleasure tv series. The contestants are all home chefs vying for $100,000. It was really cool seeing the literal behind-the-scenes for the making of a show like that. I wish we got a bit more depth with the other contestants, though. The book is very tightly focused around Dahlia and London.
The romance is a bit insta-lust and starts off with a bang. Due to their forced proximity, that mostly made sense to me, so I went along with it. They also had amazing chemistry. I loved the author's focus on consent for everything; our two leads communicated very well when it came to intimacy.
I'm never a fan of a third act breakup and the one here threw me out of the joy of reading the book for a hot minute since it was due to miscommunication (my least favorite trope).
Tropes in this book include: reality show competition, forced proximity
CW: transphobia, homophobia, implied misgendering, divorce, dysphoria
If you want to see more from me, check out my blog, Bookstagram, TheStoryGraph, or Twitter.
Loved the setting and representation, I just don’t think I am a fan of romances written in the third person. It was cute but I felt names were way overused in dialogue - not very organic to say someone’s name 10 times while on the phone with them
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Really dragged towards the end. I feel like that is somewhat of a trend for this genre
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes