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kjnrose's review against another edition
3.0
This was a hard story to get into, but it was low angst with no real big surprises in it which I needed at the time.
echoesoutloud's review
3.0
Chef in the Wild is a romance between professional Chef Baldwin "Pete" Powell and food truck owner, Murphy Haynes. When Baldwin gets fired because he's lost his original creativity, he falls into a major slump. He loses interest in all things food and just life in general. Going back home to Vermont sparks his interest but it's the bright, garish food truck at the corner of his street that really brings him back to life.
Murphy Haynes went in a completely different route after culinary school. After quitting his job at a fast paced kitchen in a restaurant, he invests in his own food truck, That's a Wrap! And after a year of finding his place in the streets of New York, his truck is finally standing on its own. But no matter how his truck is doing, Murph himself finds himself being drawn to the street of Chef Baldwin, over and over again, until one day when he finally catches the eye of the Chef.
Murph's food makes Baldwin find his way back to food and cooking. Murph himself makes Baldwin enjoy life again and they find themselves falling for one another, even though their paths in life may take them away from one another.
This book wasn't very long to begin with, but even then I felt like the introduction was dragged out and prolonged. We didn't get into the actual meat of the story until about 35% into the book. And while the story got much more interesting and better paced, it felt very structured. The flow was just a little off and was a little to abrupt in places.
The actual plot was pretty good. I really enjoyed the opposites attract aspect of it, and the food in this book was downright drool-worthy! The romance was very light, but really sweet. It sometimes felt like a coming of age story, because one of the main plot lines of this books was Baldwin finding his way in life and really just finding the place when he truly belongs.
While the introduction was a little drawn out, it would have fit in perfectly if the book was a little longer with more content and interactions between the characters. The book takes place over the course of a year, and actually seeing some of the little things that happened after the characters meet would have made it so much better.
I'd recommend this book if you're looking for a light, fun read with a heavy emphasis on food! The food was honestly my favorite part of this book cause some of those dishes they made sounded really, really good!
Full review at https://echoesoutloud.wordpress.com/2021/06/17/review-chef-in-the-wild-by-m-j-oshea/
"I received a copy of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review."
Murphy Haynes went in a completely different route after culinary school. After quitting his job at a fast paced kitchen in a restaurant, he invests in his own food truck, That's a Wrap! And after a year of finding his place in the streets of New York, his truck is finally standing on its own. But no matter how his truck is doing, Murph himself finds himself being drawn to the street of Chef Baldwin, over and over again, until one day when he finally catches the eye of the Chef.
Murph's food makes Baldwin find his way back to food and cooking. Murph himself makes Baldwin enjoy life again and they find themselves falling for one another, even though their paths in life may take them away from one another.
This book wasn't very long to begin with, but even then I felt like the introduction was dragged out and prolonged. We didn't get into the actual meat of the story until about 35% into the book. And while the story got much more interesting and better paced, it felt very structured. The flow was just a little off and was a little to abrupt in places.
The actual plot was pretty good. I really enjoyed the opposites attract aspect of it, and the food in this book was downright drool-worthy! The romance was very light, but really sweet. It sometimes felt like a coming of age story, because one of the main plot lines of this books was Baldwin finding his way in life and really just finding the place when he truly belongs.
While the introduction was a little drawn out, it would have fit in perfectly if the book was a little longer with more content and interactions between the characters. The book takes place over the course of a year, and actually seeing some of the little things that happened after the characters meet would have made it so much better.
I'd recommend this book if you're looking for a light, fun read with a heavy emphasis on food! The food was honestly my favorite part of this book cause some of those dishes they made sounded really, really good!
Full review at https://echoesoutloud.wordpress.com/2021/06/17/review-chef-in-the-wild-by-m-j-oshea/
"I received a copy of this book from Gay Romance Reviews, and this is my honest review."
roguesmith's review
4.0
I received a copy of this from GRR and this is my honest review.
I like M.J. O'Shea's writing, I've read a few of their books now and they're always a good time, I'm always entertained and this was no different. I liked both Murphy and Baldwin, and even the background characters were well fleshed out. I felt bad for Baldwin being let go as he was from a job he loved and his feeling of aimlessness after losing all he knew.
If I'm honest, I'd have liked to get to know Murph a little better but I liked the slow development of the relationship between the two. I'm a sucker for a good slow burn and this had all that. I loved Baldwin finding his passion in food again due to Murph and that the two of them shared that. If I'm honest, there's a tiny part of me that kind of wished I'd got to see Casey getting some comeuppance but I understand he has his own book so maybe I have to read that to get that closure.
All in all this is a sweet story with a nice HEA, even if I wished I could knock their heads together at times.
I like M.J. O'Shea's writing, I've read a few of their books now and they're always a good time, I'm always entertained and this was no different. I liked both Murphy and Baldwin, and even the background characters were well fleshed out. I felt bad for Baldwin being let go as he was from a job he loved and his feeling of aimlessness after losing all he knew.
If I'm honest, I'd have liked to get to know Murph a little better but I liked the slow development of the relationship between the two. I'm a sucker for a good slow burn and this had all that. I loved Baldwin finding his passion in food again due to Murph and that the two of them shared that. If I'm honest, there's a tiny part of me that kind of wished I'd got to see Casey getting some comeuppance but I understand he has his own book so maybe I have to read that to get that closure.
All in all this is a sweet story with a nice HEA, even if I wished I could knock their heads together at times.
itssarahc's review
4.0
This book read like a Hallmark movie - and that is not a bad thing.
Baldwin and Murph meet at Baldwin's lowest - when the former chef has been fired from his previous job where he'd spent years and is at a loss of what he would lik to do next. He goes up to Murph's food truck and doesn't expect to be impressed. In fact, he very much expects to NOT be impressed, but he is. Because Murph's food truck puts together amazing and dynamic wraps that excite Baldwin for the first time after getting fired.
But I'm jumping ahead of myself - because before we even get to this meeting, we get to spend a fair amount of time with our MCs. We get to learn about their families and their personal struggles. We get to see glimpses of thier lives outside of the relationship, and I love that. I love that we aren't thrown right into a meet cute with their lives immediately revolving around one another. Instead, we learn about Murph's professional crush on Baldwin. We see Baldwin's struggles with finding who he is and where he fits after the loss of Ravenna. Then we get two full characters meeting.
The relationship between the two men is not a story of Insta Love. Instead, we get to watch them get to know one another, bonding first over food and slowly unravelling an attraction to one another that turns into an inferno. They see one another for awhile before making things official. They take their time. The main story spans an entire year and in that year, we get to really see the relationship flourish and I was absolutely living for it. I was absolutely living for the realistic pace and struggles of this romance.
The side characters were also so amazing. I loved Murph's roommate, Scooter. He just blossomed. I loved the setting and the stories and just everything about this book.
Until the ending. While they do have an HEA, the specifics of the HEA kept this book from being a five star rating. The fact that Murph gave up his food truck and moved to Vermont with Baldwin despite not really knowing what he was going to do felt too reminiscent of what he said happened n the past with his ex-boyfriend. While the text gave us the differences, I do feel that I would've liked this more if we saw him have a plan of what to do while he was there other than possibly working at the restaurant with Baldwin - especially given that he states multiple times that he doesn't like working in a traditional kitchen.
I hope we get more answers on this part in the later books in the series, because while the couple got an HEA, I feel that it came at too high of a price for Murph and it made the HEA less fulfilling for me.
** THIS IS A VOLUNTARY REVIEW OF AN ARC PROVIDED BY GRR **
Baldwin and Murph meet at Baldwin's lowest - when the former chef has been fired from his previous job where he'd spent years and is at a loss of what he would lik to do next. He goes up to Murph's food truck and doesn't expect to be impressed. In fact, he very much expects to NOT be impressed, but he is. Because Murph's food truck puts together amazing and dynamic wraps that excite Baldwin for the first time after getting fired.
But I'm jumping ahead of myself - because before we even get to this meeting, we get to spend a fair amount of time with our MCs. We get to learn about their families and their personal struggles. We get to see glimpses of thier lives outside of the relationship, and I love that. I love that we aren't thrown right into a meet cute with their lives immediately revolving around one another. Instead, we learn about Murph's professional crush on Baldwin. We see Baldwin's struggles with finding who he is and where he fits after the loss of Ravenna. Then we get two full characters meeting.
The relationship between the two men is not a story of Insta Love. Instead, we get to watch them get to know one another, bonding first over food and slowly unravelling an attraction to one another that turns into an inferno. They see one another for awhile before making things official. They take their time. The main story spans an entire year and in that year, we get to really see the relationship flourish and I was absolutely living for it. I was absolutely living for the realistic pace and struggles of this romance.
The side characters were also so amazing. I loved Murph's roommate, Scooter. He just blossomed. I loved the setting and the stories and just everything about this book.
Until the ending. While they do have an HEA, the specifics of the HEA kept this book from being a five star rating. The fact that Murph gave up his food truck and moved to Vermont with Baldwin despite not really knowing what he was going to do felt too reminiscent of what he said happened n the past with his ex-boyfriend. While the text gave us the differences, I do feel that I would've liked this more if we saw him have a plan of what to do while he was there other than possibly working at the restaurant with Baldwin - especially given that he states multiple times that he doesn't like working in a traditional kitchen.
I hope we get more answers on this part in the later books in the series, because while the couple got an HEA, I feel that it came at too high of a price for Murph and it made the HEA less fulfilling for me.
** THIS IS A VOLUNTARY REVIEW OF AN ARC PROVIDED BY GRR **
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