Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Love from Scratch

Super cute!!

If you like grumpy/sunshine, rivals to friends to lovers, boy falls first (and simps hard), feminist themes, and nods to Bon Appetit/Test Kitchen, this is a fun and quick read :)

Probably would have liked it more without the miscommunication trope, oh well.

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samcanuel's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!! The story was fantastic and the cast of characters was lovely. I could absolutely see this as a modern rom com. My main reason for only giving it 3.75 stars was the fact that the enemies part of the enemies-to-lovers story line was not as developed as I personally would have preferred. There were also points when Reese annoyed me, but mostly because she reminded me too much of me. I would absolutely recommend this book!

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elia_elizabeth_'s review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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markedwithanm's review

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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rachrreads's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring 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

3.5

I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Reese Camden is offered an experience of a lifetime when she gets a Marketing internship at her favorite show— Friends of Flavor. She is so excited and is vying for the fall internship, but unfortunately so is the other intern, Benny Beneventi. What makes things even worse? The fact that he is charming and Reese is falling for him. When the two are wrangled into doing a segment on Friends of Flavor one afternoon, they are not expecting it to become a regular thing. The two become an internet sensation and fans are shipping them. Reese knows it is dangerous to mix romance and work so she tries to keep Benny at bay.

This was such an adorable story and I love how it dealt with some important issues as well. Reese struggles with social media anxiety after being bullied in high school. She also struggles with anxiety towards relationships, which is in part due to the bullying she received after a relationship went south. There was also some sexual harassment and misogyny that has been interwoven into this story and it is dealt with beautifully.

Benny. Benny is such a sweet soul and I love how understanding he is towards Grace. He does not want to push her into something she is not comfortable with and encourages her to open up to him.

There was definitely some horribly cheesy parts as well which is why this is not rated higher but I would definitely still recommend <3

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onthesamepage's review against another edition

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challenging inspiring lighthearted slow-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? Yes

4.0

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really solid debut, and exactly what I happen to like in a contemporary romance. I do think that the characters seem more mature than I would normally expect from eighteen year olds, especially Benny. Maybe there's a bit of wish fulfilment in the way his character was written, but I honestly didn't care. It was nice reading about a love interest that takes his partner's concerns very seriously, and is eager to learn and always do better.

There are plenty of cute romantic moments between Reese and Benny, but a large part of this book actually deals with sexism in the workplace. Even though Reese and Benny both star in a new series on the cooking channel, the (male) bosses quickly show favoritism towards Benny. Reese, meanwhile, gets comments about how she should smile more for example. These kinds of double standards are nothing new, and an incident in Reese's past has made her extra wary when it comes to this kind of behaviour. But it's hard to stand up to it when your job or internship is on the line. She also garners way more vitriol from fans online than her male cohost. I appreciated the way the author handled Reese's situation. That said, I do think it would've made the story stronger if we had been able to see other women at the company dealing with (or having dealt with) similar incidents/treatment.

The book lagged slightly in parts, and there is a bit of repetition in the things Reese stresses about, as well as the feminist commentary (some of which was a bit on the nose too), but I had a great time reading this.

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bookwormbullet's review

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? No

4.5

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