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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Yes Chef is a heartwarming and romantic story about Claire, a young American chef who moves to Paris to work at a Michelin-starred restaurant. There, she meets James, the new head chef, who is everything she's ever wanted in a mentor and a partner.
The book is beautifully written, with Andrews's descriptions of the food and the city of Paris bringing the story to life. The characters are well-developed and relatable, and the romance between Claire and James is slow-burning and believable.
I especially appreciated the way Andrews handled the workplace romance trope. Claire and James are both adults who are clear about their boundaries, and their relationship develops naturally and organically.
Overall, Yes Chef is a delightful read that will appeal to fans of romance, food, and travel. I highly recommend it!
I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book. I enjoyed reading it very much and I am looking forward to reading more by Waitlyn Andrews in the future.
The book is beautifully written, with Andrews's descriptions of the food and the city of Paris bringing the story to life. The characters are well-developed and relatable, and the romance between Claire and James is slow-burning and believable.
I especially appreciated the way Andrews handled the workplace romance trope. Claire and James are both adults who are clear about their boundaries, and their relationship develops naturally and organically.
Overall, Yes Chef is a delightful read that will appeal to fans of romance, food, and travel. I highly recommend it!
I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book. I enjoyed reading it very much and I am looking forward to reading more by Waitlyn Andrews in the future.
Unfortunately Not For Me
This book had great promise from the synopsis and I was excited to give it a go. Having watched a few cooking shows and read other books with the chef theme I thought it might be a winner. This wasn’t the case for me. This is a debut novel, and it shows. The final draft still feels like a book that needs polishing. This is not easy for me to submit a DNF because I am a firm believer of giving every book and author a fair change and read the entire book before giving up. Although when I reached the 25% mark, I had whiplash from the contradicting emotions and thoughts from Claire. I also didn’t connect with the hero and wasn’t invested to see if or how they reached their HEA. The writing felt forced which then gives an unauthentic vibe to the storyline. Normally I would read it till the end because most books have some growth and there’s usually something you see that makes you want to turn the page and continue but I could tell the level of immaturity with the characters wasn’t going to change and that is why I just couldn’t go on.
This book had great promise from the synopsis and I was excited to give it a go. Having watched a few cooking shows and read other books with the chef theme I thought it might be a winner. This wasn’t the case for me. This is a debut novel, and it shows. The final draft still feels like a book that needs polishing. This is not easy for me to submit a DNF because I am a firm believer of giving every book and author a fair change and read the entire book before giving up. Although when I reached the 25% mark, I had whiplash from the contradicting emotions and thoughts from Claire. I also didn’t connect with the hero and wasn’t invested to see if or how they reached their HEA. The writing felt forced which then gives an unauthentic vibe to the storyline. Normally I would read it till the end because most books have some growth and there’s usually something you see that makes you want to turn the page and continue but I could tell the level of immaturity with the characters wasn’t going to change and that is why I just couldn’t go on.
This man took her to a book store and let her pick out books. THEN he let her read while he made her an omelet. YES PLEASE!! Yes, Chef takes place in the city of love which is prevalent for the two main characters. There is witty banter with a plot that I couldn't get enough of! I connected to this story through my executive chef husband who works in a high end kitchen. We would talk about the similarities with his experiences, I feel that tis book brought us closer. Highly recommend this read all times of the year.
What a great story. If you have watched The Bear then you will know and appreciate this story. The whole idea is such fun and I can’t wait to read more by this author.
A book with a cute and yummy romance in the romantic backdrop of Paris - I quite enjoyed this book, especially the second half and really liked the characters as well. It was a refreshing change to delve into the world of food and chefs. The romance was quite tastefully done and I liked the side characters as well. I do think that the first half could have been more crisp as the slow-burn romance buildup felt quite long. I would not have minded even some conflicts in the beginning as well. Though I really like James, the male MC, and the way he treats Claire respectfully, I would have liked to see some more character/struggle on his end. Overall, I think it is quite cute and the dialogues were witty. Is anyone else craving Claire's mousse?
*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity.*
Claire Richards has worked HARD to get where she is. After making the decision to forge her own path, Chef Claire leaves the sun-soaked Napa Valley behind and stuffs herself into a tiny, Parisian apartment oozing with charm. She's made a name for herself at her new job as a hard working creative type, someone unafraid of a challenge and willing to think outside the box. However, when the legendary Type-A Chef James Sullivan starts running the Teaks kitchen, the tension between the two can literally be cut with a knife. Claire suddenly has to share her beloved morning routine with the very person who seems to hate her the most, unless... he doesn't actually hate her at all?
Pros:
- I loved James Sullivan. He was charming, funny, and overall just the classic Boy-Next-Door romantic lead (at least part of the time). His family was hilarious, and I'm dying for a sequel starring his pediatrician-sister living her best life in Rhode Island.
- The overall setting was fantastic! I loved the market, the apartments, the truffle farm, the city, the restaurant-- absolutely everywhere Andrews took the reader felt really well developed and stunning.
- Theo. I absolutely loved that cheese monger and wish I had my own grandpa-esque French man that provided me with the perfect cheese (and advice) every time I asked.
- I may be in the minority, but I also appreciated the waiting-until-marriage aspect. The decision wasn't religious based (at least not overtly), and I always enjoy representation in "pop-culture" books for people who have decided to wait for whatever reason.
Cons:
- Claire is weirdly jealous of every single woman to interact with James Sullivan, from the get-go. Some of this can be explained, but there was so much bitterness and unnecessary monolouging about the "green slime" of jealousy it felt overdone.
- As much as I loved James, he was so hot and cold it was honestly confusing. He was rude to Claire from the beginning (and then had the audacity to be confused when Claire points his behavior out... multiple times) and pretty much consistently switches from warm and loving back to Mr. Iceman until the last quarter of the book. It's exhausting, and no wonder the romance is such a slow burn!
- The speed of Claire and James' relationship was absolutely breakneck. Once Claire decides she's ready to be officially with James, they get married in little over a month-- right after her own sister's wedding. It felt like the classic puritan-culture marriage where they get married super fast just so they can have sex, which I'm sure isn't what the author was intending, but is definitely how it came off. Do people get married after mere weeks of dating? Sure, especially if, like the characters, they had a wonderful friendship to build off of, but it all felt a little... unnecessary. I would have much rather had an epilogue of them getting married at the truffle farm (or Teaks) after a year or so.
Overall, I did really enjoy YES, CHEF. It was fun, and a really strong debut from author Waitlyn Andrews. This is a great option for someone wanting a slow burn, will-they-won't-they featuring lots of food and wine!
Claire Richards has worked HARD to get where she is. After making the decision to forge her own path, Chef Claire leaves the sun-soaked Napa Valley behind and stuffs herself into a tiny, Parisian apartment oozing with charm. She's made a name for herself at her new job as a hard working creative type, someone unafraid of a challenge and willing to think outside the box. However, when the legendary Type-A Chef James Sullivan starts running the Teaks kitchen, the tension between the two can literally be cut with a knife. Claire suddenly has to share her beloved morning routine with the very person who seems to hate her the most, unless... he doesn't actually hate her at all?
Spoiler
Pros:
- I loved James Sullivan. He was charming, funny, and overall just the classic Boy-Next-Door romantic lead (at least part of the time). His family was hilarious, and I'm dying for a sequel starring his pediatrician-sister living her best life in Rhode Island.
- The overall setting was fantastic! I loved the market, the apartments, the truffle farm, the city, the restaurant-- absolutely everywhere Andrews took the reader felt really well developed and stunning.
- Theo. I absolutely loved that cheese monger and wish I had my own grandpa-esque French man that provided me with the perfect cheese (and advice) every time I asked.
- I may be in the minority, but I also appreciated the waiting-until-marriage aspect. The decision wasn't religious based (at least not overtly), and I always enjoy representation in "pop-culture" books for people who have decided to wait for whatever reason.
Cons:
- Claire is weirdly jealous of every single woman to interact with James Sullivan, from the get-go. Some of this can be explained, but there was so much bitterness and unnecessary monolouging about the "green slime" of jealousy it felt overdone.
- As much as I loved James, he was so hot and cold it was honestly confusing. He was rude to Claire from the beginning (and then had the audacity to be confused when Claire points his behavior out... multiple times) and pretty much consistently switches from warm and loving back to Mr. Iceman until the last quarter of the book. It's exhausting, and no wonder the romance is such a slow burn!
- The speed of Claire and James' relationship was absolutely breakneck. Once Claire decides she's ready to be officially with James, they get married in little over a month-- right after her own sister's wedding. It felt like the classic puritan-culture marriage where they get married super fast just so they can have sex, which I'm sure isn't what the author was intending, but is definitely how it came off. Do people get married after mere weeks of dating? Sure, especially if, like the characters, they had a wonderful friendship to build off of, but it all felt a little... unnecessary. I would have much rather had an epilogue of them getting married at the truffle farm (or Teaks) after a year or so.
Overall, I did really enjoy YES, CHEF. It was fun, and a really strong debut from author Waitlyn Andrews. This is a great option for someone wanting a slow burn, will-they-won't-they featuring lots of food and wine!
funny
lighthearted
This was such a cute read! If you enjoy the humor of a '90s romcom and the type of sweet romance that you can find in a Hallmark movie, you're sure to enjoy this book. Although I usually prefer my romances to be on the spicier side, I still enjoyed reading this closed-door romance--I smiled, I giggled, I kicked my feet. For me, this type of story works best as a palate cleanser, so I could definitely see myself reading another book by this author!
Please note: I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Please note: I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I really, really wanted to like this book more than I did. I loved all the tropes— foodie romance, forced proximity, forbidden romance—and all set in Paris?! But unfortunately the actual romance felt flat for me. The author’s writing style was very much “tell” instead of “show”, so we got very little dialogue and interaction between the FMC and MMC. Again, I enjoyed the plot line but I couldn’t buy into them actually falling in love. The final nail in the coffin was the last 30% of the book which took a sharp left turn (just not my taste) and ultimately felt incredibly rushed. This book had so much potential, I truly wished it was a better experience for me.
Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I'm not much of a romance reader, but I am a chef in real life so I felt like I needed to give this a try. This book was so easy to read and I felt like I was flying through it, which is abnormal for me when I read a book with my eyes without an audiobook. I was very torn with what to rate this because I was having so much fun until the last portion of the book. It would be a spoiler to go into detail as to what bothered me enough to lower the rating but the ending just felt rushed to me. I tend to find most romance books to be in the middle ground for me, but this book was an exception. I liked the slow burn, I liked the grumpy sunshine it was for majority of the book, and I liked the characters together. The characters did feel a bit flat for me but I can forgive it for a debut novel. Overall, I had a very fun time reading this and was giggling when cute things where happening between the two main characters, but by the last 80% I was groaning over their decisions and waiting for it all to be over.
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing me with an eBook copy to review.
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing me with an eBook copy to review.
I first wanted to thank Waitlyn Andrew's team for the opportunity to read an ARC of Yes, Chef. This slow burner did not disappoint.
Claire's journey I deeply related to. She found herself half a world away from where she was comfortable and doing something to better herself.
James played the perfect grumpy character in the beginning but just swept me off my feet in the way he cared for Claire and showed her what a true gentleman was like.
I enjoyed the immersion of fine dining not knowing what that looked like and the author describing it in a way that someone who didn't understand that world would.
This book was a very cute book and a great pallet cleanser. Characters contained depth but I really enjoyed the way the characters got to know each other before getting involved.
Thank you, NetGalley and Waitlyn Andrews, for the ARC.
Claire's journey I deeply related to. She found herself half a world away from where she was comfortable and doing something to better herself.
James played the perfect grumpy character in the beginning but just swept me off my feet in the way he cared for Claire and showed her what a true gentleman was like.
I enjoyed the immersion of fine dining not knowing what that looked like and the author describing it in a way that someone who didn't understand that world would.
This book was a very cute book and a great pallet cleanser. Characters contained depth but I really enjoyed the way the characters got to know each other before getting involved.
Thank you, NetGalley and Waitlyn Andrews, for the ARC.