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eclectically_bookish 's review for:
The Slowest Burn
by Sarah Chamberlain
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Ellie was widowed at age 27. 2.5 years later she’s living in her in-laws’ in-law cottage, cooking them shabbos dinner every Friday, emotionally supporting her mother-in-law, and working to keep everything in control, all while working as a cookbook ghostwriter. When she’s asked to ghostwrite for goofy and energetic Kieran O’Niell, fresh winner of a celebrity chef reality show, her world is turned upside down and so is his.
This started out with a fairly typical enemies-to-lovers (with obvious attraction) workplace romance. Bickering between these obviously opposite characters started early and became a sort of foreplay between them. The cookbook writing aspect of this plot was new to me and I enjoyed watching Ellie and Kieran find their flow together while trying to keep everything professional as their attraction grew. I appreciated that we get less typical romance characters in Ellie as a 30-year-old widow (and curvy!) and Kieran as a 27-year-old, sober, short and red-haired man with ADHD. The way Ellie’s grief is explored and the relationship she has with her parents-in-law felt realistic and I could see who these characters were so intertwined after Max’s unexpected death. Kieran’s own interactions with his parents and his feelings of failure also brought a depth to the story I wasn’t expecting. On the surface it seemed light and zippy, but there was more to it than that. The true star for me was the setting. As a northern Californian, I recognized the Berkeley Marina, Ocean Beach, the Mission district, and so many other places mentioned in the book. This was more open-door than I usually prefer, but overall I really liked watching the love between this unlikely pair unfold and am happy to have read this lovely debut!
4.25 stars
— NOTES —
Genres: romantic comedy
POV: first-person, dual
Content: death of spouse (past), grief, ADHD, neglectful + overbearing parents
Romance: open door scenes in chapters 20, 21, and 30 as well as significant longing throughout the book
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC. All thoughts are my genuine reactions and reading experience.
This started out with a fairly typical enemies-to-lovers (with obvious attraction) workplace romance. Bickering between these obviously opposite characters started early and became a sort of foreplay between them. The cookbook writing aspect of this plot was new to me and I enjoyed watching Ellie and Kieran find their flow together while trying to keep everything professional as their attraction grew. I appreciated that we get less typical romance characters in Ellie as a 30-year-old widow (and curvy!) and Kieran as a 27-year-old, sober, short and red-haired man with ADHD. The way Ellie’s grief is explored and the relationship she has with her parents-in-law felt realistic and I could see who these characters were so intertwined after Max’s unexpected death. Kieran’s own interactions with his parents and his feelings of failure also brought a depth to the story I wasn’t expecting. On the surface it seemed light and zippy, but there was more to it than that. The true star for me was the setting. As a northern Californian, I recognized the Berkeley Marina, Ocean Beach, the Mission district, and so many other places mentioned in the book. This was more open-door than I usually prefer, but overall I really liked watching the love between this unlikely pair unfold and am happy to have read this lovely debut!
4.25 stars
— NOTES —
Genres: romantic comedy
POV: first-person, dual
Content: death of spouse (past), grief, ADHD, neglectful + overbearing parents
Romance: open door scenes in chapters 20, 21, and 30 as well as significant longing throughout the book
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC. All thoughts are my genuine reactions and reading experience.