Grumpy sunshine chef and restaurant owner seem like your thing? Then you have to read The Romance Recipe. I ended up reading this one in a few days. I loved getting to know both Amy and Sophie. This is another perfect foodie romance to add to your list. Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
Amy Chambers: restaurant owner, micromanager, control freak.
Amy will do anything to revive her ailing restaurant, including hiring a former reality-show finalist with good connections and a lot to prove. But her hopes that Sophie’s skills and celebrity status would bring her restaurant back from the brink of failure are beginning to wane…
Sophie Brunet: grump in the kitchen/sunshine in the streets, took thirty years to figure out she was queer.
Sophie just wants to cook. She doesn’t want to constantly post on social media for her dead-in-the-water reality TV career, she doesn’t want to deal with Amy’s take-charge personality and she doesn’t want to think about what her attraction to her boss might mean…
Then, an opportunity: a new foodie TV show might provide the exposure they need. An uneasy truce is fine for starters, but making their dreams come true means making some personal and painful sacrifices and soon, there’s more than just the restaurant at stake.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: emotional abuse, biphobia
You tell me queer grumpy sunshine and I’m in. And The Romance Recipe is entirely precious and also sizzling. The chemistry between Sophie and Amy is off the charts. But even more so, I loved that both Amy and Sophie see each other. They try to protect each other – and end up making mistakes – but they’re both struggling with vulnerability. With not only accepting help, but seeing themselves as worthy enough. That’s probably the number one reason I enjoyed The Romance Recipe.
How we need someone who will challenge us, push back against us, and let us know when we need to re-evaluate. But also to support us and to help us let go of some of our responsibility we carry on our shoulders. I adored the swoons in The Romance Recipe. But most importantly how Sophie and Amy work through their own issues. To realize that we can love and be loved, but it’s not someone else’s job to love or approve of us. We have to know we are worthy of love and find our own sense of approval. Find The Romance Recipe on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.