The Art of French Kissing by Brianna R. Shrum

Jun 10, 2018 Cristina Monica rated it did not like it

Shelves: competition, food

This book contains:

➽ A competition.
➽ Lots of food talk.
➽ A boarding school setting.
➽ A love/hate relationship.
➽ A headstrong main character.

A winning combination for me. And yet I didn’t enjoy any of it, because it is followed by:

➽ A poorly-developed storyline.
➽ Predictable scenes.
➽ Amateur-ish writing.
➽ Extremely childish behaviour, sabotage
➽ Forced/unnatural-sounding dialog

I had to force myself to read this, and it’s not like I picked it up after reading the best book ever written. Hell, I tri ...more

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Apr 10, 2018 Camila Roy ••RoyIsReading•• rated it liked it

RATING: 3.5/5

ARC provided by Edelweiss and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

You know what I love more than anything else in the world? Books! Among other things like writing, dancing, listening to music, eating....Okay eating is at the very top of the list. I love food more than people. And that is the reason I was drawned to this book.

We follow Carter Lane, a young girl who wants to become a chef. She gets the opportunity to compete for a prestigious scholarship in Savannah, in hopes ...more

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Sep 19, 2018 may ❀ rated it really liked it

Shelves: 200-pgs, super-cute, binged, clichéd-to-death, i-am-trash, decent, look-at-that-beauty, contemporary, standalones, marshmallow-fluff

✔️ Book #5 done for the Contemporary-A-ThonBook for the challenge of: "read a contemporary from a new to you author"

this was so fricken cheesy (yes i deliberately chose that word) and i loved it, i dont even recognize myself anymore

description

- this book is like masterchef or chopped or any other cooking competition and my foodie soul was all here for it
- i LOVED the cooking and baking, i thought the author was able to capture the scenes really well. the havoc that usually arises in the kitchen, the h ...more

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Apr 27, 2018 Tatiana rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Fans of Top Chef

Recommended to Tatiana by: kirkus

Shelves: 2018, ya, romancelandia

3.5 stars

I am either super lucky to come across TWO romance novels in a row that I liked (never happens!), or I am currently just predisposed to consuming romance and can look past the genre limitations. What can I say - I liked The Kiss Quotient and I enjoyed The Art of French Kissing, although to a lesser degree.

The Art of French Kissing is a summery read, with cute banter, low stakes drama and yummy descriptions of food. The romance is set in a Savannah Culinary School where two dozen of jun ...more

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Feb 27, 2018 ✶Rachelle✶ rated it it was ok

Shelves: romance, contemporary, arc, ya

2 stars

**I received this eARC in exchange for my honest review**

A Chopped YA romance...yeah I can get behind this.

I love the Food Network. My favorite chef/show is Alton Brown's Good Eats. I even own several of his cookbooks, and all of his recipes I've tried have turned out fabulous (unlike another chef I know *coughGiadacough*). So hey...a YA about serious chef-ery? I'm on board.

Unfortunately....

I couldn't get on board with the main character

This book had a strong premise and a great start. ...more

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Mar 28, 2018 Amy Leigh rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley

I didn't know going into this book that I would adore it as much as I did! This story is about following your dreams no matter what comes up to make you feel less-than, even romance. I need this beauty in hardcover please! The cover is gorgeous and I can't wait to re-read this as soon as it comes out!

Carter Lane is seventeen and has been anxious ever since she sent in her application for a cooking competition where the prize is a full ride scholarship to Savannah's Culinary Institute. As soon as ...more

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Feb 18, 2018 Kayla rated it really liked it

This book was sent to me by the publishers for an honest review so thank you so much. Everything that is talked about is my own opinion

This book follows Lane as she enters a cooking competition against some of the best young chefs out there. She then becomes very competitive with her fellow contestant Reid. They start to sabotage each other's food and everything gets out of control. Lane is questioned if this is Hate or something more.

So I never expected to enjoy this book as much as I did. This ...more

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May 28, 2018 Stacee rated it really liked it

Shelves: edelweiss, doctor-who-reference, read-in-2018

I was intrigued at a cover filled with macarons, but sold at the promise of hate to love.

I liked Carter and Reid. They have some excellent banter and the button pushing is perfection. Their chemistry is almost instantaneous and it was fun to read that play out. Especially when they stopped fighting and started flirting. There’s a fun and small, core group of characters and I liked most of them.

Plot wise, it was pretty good. I enjoyed the revenge-y parts {even though Carter WAY overstepped the ...more

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May 18, 2018 Cri (PaperbacksandPizza) rated it liked it

Shelves: netgalley, read-in-english, young-adult, contemporary, stand-alone, read-in-2018, romance, 3-stars

First of all, I have to say I am not a native english speaker so, please, I prefer to not be attacked, if I made any mistakes. Instead of do that, it would be nice if you corrected me, thank you :)

RELEASE DATE: JUNE 5TH, 2018.

Most importantly, I would like to thank NetGalley and publishers for allowing me to read this book. Thank you very much.

Don’t know about you, but I love reading contemporaries in summer. All that fluffiness, plus they are mostly set in summer itself and all

First of all, I have to say I am not a native english speaker so, please, I prefer to not be attacked, if I made any mistakes. Instead of do that, it would be nice if you corrected me, thank you :)

RELEASE DATE: JUNE 5TH, 2018.

Most importantly, I would like to thank NetGalley and publishers for allowing me to read this book. Thank you very much.

Don’t know about you, but I love reading contemporaries in summer. All that fluffiness, plus they are mostly set in summer itself and all those adorable boys –sometimes even too much fictional to be real- I will never meet are my jam. The release date, June 5th, is absolutely the perfect choice for this book.

But what does this book talk about? It talks about Carter, a gilr who has always dreamt of being a chef, that has been accepted to run a competion to win a scholarship to her dream school. Sounds perfect, right? But Carter doesn’t know yet that Reid Yamada, in line to compete against her, projects to sabotage her. Let the best win!

LIKES:
✔ Finally something refreshing in YAs: a cooking competition! I really liked the idea of it.

Also, THE FOOD. Of course, if it talks about a cooking game, food is featured. Since food and books are my favourire things in life, I couldn’t be more happy.

✔I really flew through it! The writing style is simple, but perfect for a teenager. I didn’t sleep my daily 6 hours for this book (I know I should sleep for 8, but I never do). I wanted to know what was going to happen next so DESPERATLY. Like, give me more!

✔ Probably the main reason I decided to not rate this 2 stars is due to Carter and Reid. As a couple, I adored them! I lived for them and the waiting was destroying me, piece after piece. The author knows how to write some cute drama angst romance. Definitely. Okay, I was reading this book in class once and I couldn’t control myself. Result: while the teacher was testing some people, my hands were shaking, I almost screamed and I was fangirling over them way too hard. It’s actually weird I like the romance the most in a book! Usually, it’s the first thing I dislike.

DISLIKES:
✘ If I have loved this book for the romance, I have hated it for all the cliches that are in it. It’s a shame, because it really had potential. I couldn’t help myself from rolling eyes every damn time a cliche was coming. Since that, the book was quite predictable. I am a little disappointed too. I thought it could have been labeled as an unique book, but clearly it isn’t. The cooking game set thing distracted me and made my hopes way too high.

✘I didn’t undestand all that fighting between Carter and Reid , at the beginning. If someone ever tried to sabotage me in a competition, I wouldn’t even hesite to tell that to judges. I know that adding a little revenge to the book makes it more interesting, but after a few ones, they became just annoying and unnecessary. They almost made the characters look like childish and not enjoying able at all.

✘TOO MUCH DRAMA Look, I love drama. Confusional and ‘oh-what-will-happen-next’ fictional and real stories when it comes to other people, but this one: NO. Carter was just being so cliche and predictable with that.

Overall: I recommend it as a summer read, but to people who just want to read adorable romance without expecting so much.

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May 13, 2018 The Candid Cover (Olivia & Lori) rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, arc, 2018-releases, netgalley

4.5 Stars

The Art of French Kissing by Brianna R. Shrum is a fantastic contemporary. I cannot even begin to tell you how long I have been waiting for a book about a cooking competition. Honestly, this one is exactly what I wanted with a high-stakes competition, a rivalry, and some mouth-watering descriptions of food. I wasn’t so sure about the main character at first, but she really turned around. This story is original and cute, and I definitely enjoyed it.

Full review on The Candid Cover ...more

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Mar 03, 2018 Roobie rated it liked it

Shelves: arcs, contemporary, 2018-challenge, book-boyfriend, romance, cover-porn, standalone, heroines-to-throat-punch

⭐3 stars⭐

"He's just this guy here who went out of his way to completely screw me on day one."

"How did he screw you?"

"In the kitchen," I say. Then immediately. "DON'T. DO NOT."

That was a cute book that actually made cooking seem fun (see, mom, that was the way to go) and made me crave macarons BUT our main girl Carter was such an annoying character. She'd get mad over..well..pretty much anything and she just acted like a brat I just couldn't like.

I liked Riya and most of the other cha ...more

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Feb 13, 2018 Laurence R. rated it really liked it

Shelves: to-review

I was really impressed by this book. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew that it would probably be cute, fun, and that it would involve cooking. It was all of those things, but also so much more. The characters seem real and they’re likeable, even when they’re acting like jerks. The competition is interesting, even for someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy cooking (I love eating though). There is also an undeniable chemistry between the two main characters and it gave me so. many. feelings ...more

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Mar 29, 2018 pagesandteastains rated it liked it

Shelves: 2018

2.75/5 stars

First thing's first.

I thought this was based in France? Or at least some sort of French culinary school? Where was the French cooking?!

But I suppose I shouldn't complain as cooking has already been slashed through.

Oh, man. So let's see. I actually liked this book. It was like watching Masterchef but with all the behind the scenes and high school kids. I loved all the stuff related to cooking. And I loved all the references. I mean, Carter and Reid meet by introducing their Hogwar ...more

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Jun 11, 2018 Scrill rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary, arc, romance, ya

ARC provided by Edelweiss for a fair review.

All Carter Lane wants is to be a chef. She gets the opportunity to a challenge that could win her a full ride scholarship at the culinary school of her choice. Unfortunately Reid Yamada tries to sabotage her from the first challenge, leading her to a cooking vendetta. But being thrown together has Carter confused about whether she hates the guy or if she has other budding feelings.

The Story-
I am going to just flat out tell you that I love Chef Ramsey a ...more

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Feb 12, 2018 mith rated it really liked it

Shelves: arcs, contemporary, in-betweeners, kindle-or-ebook, 2018-publication, standalone

3.5ish stars! Was not a fan of the drama at the end but overall, AHHH, this was so refreshing! Really adored this one and I'm so glad bc it was one of my anticipated reads of the year. Review to come closer to release date!

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Aug 26, 2018 Shorouk Abd Elhamid rated it liked it

The book was enjoyable . I liked it . It had tons of cooking and made me hungry 😀 but that's it . I couldn't find any thing else in it . The romance was good enough but I hated the fight between the two main characters.

For the characters, I loved Reid with all his adorableness . I didn't like Carter , she wasn't doing any thing right . The only thing I liked about her was her determination.The other characters were beautiful.I loved them and thier interactions. I wished there was more of the fa ...more

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Apr 27, 2018 Zoë ☆ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, netgalley

This book was so adorable, funny and unique!!

It was really fun to read about the cooking contest, it was like 'watching' a cooking show while also having the 'behind the scenes' which is very cool. The characters were also very cute and I definitely recommend if you like contemporaries and food! =D

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Jan 21, 2019 Stardust rated it it was ok

Shelves: cute-stuff, contemporary

Umm so it went a little like this:
Pretty-cute cover
Annoying Female lead
Not-so-special Male lead
Petty fights
Cringy nicknames
Slow-burn romance

This was a quick read and quite likable too but the writing was so amateurish that I was close to losing interest in the beginning.

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Mar 22, 2018 Obsidian rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: kyd-booklikes, netgalley

Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my review or rating.

Well the book started off promising and then faltered for me pretty early on. And even when the book tries to right-side itself it goes back down again due to the actions of the main character (Carter Lane). I did read the book synopsis so the author/publisher is up front about the fact that Carter is going to get revenge on a boy that screwed her over in a culinary competition she is competing in. The Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my review or rating.

Well the book started off promising and then faltered for me pretty early on. And even when the book tries to right-side itself it goes back down again due to the actions of the main character (Carter Lane). I did read the book synopsis so the author/publisher is up front about the fact that Carter is going to get revenge on a boy that screwed her over in a culinary competition she is competing in. The issue is for me, what the boy did was minor, he apologized repeatedly, and the actions that Carter took could have gotten him sent home so I was not on her side. But the words he used when talking to her were sexist so they pretty much cancelled each other out. There was also very little discussion of food to be had. I didn't get a sense the author was a cook. I wanted more descriptions of what the food they were making was and the ingredients they were using.

"The Art of French Kissing" has 17 year old Carter Lane going to Savannah, Georgia to compete in a culinary competition. Carter wants the win so bad she can taste it (pun intended). However, the first day of the competition, a rival, Reid Yamada lies about cheese she needs for a grilled cheese sandwich and she vows to get revenge on him. The revenge consists of Carter tripping the guy in a kitchen and I was not down for that. All I could think of was how he could have been hurt and injured someone else.

So most of this book is Carter hating Reid and doing things to get back at him and bah. It was not that interesting to me. Besides the big issue I really had is that they both like each other and you are supposed to be rooting for two people who acted like a couple of assholes towards each other when they first met and afterwards.

The competition is mentioned, but the author doesn't even bother describing the secondary characters beyond a few. And for me, I was more interested in two secondary characters (Will and Riya) than I was in Carter and Reid. I wish we had gotten a chance to know more than just four characters. We also have a bigoted ass in the competition which I think we are supposed to be happy gets taken down a peg by Carter, but she actually shoves this guy at one point and I just rolled my eyes. She goes around shoving and grabbing to the point I wanted to say "just because you are a teen girl does not mean you don't respect others spaces."

The writing is just okay. I wanted more description of the food, the recipes, I wanted to see why Carter was supposedly so good at cooking cause I didn't get that at all. I said in one of my updates, that a good idea would have been to end each chapter with a recipe of the food that Carter was cooking in the competition or something she mentions so that way there is a nice linkage there.

I also had a huge issue with most of the story reading about Carter's feelings of doubt, insecurity, and immaturity. I just was over it by the end of this book. You find out she's lashing out at Reid because even though he never said anything, she feels inadequate and like she shouldn't be at the competition. This comes out of nowhere by the way. I think it was just a justification for once again why Carter is an ass to Reid. It also doesn't work for me that it would be Reid making her feel this way since bigoted ass character flat out tells her repeatedly she's not good enough to be there, so her ire should really be focused on him.

The flow was not great. I thought things got better once Carter and Reid came to their "truce" and actually seemed to be working together and were not being jerks. Of course that all comes to an end due to Carter being an ass again. I was so happy to be done with this book.

This takes place in Savannah, but besides the author talking about how hot and humid it is, she didn't work a lot of the city in this book which is disappointing. Savannah is a great place to eat some Low Country food. I would have thought a culinary competition taking place in the south would have at least thrown a soul food or country challenge at the teens. Also speaking of the competition, it was not interesting at all. Probably because we only follow four (well five if you count bigot and okay six because the author does mention another female competitor by name) and you don't get a chance to really hear how others cook. I love Top Chef and other food shows like that so I was thinking this book would be up my alley. Instead I was just bored and really annoyed you had people hiding food and sabotaging recipes and the "judges" not saying anything about it.

The ending was okay, I just was glad to be done with this book when I finished. ...more

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Nov 04, 2018 Samantha (WLABB) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018, 2018diversereads, ya, romance, arcs

This was Carter's shot at her future. If she won the competition, she would have a full ride to culinary school, which was an important step towards achieving her dream. The only problem came in the form of an extremely handsome teen chef, who was bent on challenging her every step of the way.

I am a fan of hate-to-love romances, and the pranks were sort of funny. However, I will admit that the story really picked up for me when Reid and Carter were forced to work together, and the angst was turn This was Carter's shot at her future. If she won the competition, she would have a full ride to culinary school, which was an important step towards achieving her dream. The only problem came in the form of an extremely handsome teen chef, who was bent on challenging her every step of the way.

I am a fan of hate-to-love romances, and the pranks were sort of funny. However, I will admit that the story really picked up for me when Reid and Carter were forced to work together, and the angst was turned down a notch.

I actually loved Reid and Carter together. They shared a great dynamic, and I enjoyed the way they played off each other. There was one moment in the book, which stood out to me. It was depicting a sexual encounter, and there were so many things done well. We are starting to see more and more explicit consent in books, and I was glad to see it here, however, there was also this point, where the character checked herself, and made sure she wasn't getting caught up in the moment. There was something about the way it was done, which made a real impression upon me, and I think it's great for teens to see examples like this.

Now let's talk about Reid. He kept winning me over again and again. He would do these little things to show Carter that he cared, and I may have swooned or let out an audible "awww" here and there. He didn't just shower her with affection though, he supported her, and built her up, when she really needed it. Carter wasn't the most confident about her skills, and felt like she didn't belong in the competition, but Reid reminded her, that she earned her spot and deserved to be there. This helped her with her self-growth, and who wouldn't want a guy who not only makes you swoon, but also builds you up?

This was a pretty intense competition, and Shrum threw in a mix of challenges along with all the signature drama commonly found on any cooking reality show. That's why I loved the group of friends she assembled for Carter. Her core group was quite diverse, and they formed a bond over their love for food, never letting the competition sully their friendship.

It was great that Carter was able to find her "people" at school, but she was also lucky to have such an awesome family waiting for her at home. We only get bits and pieces of her family via phone calls, memories, and messages, but they are definitely a good bunch of people, who I would have liked to get to know better.

Oh! It was so hard reading the food scenes, because I just wanted to taste it all. Shrum paints a rich picture, and describes each dish in such detail, that my saliva glands were working overtime. I don't even like to cook, and I was sort of inspired to go make something.

And the ending! It left me in a really elated state. I mean, with an ending like that, it doesn't even matter what happened at any other point in the book. But seriously, this was a fun teen Top Chef, which made me hungry and left me with a smile.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS ...more

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Aug 25, 2018 Eileen (BookCatPin) rated it really liked it

If there's one thing I can't resist hearing about it's the mention of food. The synopsis of The Art of French Kissing promises food galore and my favourite type of romance trope: hate-to-love. I had to see if it's as sweet as the cover suggest ;)

The story was simple and fast with plenty of food and romance. The writing was a bit bumpy at times but surprisingly it fit well inside the storyline. Even the characters' immaturities worked out.

Hands down my favourite part of The Art of French Kissing ...more

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May 20, 2018 Lea (drumsofautumn) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: no-physical-copy-liked, most-anticipated-2018, arcs-done

♦ Video Review ♦

The Art of French Kissing was so delightful and adorable. A quick and short read that will absolutely make you smile.

I felt drawn to this book as I love Brianna Shrum's Never Never so much and I especially love the way she writes romance. That mixed with a hate-to-love trope and cooking? I wouldn't miss it for the world.
And I ended up loving this even more than I anticipated. I thought it would just be fun, fluffy romance but it was a truly emotional ride for me.

Before I go i ...more

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Dec 08, 2018 Amelia rated it did not like it

Shelves: stand-alone, romance, contemporary, 2018

Update 2 days later: lowering this to 1 star because life is short and my hate is still going strong :)

Carter Lane, I have something to say to you:

To say that I HATE CARTER LANE would be an understatement. She was so annoying it was unbelievable. She ruined the whole book with her idiotic behavior and the whole "I didn't do anything wrong, everyone else is to blame" attitude. I had about 7-8 quotes prepared for this review (yes, she was THAT bad), but I accidentally deleted them ;_; It doesn't Update 2 days later: lowering this to 1 star because life is short and my hate is still going strong :)

Carter Lane, I have something to say to you:

To say that I HATE CARTER LANE would be an understatement. She was so annoying it was unbelievable. She ruined the whole book with her idiotic behavior and the whole "I didn't do anything wrong, everyone else is to blame" attitude. I had about 7-8 quotes prepared for this review (yes, she was THAT bad), but I accidentally deleted them ;_; It doesn't matter anyway.

Let's start from the beginning. The title itself is so cringey and I really should've know that a book that has "french kissing" in the title, just can't be good. I don't even know why I expected this book to be about actual cooking. The content of this book can be summarized like this: 10% cooking/competition stuff, 40% kissing and staring at Reid, 5% fandom/geek references and 45% Carters ridiculous behavior and/or arguing with Reid over nothing.

Those 45% was so horrible and boring to read. It went something like this: Reid messed with Carters ingredient (but it's actually her fault for not reading what it said on the bag -.-) and then she tripped him so he ruined his WHOLE DISH and literally made several people's lives worse - because it was a group assignment, when Reid (aka Carter) messed up, they all lost "points" and were therefore sent home and lost the scholarship. And they just continued doing stupid stuff which didn't effect just them, but everyone else as well - but they didn't care. Especially Carter. She literally blamed everyone else but herself. *spoilers* She even asked Reid to apologize to her after he was honest and told her he felt sad after she got in the semis and he didn't. LIKE WHAT?!? This dude literally lost a chance to go to a college with full scholarship, and you're angry at him because he's not jumping with joy that you got it?

I felt sorry for Reida, this girl is nuts. But who cares? The main thing is that Miss Carter Purple Hair Lane is feeling great because not only did she get a lot of money even though she didn't deserve it, she also got a boyfriend on this competition. There were also some random paragraphs about her backstory - how she's a poor little thing who doesn't have that much money, who had to cook with mediocre pans and pots and who doesn't know what to do with herself because she's so insecure.
Boo-freaking-hoo. The whole insecurity thing was particularly annoying because it felt so fake - just like every conversation in this book - it was utterly unbelievable and unnatural. One moment she's all like "do I even belong in this school, I'm so incompetent, nobody likes me" and the next "I deserve this, I'm better than them and if anybody says otherwise, I'm gonna break their neck"
Seriously, just stop.

The only reason why I didn't give this book a 1 star rating is because of that 10% of cooking that I mentioned. That was the only remotely interesting part of the book and the author really did talk about food in a passionate way. Considering The Great British Bake Off is one of my fave shows, I loved all the cooking-competition scenes. Unfortunately, there was so little of them you might as well call this book just a romance novel SET in cooking school. I definitely wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, unless you ran out of wood and need something to burn, in that case, go ahead XD ...more

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Mar 12, 2019 Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] rated it liked it

Shelves: contemporary, lgbtq, poc-heroine, young-adult, doormat-heroine

✔️ Great descriptions of food and cooking. I spent most of the book starving

✔️ Brilliant snarky hero

✔️ Who happens to be queer and half-Japanese

✔️ In fact there's great diversity throughout

❌ INCREDIBLY IRRITATING HEROINE WHO DESERVES TO FALL OFF A CLIFF, IS SELFISH, AND IS THE REASON WHY THIS BOOK LOST TWO STARS

[Blog] - [Bookstagram]

photo c l i m b C2A0e v e r y C2A0m o u n t a i n 2_zpsykn9gbgr.png

...more

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Feb 19, 2018 PB rated it really liked it

Shelves: all-time-favorites, fiction, arcs, contemporary, romance

"I bet they all write sonnets to butter and caramelized onions in their sleep. They all get heart eyes for macarons and flutters in their stomachs for a perfectly braised lamb shank. These are my people."

LOOK AT THAT BEAUTIFUL COVER. I adore that cover so much with all the pastel and the macarons! It’s making me droooooool.

With that kind of cover, I didn’t expect much. But let met tell you, The Art of French Kissing is as good as it looks. It’s funny, witty, and infuriating (at times), swoonwort ...more

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Sep 21, 2019 Colleen Oakes rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, ya

No one writes kissing like Brianna Shrum, no one. The heat of the kitchen meets the heat of our characters, The Art of French Kissing is BEGGING to be made into a TV series. Not only does Shrum really understand teens, she doesn't talk down to them in her writing. Seventeen-year-old Carter Lane is a character to be reckoned with; she's strong willed, passionate and unflinching, and I feel like I've been waiting for this character for a long time. She is only matched by Reid, who is as vulnerable ...more

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Apr 30, 2018 JJ. rated it liked it

Shelves: 3-5-stars, romance-is-a-thing

3.5 stars

This book gave me a slew of wholesome, fuzzy feelings. And an appetite for dessert.

The cast of characters is effortlessly diverse, and I love, love, love that. I grew up reading books where all the characters were some white, cis, and straight--I am so glad that now, just about a decade later, young adults can read books with characters that actually look like them. Whether it's Reid Yamada's Japanese heritage or sexuality or personal struggles, or those of the supporting characters, th ...more

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Apr 19, 2018 Cimone Watson rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2018, spring-2018, june-2018, waiting-for-a-cover-19-36, 2018-top-100, 2018-group-1, mar-2018-tbr, 318-to-430-2018-tbr

1.5 stars.

I'm SO disappointed. The concept of this book sounded great. I was really looking forward to this book, even before it had a cover, and I love the cover. But I CANNOT root for the main character, Carter. How can I like the book when I don't like her?

Y'all, this character does so much mean, vindictive, immature stuff to other people and blames it on everyone else. The love interest lies to her about cheese at the beginning, causing her to have to use muenster instead of mozzarella or so 1.5 stars.

I'm SO disappointed. The concept of this book sounded great. I was really looking forward to this book, even before it had a cover, and I love the cover. But I CANNOT root for the main character, Carter. How can I like the book when I don't like her?

Y'all, this character does so much mean, vindictive, immature stuff to other people and blames it on everyone else. The love interest lies to her about cheese at the beginning, causing her to have to use muenster instead of mozzarella or something, so she sets out to ruin him. In the process, she does things that hurt other people, too. And her reasoning for not apologizing is "He looked at me angrily, so I didn't apologize." I'm like....HE LOOKED AT YOU ANGRILY BECAUSE YOU DID SOMETHING THAT HURT HIM AND OTHERS. YOU KNOW YOU'RE WRONG. JUST APOLOGIZE. She repeatedly says and does bad things, says in the narration that she knows she's wrong, and then just keeps right on doing and saying the things. And I don't see any growth in her as a character by the end.

I'm sorry. I tried to be patient. The plot was okay, but not super compelling. (And toward the end, I wasn't a fan of the plot.) The side characters were people I didn't know well and didn't care much about. The love interest, Reid, was a mixed bag. He was cocky and a bit tool-ish at the beginning, did some bad crap, and then he was sort of nice? Idk. And then the romance part lacked depth, and I'm thinking "Why do these two like each other? I seriously don't understand." It was just too contrived and easy, and again, I couldn't root for them. They did things in the competition that really shouldn't be condoned, but had no consequences. I really want to put a spoiler here, but I can't find the spoiler button, dang it.

If you watch CinemaSins, you'll understand when I say, this book is the perfect example of "because...PROTAGONIST" and "because...PLOT". In other words, things were happening in a way that wasn't necessarily logical or good, but were put there just to serve the plot. And to make our protagonist happy, in spite of her having a bad attitude. We're supposed to feel bad for her because she's insecure, but it's honestly just because she's the protagonist. There's no other reason to root for her or, in my opinion, to feel any sympathy for her. And I really don't feel much sympathy, so the "because protagonist" was not successful. (In fact, it really never is. Your character needs to be compelling, point-blank.)

Also, Carter accuses Reid of having feelings. As if him feeling a certain way is a personal affront to her.

The last 10% or so of the book=what? It made me roll my eyes so much. I can't see the characters learning from their mistakes. If the end had been better, this might have been 2 or 2.5 stars for me.

I wanted to like this book, but I didn't, and I'm sorry. I usually don't feel guilty about my opinions, but dang, how I wanted to like this one.

Thank you NetGalley, for the review copy. ...more

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Apr 14, 2018 Kathy added it

Not for me.

Content: Lots of language including multiple uses of the f-word.

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Jun 13, 2018 Ryley (Ryley Reads) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, received-for-review, romance, read-in-2018, favourites, standalone, debut-novel, young-adult-fiction, net-galley, summer

This book, you guys. THIS. BOOK. I adored it. Probably too much, but I don't really care because it was cute and chef-y (yup, that's a word now) and just ADORABLE. GAH. Ahem, I will try to control myself for the remainder of this review - but I make no promises!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and SkyPony Publishing for providing me with an e-ARC of this book for an honest review, as always, all opinions are my own.

The story follows 17-year-old Carter, who has wanted to be a chef since she could work This book, you guys. THIS. BOOK. I adored it. Probably too much, but I don't really care because it was cute and chef-y (yup, that's a word now) and just ADORABLE. GAH. Ahem, I will try to control myself for the remainder of this review - but I make no promises!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and SkyPony Publishing for providing me with an e-ARC of this book for an honest review, as always, all opinions are my own.

The story follows 17-year-old Carter, who has wanted to be a chef since she could work an oven. It is her dream, and when she gets accepted into a prestigious culinary scholarship program in Savannah, she is thrilled. When she arrives, however, she soon sees that her competition is fierce. Especially Reid, the guy who sabotages her first competition and soon becomes a thorn in her side. As the competition dwindles, Carter spends more time thinking about Reid - how to get revenge that is. But perhaps that rivalry is more than just some not-so-friendly competition.

Ok, I'm going to try to get through this review without gushing about this book and the romance, so bear with me. I think this was just the book I needed right now. I haven't read such a good book, especially a romance in such a long time. The whole book was really well done, but the romance was really spectacular in this one.

First of all, you give me a good enemies-to-lovers story and I'm basically hooked from the very beginning. And that's exactly what happened here. But not only that, the characters were great. Carter has a lot of self-doubts and anxiety about whether or not she belongs in this competition and I really connected with that. Reid was also a great love interest, he's snarky and funny and the chemistry between the two was great. They made a bunch of pop culture references which I loved (mostly because a lot of them were Star Wars related) and just really seemed to connect with each other.

We also see some great diversity in the book. Reid is part Japanese and identifies as bi/queer and one of Carter's friends is a lesbian. Most of the other competitors also come from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds as well, and one of the competitors is also a lesbian. There are a couple of instances where the characters talk about these things and they really help add to the story.

Overall, I don't know if other people will connect as well to the story and Carter as I did, but I would still highly recommend you give it a shot, if for nothing else, the amazing descriptions of food!

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