Spoiler Free Review: The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett

Title: The Romance Recipe

Author: Ruby Barrett

Pub. Date: July 12th 2022

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Queer

Format: eARC

Publisher: Carina Adores

Pages: 304

GOODREADS | BARNES & NOBLE | AMAZON | LIBROFM

☆☆ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review☆☆╮

Characters: 6/10 Atmosphere: 10/10 Writing Style: 5/10 Plot: 5/10 Intrigue: 0/10 Logic/Relationships: 5/10 Enjoyment: 5/10

Rating: 36/5.1 = ☆☆ 3 Stars☆☆╮

Rating system created by The Book Roast

Amy Chambers is a restaurant owner, micro-manager, control freak who is having a tough time keeping the doors open. Employing a predominantly queer staff, Amy really cares about creating a space for them where they feel safe and can make a decent living with benefits. She’s just not drawing in a big enough crowd to pay the overhead costs or rent. She offers the Chef position to Sophie Brunet, a former reality-tv show finalist who can hopefully reignite interest in her restaurant Amy and May. Sophie “grump in the kitchen/sunshine in the streets, took thirty years to figure out she was queer” she doesn’t really want to post every single dish she cooks on instagram for the likes. Sophie just wants to cook and explore new dishes, she’s a real chemist in the kitchen. Her new attraction to Amy aka her Boss proves challenging when an opportunity for a tv show that could put the restaurant back on the map comes around. First there’s the issue of whether Sophie even cares to go back on tv with a hobby that brings her a lot of comfort and joy in private. Then there’s the fact that she has just left one relationship to better understand her bisexuality all while managing her career. If you love a foodie romance, this one gives you plenty of time in the kitchen with recipe experimentation!

╰☆☆ 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. ☆☆

There’s a lot to love in this queer book about two lesbian/bisexual chefs, especially if you love a good foodie romance. I love a well fleshed out dual POV, however I had a hard time distinguishing between Amy and Sophie’s chapters. Although their back stories are clearly defined up-front, their voices sounded very much the same. I felt their romance was rushed especially for Sophie who had just left one long term relationship and was feeling comfortable finally looking at girls with open interest. I appreciated Amy expressing that Sophie should give herself time to date whomever and not feel the need to settle down so quickly. This however came across to Sophie as if Amy was trying to make decisions for her and I guess I could see both sides of that argument. Even with these concerns being vocalized between the two, I felt that the pacing was off and the ending felt rushed. I enjoyed the reality tv show aspects/celebrity chef however just when this takes off at the end, it cuts off and we don’t really get to see that aspect develop. It is expressed in the book that tv ultimately isn’t where Sophie’s heart is at but the majority of the plot is also banking on this show being a success. It would’ve been nice to see more of that since ultimately it was Amy who chose to pursue the tv opportunity. As for the smut/steam, that is where this book really gets all the brownie points. Those sex scenes were give and take and just all around sexy! It gets all the chili 🌶 for simply being all one could hope for, teasing and all! *chefs kiss*