Author: Erin La Rosa
Series: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary Romance/ Adult
Publisher: HQN Books
Publication Date: July 26th, 2022
Edition: ebook, 384 pages
Source: NetGalley
Pre-Order: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Book Depository | Bookshop | Powell's | Thriftbooks
Synopsis:
They go together like water and oil…
All chef Nina Lyon wants is to make a name for herself in the culinary world and inspire young women everywhere to do the same. For too long, she’s been held back and underestimated by the male-dominated sphere of professional kitchens, and she's had enough. Now, as co-host of the competitive reality TV series The Next Cooking Champ!, she finally has a real shot at being top tier in the foodie scene.
Too bad her co-host happens to be Hollywood’s smarmiest jerk.
Restaurateur Leo O’Donnell never means to get under Nina’s skin. It just seems to happen, especially when the cameras are rolling. It's part of the anxiety and stress he has come to know all too well in this line of work. So nothing prepares him for the fallout after he takes one joke a smidge too far and Nina up and quits—on live TV.
To make matters worse, the two are caught in what looks like a compromising situation by the paparazzi…and fans of the show go absolutely nuts. Turns out, a “secret romance” between Nina and Leo may just be what their careers need most.
Now all they have to do is play along, without killing each other...and without catching feelings. Easy as artisanal shepherd's pie. Right?
All chef Nina Lyon wants is to make a name for herself in the culinary world and inspire young women everywhere to do the same. For too long, she’s been held back and underestimated by the male-dominated sphere of professional kitchens, and she's had enough. Now, as co-host of the competitive reality TV series The Next Cooking Champ!, she finally has a real shot at being top tier in the foodie scene.
Too bad her co-host happens to be Hollywood’s smarmiest jerk.
Restaurateur Leo O’Donnell never means to get under Nina’s skin. It just seems to happen, especially when the cameras are rolling. It's part of the anxiety and stress he has come to know all too well in this line of work. So nothing prepares him for the fallout after he takes one joke a smidge too far and Nina up and quits—on live TV.
To make matters worse, the two are caught in what looks like a compromising situation by the paparazzi…and fans of the show go absolutely nuts. Turns out, a “secret romance” between Nina and Leo may just be what their careers need most.
Now all they have to do is play along, without killing each other...and without catching feelings. Easy as artisanal shepherd's pie. Right?
**********
Did I request this book from NetGalley almost entirely because of the pun in the title. Maybe.
This was a very enjoyable hate-to-love/fake dating romance. These are of my favorite tropes, and usually, they fall for each other too fast. But in this, it makes a lot more sense. They've been co-workers, and at each other's throats, for three years before everything falls apart and they are forced to spend time around each other outside work as well as fake dating, and really get to know each other. So while it's only a couple of months, it makes more sense.
This book has good rep for mental health in this book. Leo has anxiety and panic attacks, I felt it was handled in a healthy and believable way. His character is interesting, his family owns a chain of restaurants and is looked down on by his peers in the food industry. He is painted, by Nina, as this smarmy egotistical jerk. But I never really got that vibe from him. He just wants his family's business to be taken seriously by other restaurateurs. And had hoped the show would do that.
That is something that I hadn't really thought of. What really is the difference between him and Nina who also owns more than one of the same restaurant? Is it only because she was "trained", is it because her restaurants are state-local and not nationwide? She has some of her own issues that I don't think were addressed. She does have this snobbish pride about her that pegged Leo as somebody to not take seriously from the get-go. I think had she not assumed the worst about him, he wouldn't have tried to make her time on the show difficult. Granted, he did take things too far rather than behaving like an adult and talking to her when the cameras went off about her treating him like his opinion is less than hers because she was classically trained, and he was family taught.
The romance was fine. I just find it really hard to believe that they spent three years in front of the camera and never learned a thing about each other. They certainly had done interviews together or something. I did like that they didn't really come together as a couple until after they reconciled the animosity towards each other, and Leo apologized for his role in the online hate she received.
This is a personal pet peeve, and it's just something that takes me out of a story. I don't really like it when in the narrative real-world things are referenced. As I said, it takes me out of the world, even though this is "modern-day earth", the same things and people all aren't the same. It also can date the book. Using the names of the current popular social media and streaming platforms puts the book in a very particular era. An era that might not be relevant in 5-10 years.
This book has good rep for mental health in this book. Leo has anxiety and panic attacks, I felt it was handled in a healthy and believable way. His character is interesting, his family owns a chain of restaurants and is looked down on by his peers in the food industry. He is painted, by Nina, as this smarmy egotistical jerk. But I never really got that vibe from him. He just wants his family's business to be taken seriously by other restaurateurs. And had hoped the show would do that.
That is something that I hadn't really thought of. What really is the difference between him and Nina who also owns more than one of the same restaurant? Is it only because she was "trained", is it because her restaurants are state-local and not nationwide? She has some of her own issues that I don't think were addressed. She does have this snobbish pride about her that pegged Leo as somebody to not take seriously from the get-go. I think had she not assumed the worst about him, he wouldn't have tried to make her time on the show difficult. Granted, he did take things too far rather than behaving like an adult and talking to her when the cameras went off about her treating him like his opinion is less than hers because she was classically trained, and he was family taught.
The romance was fine. I just find it really hard to believe that they spent three years in front of the camera and never learned a thing about each other. They certainly had done interviews together or something. I did like that they didn't really come together as a couple until after they reconciled the animosity towards each other, and Leo apologized for his role in the online hate she received.
This is a personal pet peeve, and it's just something that takes me out of a story. I don't really like it when in the narrative real-world things are referenced. As I said, it takes me out of the world, even though this is "modern-day earth", the same things and people all aren't the same. It also can date the book. Using the names of the current popular social media and streaming platforms puts the book in a very particular era. An era that might not be relevant in 5-10 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment