Love & Other Disasters
Ratings15
Average rating4.2
15
Ratings15
Average rating4.2
The first openly nonbinary contestant on America’s favorite cooking show falls for their clumsy competitor in this delicious romantic comedy debut that USA Today hailed as “an essential read.” Recently divorced and on the verge of bankruptcy, Dahlia Woodson is ready to reinvent herself on the popular reality competition show Chef’s Special. Too bad the first memorable move she makes is falling flat on her face, sending fish tacos flying—not quite the fresh start she was hoping for. Still, she's focused on winning, until she meets someone she might want a future with more than she needs the prize money. After announcing their pronouns on national television, London Parker has enough on their mind without worrying about the klutzy competitor stationed in front of them. They’re there to prove the trolls—including a fellow contestant and their dad—wrong, and falling in love was never part of the plan. As London and Dahlia get closer, reality starts to fall away. Goodbye, guilt about divorce, anxiety about uncertain futures, and stress from transphobia. Hello, hilarious shenanigans on set, wedding crashing, and spontaneous dips into the Pacific. But as the finale draws near, Dahlia and London’s steamy relationship starts to feel the heat both in and outside the kitchen—and they must figure out if they have the right ingredients for a happily ever after.
Reviews with the most likes.
Love & Other Disasters, Anita Kelly
384 pages, contemporary, nb/f
publishes January 25th, 2022
If I knew that romance novels could be just as cozy as cozy mysteries, I would have picked this one up a lot sooner! This story involves a nonbinary POV character dating a girl (also POV) at a cooking competition! Their romance is hot and heady and there are some sex scenes, which I wasn't expecting at all but was very pleased by (they're all good!). Something that I didn't like about this book is that I was really worried about the cooking competition and the main characters kind of ignored that for a while, and then it was suddenly a problem! Also there is a transphobic character which was :/ but the book dealt with it really well. 5 stars!
There are aspects I loved about this book and some that left me wanting. I loved the nonbinary language. It was great being able to see they/them in actual writing format. I thought it was interesting that at no point in any of the dialogue was someone corrected for accidentally misgendering or stumbling where they start to say her instead of them, but correct themselves and apologize. I feel like this happens frequently when I've been in group conversations with some of my nb friends.
It felt like there was some missing angst in the situations the two main characters found themselves in. I wasn't gripped in wondering what would happen next because everything read as informational instead of emotional. It could have been the perspective shifts. The angst in romance is what makes it addicting. This was a good book, but it wasn't as great as it could have been imo.
