Review: Ruby Barrett’s THE ROMANCE RECIPE.

Thanks to Harlequin for the complimentary galley & the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

📖 Q: are you a recipe collector? I usually save them on my phone & I’ve slowly started writing them down on pretty stationary & saving them in an old college binder 😆.

Ruby Barrett’s The Romance Recipe (out 06/28!) really wowed me.

It was a 5 ⭐️ read for me from beginning to end & I couldn’t wait to get this galley to add to my shelves (look at how cute & sensual the cover is!).

If mutual pining, foodie romance, grumpy + the sunshine (but also the sunshine runs her kitchen thankyouverymuch) sounds good, definitely check this one out!

Amy Chambers hired Sophie Brunet as head chef of her restaurant bc she was talented & semi-famous after being on a realty tv show—she’s also had feelings for her since seeing her on screen.

Unbeknownst to Amy, Sophie—who recently realized that she’s bisexual & even more recently broke up with her fiancé—has feelings for her too.

This is one of those books where everything just works together really well. From their mutual pining & appreciation to the moments when each reveals something hurtful, to the times when they cook together—& even including when they fight over the future of the business they both work at…everything made me feel like they were getting closer. Like it was a real emotional relationship each person is invested in.

& then when you add to that the outrageously satisfying steam it’s charismatic & fill-in-your-yummy-food-adjective-of-choice. One hook-up takes place in a car 🤩.

I’m so curious to see what Ruby Barrett writes next because this was a fantastic read.

CWs: Grief regarding loss of parent. Reference to sexual harassment in the workplace. Toxic dad. Sophie’s former fiancé’s reaction to her realization that she’s bi is to say something about not letting the public know.


[ID: a white woman wearing a green dress sits on a deck holding the book & three pages of handwritten recipes.]