REVIEW: "Love From Scratch" by Kaitlyn Hill (Romantic Comedy)

LOVE FROM SCRATCH by Kaitlyn Hill
	Publisher: Delacorte Press Genre: Romantic Comedy Publication Date: April 5th, 2022 Standalone: Yes
Categories/Tropes:
Rivals/Enemies to Lovers, Sweet Romance, Viral Sensation, Creatives (Chefs)
Other Books By This Author:
Description from Publisher:
This summer, Reese Camden is trading sweet tea and Southern hospitality for cold brew and crisp coastal air. She's landed her dream marketing internship at Friends of Flavor, a wildly popular cooking channel in Seattle. The only problem? Benny Beneventi, the relentlessly charming, backwards-baseball-cap-wearing culinary intern—and her main competition for the fall job. Reese's plan to keep work a No Feelings Zone crumbles like a day-old muffin when she and Benny are thrown together for a video shoot that goes viral, making them the internet's newest ship. Audiences are hungry for more, and their bosses at Friends of Flavor are happy to deliver. Soon Reese and Benny are in an all-out food war, churning homemade ice cream, twisting soft pretzels, breaking eggs in an omelet showdown—while hundreds of thousands of viewers watch. Reese can't deny the chemistry between her and Benny. But the more their rivalry heats up, the harder it is to keep love on the back burner...
My Rating:	Heat Rating:
So this was so ridiculously cute that I can't even describe how ridiculoualy cute it was! I absolutely loved how vulnerable, genuine, and real Benny was. Alpha males are so not at all my thing. Gimme the incredibly sweet guy with a sense of humor and mischievous twinkle in his eye any day! There were a lot of conversations in this, especially between Benny and Reese. I loved getting to see them actually bond and share their stories and pieces of themselves. This doesn't always happen in rom coms, but I firmly believe that the best romance is between people who TALK. The only real criticism I have for this was that certain messages got a bit heavy-handed at times. Did we really need a conversation about feminism where Reese is getting solid advice to take a turn to "Check your orivilege, White Girl"? I didn't disagree with tbe messages, but they fell flat because they came out of nowhere. There was also some political commentary that was unnecessarily petty (Natalie has dumped guys for being "Republican'"? Why?). That said, none of what Reese had dealt with and was frustrated by felt disingenuous. Women shouldn't have to just deal with sexist idiots, but it's just something that happens. Putting a fine point on some of it felt like the right thing to do. The chemistry between Benny and Reese was sizzling, but very sweet (it's a big deal for Benny to take off his shirt). Reese's hangup with that felt a bit less understandable, but maybe that was also just me wanting more. All in all, I really enjoyed this. The characters, the chemistry, and tne fun were all so wonderful I could barely set this down.
My Source: I borrowed this via Kindle Unlimited. This in no way influenced my review. My opinion is unbiased and 100% my own.

About the Author: Kaitlyn Hill
Kaitlyn Hill is a writer who lives to tell love stories and make people laugh. While books make up most of her personality, Kaitlyn also enjoys messy reality TV, has never met a tea she didn't like, and thrives on overly ambitious home improvement projects. She resides in Kentucky with her real life romance hero. Find her on Instagram and TikTok @thekaitlynhill and at thekaitlynhill.com.

REVIEW: "One Sexy Mistake" by Sarah Ballance (Contemporary Romance)

ONE SEXY MISTAKE by Sarah Ballance
	Publisher: Entangled Publishing Genre: Contemporary Romance Publication Date: November 29th 2016 Series: Chase Brothers, #5 Standalone: Yes
Categories:
Sweet Romance, Nerdy, Borrowed Time, Nice Guy, Stuck With You, Strong Heroine, One-Night Stand Gone Wrong
Other Books in the CHASE BROTHERS Series
#1 #2 #3 #4
Description from Publisher:
Olivia Patton's life just imploded. One night with sexy hacker Grady Donovan seems like the perfect, ego-soothing plan—until an epic snowstorm shuts down the city and thwarts her morning-after escape. Now the only walk-of-shame she'll be taking is right back to Grady's door. Forced to actually talk, Grady and Olivia realize they can't stand each other. Forget another round in the bedroom—if it wasn't his apartment, she'd shove Grady outside to freeze. But with all the blistering sexual tension flying around, a second night with the hacker might be exactly what she needs...if they don't kill each other first. Each book in the Chase Brothers series is a standalone, full-length story that can be enjoyed out of order.
My Rating:	Heat Rating:
My Musings:
This was a lot of fun! Perfect pacing, funny, great characters, chemistry. The entire premise of being stuck with a one-night stand due to snow isn't new, but Sarah Ballance definitely does justice to that trope. Grady is done with high maintenance women who, ultimately, make him feel like a failure, so he tries Tinder... and meets Olivia, who wants a no-strings rebound to help her forget that she was fired and dumped just 2 months before. The awkwardness of their meeting is awesome and will make you laugh as you squirm a bit. I've never done the Tinder thing, but would absolutely have lived that scene if I had. Between that and Grady & Olivia's exchange before meeting, the tone is set for a light-hearted, funny, sexy read. I loved Olivia's feistiness and straight-forward personality and thought she did girl nerds proud. Grady said he wasn't romantic, but he was obviously in denial because he was thoughtful and everything you want from a rom-com hot nerd! This is fairly short (about a 90-minute read for me), but everything you want out of a feel-good rom-com!
My Source: I received a digital ARC from the publisher to voluntarily review. This in no way influenced my review. My opinion is unbiased and my 100% own.

About the Author: Sarah Ballance
Sarah and her husband of what he calls “many long, long years” live on the mid-Atlantic coast with their six young children, all of whom are perfectly adorable when they’re asleep. She never dreamed of becoming an author, but as a homeschooling mom, she often jokes she writes fiction because if she wants anyone to listen to her, she has to make them up. As it turns out, her characters aren’t much better than the kids, but nevertheless, you’ll find her writing sexy contemporary romance for Entangled Publishing until they throw her out.
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