Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Love From Scratch
Author: Kaitlyn Hill
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 4/5
Diversity: Anxiety MC, non-descript people of color side characters, queer side character
Recommended For…: young adult readers, cooking, contemporary, romance, food
Publication Date: April 5, 2022
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Age Relevance: 15+ (language, racism, sexism, sexual harassment, religion, religious trauma, romance)
Explanation of Above: There is an occasional curse word used here and there and a rant with a few used at the end. There is racism mentioned and sexism shown. There is also one scene where there is some small sexual harassment. Religion is mentioned once and some religious trauma is mentioned in regards to how a side character was kicked out of their church for being queer. There is also romance in the book, but nothing beyond kissing.
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 368
Synopsis: 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…
Review: Overall, I liked this book. I loved the intern cooking show romance and how the romance was rivals to lovers. I loved that the MC was a foodie and I loved all the anti-purity culture talk. The book shows what it’s like for females who are in social media/media presence and it highlights the sexism and misogyny that women constantly face in that presence. The book does good to show how men could literally be doing the same thing women do, but yet the women are shamed for their position while the men are congratulated. It was a great show on how women could take back their own power as well. The book had good world building and good character development as well.
However, I did feel like the pacing was a bit too slow for the book and I would have liked to see more of the competition and less of the characters being flirty with each other. I also didn’t like the full resolution to the book and how sexist bosses were kept in power. While I get it’s realistic, it was maddening to me.
Verdict: It was good!
Book Info:
Love From Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Publishing Date: April 5, 2022
Synopsis:
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…
Book Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54629993-love-from-scratch
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-from-scratch-kaitlyn-hill/1139798127?ean=9780593379165
Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Love-from-Scratch-Kaitlyn-Hill/9780593487013?ref=grid-view&qid=1644339262088&sr=1-1
IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780593379165
About the Author:
Kaitlyn Hill is a writer, reader, and sweet tea enthusiast who believes that all the world is not, in fact, a stage, but a romance novel waiting to happen. Her debut novel Love from Scratch comes out 4/5/22 from Delacorte Press/Penguin Random House.
Kaitlyn has a BA in Sociology/Anthropology and German Studies, which means that she can tell you way too much about the Communist Manifesto in Karl Marx’s mother tongue. Before landing on writing, she worked in roles from city government intern in a small German town to Haunted Mansion Maid at Walt Disney World, and most recently, at her hometown public library.
Aside from books, Kaitlyn’s favorite things are giraffes, ABBA, and excessively long naps. She lives with her real life romance hero in Lexington, Kentucky.
Author Links:
Website: https://thekaitlynhill.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thekaitlynhill
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekaitlynhill/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20525224.Kaitlyn_Hill
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