Allie Simon prides herself on making sensible decisions and has maintained high standards for the first twenty- five years of her life. That streak of smart choices is about to end as she enters into a relationship with Benji Zane. Benji is an up and coming chef in Chicago with a long history of drug addiction.

Six months into their relationship, Benji is offered a job as the head chef at a new restaurant. For the project to get off the ground, he must make a $30,000 investment. With no savings or income, he turns to Allie for the money. The restaurant and her life become a mess when Benji relapses and disappears during the construction. Allie finds herself without a boyfriend or a chef and an ownership stake in a new restaurant. It's time for her to learn from her mistakes while returning to her life of prudent decisions.

I enjoyed reading Hot Mess by Emily Belden. This book reminded me of my own experiences from my twenties when life was much simpler. This is a fun read filled with romance, drama and plenty of food.

Sweetbitter meets The Devil Wears Prada in this riveting and provocative novel set in the trendy Chicago restaurant scene.
That's what readers are calling Emily Belden's new novel, HOT MESS (GraydonHouse)! You're going to want to dive in head first into this book.

Twenty-something, Allie Simon is a "hot mess." She's never one full-blown into a relationship, which was definitely not right for her.    never imagined she’d fall for a recovering drug addict—but that was before she met Benji Zane, Chicago’s hottest up-and-coming chef, who’s known as much for his hard partying ways as for his unparalleled culinary skills. Six months into their relationship, the food and chemistry are out of this world, but the reality of living with a cooking wunderkind hasn’t exactly been all hearts and flowers. Still, Allie’s convinced that her love is the key to fixing this talented man’s broken soul—so when Benji is offered his dream job as chef de cuisinefor a new restaurant opening on Randolph Street, Chicago’s foodie hot spot, Allie agrees to invest her life savings in his future. But less than a month after she goes all in, Allie learns a heartbreaking lesson: addicts lie. Benji cracks under the pressure, relapses and disappears, bagging out not only on the restaurant, but on her, too. Left with nothing but a massive withdrawal slip and a restaurant that absolutely must open in a matter of weeks, Allie finds herself thrust into a world of luxury and greed, cutthroat business and sensory delight. Lost in the mess of it all, she can either crumble completely or fight like hell for the life she wants and the love she deserves.

With searing wit and incredible insight, Emily Belden serves up a delish look behind the kitchen doors of a hot foodie town.

******

I got to ask Emily some questions about her novel, and she was kind enough to answer them.

CR: Both of your books include drug addicts and the whole idea of recovery. How does it fit into your world?

EB: Even though I have not struggled with addiction myself, I have been very close to people who have (and still do). In fact, they are some of the smartest, most loveable people I have ever been around and so naturally their existence and place in my life was inspirational. I’m lucky to not have been burned by their addiction, but I have often wondered “what if” and HOT MESS is the answer to that question.

CR: There's a saying, "always recovering, never recovered." What's your experience with recovery, particularly in relationships?

EM: I’ve been through some tumultuous relationships that left me in a sad place because of how meaningful they once were to me. I’ve found that the key to coming to a place of peace is letting go of the idea that the past could have been any different. When you do, you can actually let go of old wounds, which in and of itself takes time.

CR: A sober person going into a relationship with a person in recovery is a lot like stepping into a HOT kitchen. Did the metaphor just come out of writing, or was it planned?

EB: The metaphor just revealed itself as the book sort of just wrote itself. This was a story in which the first draft came together within three months. As many writers know, that’s not all that common and when it happens, you know you have something special.

CR: You keep mentioning the character is in her 20s ... an excuse to be excessive or will she grow up?

EB: I think Allie grows up tremendously just throughout the time she gets “Benji’d”. In my personal experience, that happened to me as well. I made similar mistakes at that age and even though they were brutal to go through, I always felt that the knowledge gained from said experience gave me an edge on all the other twenty-somethings I knew. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and I was the strongest person I knew and proud of it.

CR: Anything you want readers to take from your novels?

EB: One theme I’m seeing come up in the reviews that have leaked so far is that HOT MESS is a story of empowerment and entrepreneurialism. Even though those weren’t themes that I consciously intended to pull through when I wrote the manuscript, I’m delighted to see them emerge years later—especially given today’s social landscape and movements.

CR: Thank you so much Emily for sharing your time with us.



Purchase Links
Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble
About Emily Belden
Emily Belden is an author for powerhouse publisher, Harlequin/HarperCollins. She is represented by famed literary agency, Browne & Miller, along with 44 Blue Productions in Burbank. The SoCal studio is adapting her memoir into a comedic series.

Connect with Emily

Website | Facebook  | Twitter




Thanks to TLC Book Tours, we have one copy of  HOT MESS to giveaway. Just tell us your thoughts about addiction. We'll announce a winner next week. Good luck.

Actual stars....4.25
What I loved: I loved that this didn't turn out at all like how I thought it would. It was a refreshing change of pace.
What I liked: Allie had to figure it out on her own. No one was going to fix it for her. She had to rely on herself. I liked that.
What I hated: I almost put this book down a number of times in the beginning. Benji's character really pissed me off a number of times. Thankfully, I stuck with it...because about a third of the way through, it gets SO much better!
Enjoyed this one ALOT.

So I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when picking this book up. It sounded like a drama filled contemporary book so I just jumped right in not caring too much about the details. I ended up pleasantly surprised when I found myself really enjoying this book. I kept wondering when the ex would show up and screw things up. I loved seeing Allie progress as a character. She was deep into a lot of crap and there was plenty of ways this situation could've gone but with the help of those around her she was able to grow a bit of a back bone and get things done. I thought it was interesting seeing how she handled being a manager and seeing the background of what was going on with the building and everything else that had to go on with the restaurant business. Overall this was a pretty good book I really enjoyed it.

Allie's life is played out over social media, from her job as a Social Media manager to her relationship with Chicago's bad boy chef, Benji. But her real life is not what you see on Social Media as she tries to balance her job, keeping Benji sober, to supporting, working and promoting Benji's pop-up dinners. When he somehow convinces her to finance his dream of being a chef in a new restaurant with her life savings her life and future is changed. Allie is left to clean up Benji's mess when he disappears and has to make life changing choices. She works harder than she ever has in order to make the restaurant a success and discovers how strong she really is. A story of a woman owning the choices she makes and discovering her true self.

Allie Simon is a social media director who values hard work, friends, and family. She's worked hard to save money and get her career established in Chicago at the ripe old age of 25 she's managed to put $31,000 in her savings. She then finds hot, up and coming chef Benji Zane while monitoring her company's social media feeds. A few flirty messages later and she ends up on a date with him that leads to a hot hookup. It all starts so casually that Allie finds herself ignoring the many stories that surface about Benji's drug habit. This all changes one night after a particularly bad time for Benji. He goes on a cocaine bender and the next thing Allie knows, Benji has announced to the whole world that Allie is his girlfriend and then shows up at her apartment announcing that he is going to quit using cold turkey and moves in with her. Flash forward a few months later and Benji has been offered the deal of a lifetime. There is a big time investor looking to open a restaurant with Benji as the chef. The only catch is he needs to come up with 10% of the cost to become a partner.
This story had me feeling very frustrated with Allie as the main character. She is indeed a "hot mess" and I found her sort of hard to relate to. The way that she almost seems like she has no control over her own life drove me insane but I also have never been in a situation with someone like Benji. I did enjoy the book overall. I really liked watching Allie can her confidence back and end up taking charge and embracing the changes in her life due to her relationship with Benji. I really, really liked the fact that Allie, her new chef, and her partner become a trio of independent, successful business women. I would give this 3 out of 5 stars. #NetGalley #HotMess
***Thank you to Harlequin/Graydon House Books and NetGalley for the ARC with the understanding that any review provided will be my honest opinion of the book.***

My Rating:

3.5

Favorite Quotes:

Food may be the way to a man’s heart, but as my colleagues assemble around me, I’m convinced it’s the way to a woman’s ego. It’s like I’m dating da Vinci and I’ve just hung the Mona Lisa in my cubicle. Everyone is ooh-ing and ahh-ing, reminding me just what an awesome perk it is to be dating Benji Zane. I’m the cool kid at the lunch table… “You’re so lucky,” a girl from a different department gushes from the kitchen table. I don’t even know what her name is, but she begrudgingly stabs at her lackluster salad and shoots jealous death rays my way.

As he pulled on the knot, his muscles surged a bit through his sleeves and the spell was cast. I looked over at my mother who was salivating. It had nothing to do with the chicken, mind you.

She leaves me alone in the office and I just stare at the keys in the palm of my hand. It’s like somebody has asked me to hold their baby and then took off running. I’m overwhelmed to say the least, but I’m afraid of what Angela will do if she mistakes my fear and paralysis for slacking.

I used to like proving to people, especially myself, that we belonged together. But then went from exhilarating to excruciating faster than an elaborate lower back tattoo.

My Review:


I am on the fence and can’t seem to put my finger on the sum totality of I how I feel about this book. The Urban Dictionary defined the term hot mess as, “When one's thoughts or appearance are in a state of disarray but they maintain an undeniable attractiveness or beauty.” This book and several of the characters featured were a Hot Mess, but the epicenter or source of the turmoil and havoc was generated from the selfish, seductive, and alluring character of Benji. The story contained heartbreaking life lessons for those dealing with the fallout and seedier aspects of supposed loved ones with addiction, clever bites of humor, carnal and steamy sensual scenes, liberal use of expletives, a slick and manipulative drug addict, and a frustratingly indecisive and love-blinded woman enabler who I wanted to whack in the head with my Kindle for being a spineless wonder and world-class waffler.

The book was written from the first person POV of Allie, who thought she had found “the one” in a mercurial chef with a high media profile and sordid history of drug abuse. Allie thought she was doing the right things but also consciously avoided looking too closely. Despite knowing his history of failure, she was imprudently gullible and ignored her own instincts while she supported and maintained Benji while living in a state of incredulous denial despite the warnings of others. After the blinders were off and being slapped in the face with evidence she had backed the wrong horse and foolishly investing all her savings into an extensive new restaurant scheme for her drug-addicted boyfriend, Allie was forced to give up her own career plans for a crash course in restaurant management, or lose her investment. I ached for her during her devastating crash to reality. Yet still, she waffled – say what?

The story progressed in at an arduously slow rate although upon reaching the conclusion I understood the pacing better, however, that doesn’t negate the fact that I was periodically stricken from impatience and exasperation as it was a bit too intricately detailed and heavy with the minutia of her endless tasks. I enjoyed the odd assortment of characters, as each was compelling in their own way, while the tantalizing food descriptions kept my mouth greedy and wet and may have led to the increase of a pound or five from indulgent snacking. I also learned more than I will ever need to know about the hospitality industry, serving food, and culinary terms like “amuse-bouche” which according to Wikipedia is French for mouth amuser. Hmm, I do like the idea of my mouth being amused.

If you like foodie fiction with a little sass, this is absolutely the book for you. It's part restaurant industry 101, part smart, contemporary fiction. There's a little romance, but it's not always an easy read as Allie struggles with what it means to love someone with an addiction, but the complex emotions are part of the book's strength. It's unfortunate that the synopsis spells out events that happen at least 1/3 of the way through the story, because while they aren't hard to see coming, it spoils a little of the fun of getting there when you're waiting for the shoe to drop. Genuinely enjoyable, though the story really picks up steam once Allie starts her restaurant industry crash course.

I have enjoyed the plot of the story and loved the characters. Great how this story turned out