I normally love romances that are centered around food, but this one just didn't do it for me. I think this may be a YA book that isn't for adults. I just couldn't get past the first couple of chapters.

I really wanted to like this book. The synopsis held so much promise, but the book failed to deliver as much as I hoped for from it. I enjoyed it well enough, but with a few tweaks it could have been an even more enjoyable read.

Pros: the food all sounded so amazing. The friendships were adorable.
Cons: was there a believable romance? Aside from food did they have anything in common?

Such a cute read. Loved that the story is based in Paris. The ending is predictable but that doesn’t ruin the enjoyment at all.

Love à la Mode is ADORABLE. Foodies and lovers of the Food Network will love this, plus.,. Paris! I can definitely seeing myself recommending this to lovers of Anna and the French Kiss as well. I loved meeting characters from around the world, and reading all the yummy-sounding food descriptions. The story was just too, too cute as well. The friendships that were formed warmed my heart, and I felt myself wishing I could go attend that school with them all. And the romance was so swoony and reminded me of that young love feeling. What a lovely reading journey I've been on!

A wonderful gentle romance between two teens with a diverse set of baking school peers. Think more GBBO than Hell’s Kitchen. So lovely and perfect.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this frothy little book — I passed it right on to my teenager, who loves cooking shows and Paris boarding schools as much as I do. Henry and Rosie have both won spots a competitive cooking school in Paris, and they can’t wait to hone their cooking skills under the tutelage of a famous celebrity chef. There’s a little too much artificial stuff getting in the way of their romance in an attempt to keep the will-they-or-won’t-they going (why do YA books do this?), but it’s a sweet story with lots of descriptions of eating and cooking, so it’s on my nice list.

This was a really cute read - I have really enjoyed all of Stephanie Kate Strohm's other titles and Prince in Disguise is an all-time fave so I know what I'm getting when I pick up a book by Strohm. This one read a bit younger for me though in some aspects.

That said, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to fans of contemporary YA!

This is a book I have been wanting to read now that it is in print. I had issues with the ARC and want to check them against the finished copy. I didn't care for how one character who was not American felt very American, and it kept spoiling things and pulling me out.

Recently, we have been watching a lot of British Baking Shows, and over the weekend, we had too much fruit and baked muffins for the first time in years, and it made me think of this book and I think I will re-read it again this year and hopefully enjoy it more!

This was a super cute book! I think that it will appeal to readers who enjoy Sarah Dessen and other light hearted teen books!

This book was just so cute. Firstly, I absolutely loved the foreign exchange/boarding school feel that it had. It took me back to when I first arrived to a foreign country and all the feelings that go along with that. Paris was such a wonderful setting, especially when it is a book about FOOD. While I've never been to Paris, I think this book did a good job of capturing the magic that Paris has.

Speaking of the food, wow, this Strohm did not hold back on the food descriptions. Honestly, it made me so hungry and nothing I tasted was good enough because I wanted French food! I wanted the desserts Rosie was making! I wanted what Henry was cooking! I learned a lot about food and I now want to go to Paris just for the food.

Lastly, the characters were adorable. Everyone was so wholesome and sweet. I enjoyed that we got glimpses into their lives besides just cooking or baking. We got to see parts of their families, and the struggles that go with that.

All in all, this was a great young adult read and I'm happy that I (finally) picked up the arc from NetGalley. I had so much fun reading it and now want to go bake something delicious.

Henry Yi has wanted to become a chef for most of his life, especially since he has learned many lessons about cooking from his father, who is also a chef. Though his father wholeheartedly supports his dream, his mother thinks he should go to college instead. When Henry gets the chance to go to Chef Laurent’s cooking school (called the Ecole), in Paris, he believes his dreams are finally coming true. On the plane, he meets Rosie, a beautiful girl who loves baking and is also going to the Ecole in Paris. Soon, Henry and Rosie have made new friends and are fighting through the cooking course taught by Chef Martinet, who is very difficult to please. As Henry and Rosie grow closer, Henry becomes increasingly jealous of the young celebrity Bodie Tal, who begins to spend more time with Rosie. Will Henry and Rosie achieve their dreams, or will circumstances, jealousy, and difficult courses stand in their way?

I enjoyed this book very much. It definitely reminded me of cooking competitions on television, such as Chopped, Iron Chef, and baking competitions. The setting was well done, and even though I’ve never been to Paris, I could imagine everything that was occurring in detail. Rosie and Yumi were my favorite characters, but the whole group of six students was very fun to read about. There were plenty of humorous moments, as well as sad ones. Though I didn’t care for the profanity, there wasn’t much, and I also didn’t agree with the views, choices, and lifestyles of some of the characters. Other than that, I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cooking and YA romance. I would love to read a sequel if there’s one in the works, and I am looking forward to reading the author’s next book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. A positive review was not required, and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

If you like baking and contemporary reads then you are in for a real treat. I think this book just takes the cake... no pun intended.

This romantic contemporary YA romance from Stephanie was an adorable read. Light and fun with just the right amount of romance to keep your heart light.

Rosie and Henry have a meet cute moment when they sit across the aisle from each other on a flight to Paris, where they coincidentally both have been accepted to a prestigious school run by a famous chef. Once they arrive to the school, and meet the other students from all around the world – including Bodie, the bad-boy son of a celebrity chef, Rosie and Henry soon realize what they had gotten themselves into. Even though Henry grew up in a restaurant, and Rosie sees herself more of a baker than a chef, the school program has them struggling with both the tough curriculum and the mounting tension and jealousy with Bodie’s increasing presence near Rosie.

This was a sweet novel full of culinary delights. It was like one of those baking shows mixed with the environment of, say, Harry Potter, where they all lived in the same grand building and attended classes within those same walls. There was a nice mix of dynamic personalities in the supporting cast of characters, with the typical school tropes of the “bad boy”, “cool/mean girls” and “funny sidekick”.

It’s no surprise given that they meet in the first chapter that Rosie and Henry are paired off, however I found all the challenges they encountered to keep them apart or cause friction in their relationship could all so easily have been fixed by just talking. There were so many needless misunderstandings, teenaged angst and jealousy. In a way, I wish that their romantic interest in each other wasn’t established so early on in the book, because then I can see how the author needed hardships to come up to keep their storyline moving along. I didn’t quite understand the need to keep seemingly innocuous things a secret, which in turn lead to unnecessary tensions. In my opinion, there could have been other ways to “keep them apart” that would be more effective, if that was the goal.

However, all that being said, it was still a fun story to read. Love à la Mode is like an homage to the delicious world of food and Paris. You can tell there was a lot of knowledge behind the words when it pertained to culinary skills. It was a unique take on the contemporary romance YA and would be great for fans of all the cooking and baking shows on TV!

Henri Yi grew up at his father's restaurant and loves to cook, so that is why he is boarding a plane from Chicago to Paris, where he will be attending the culinary school of Chef Laurent, which is a competitive program where only the 20 best teens are admitted.
On the plane he meets a girl, Rosie. They start talking and find out that they both are attending the culinary school.
Once they arrive and start classes at the school, live in the city of light seems not so perfect as it seems. The classes are at a difficult and challenging level and they get judged by top chefs, it is then that they find out their cooking talent is just at a starting point, and they have to work hard to reach the next level or to be send home. Beside classes they Henri finds out that Rosie is not so interested in him as he is in her, because she has her eyes set on Bodie Tal, the son of a famous celebrity chef, who is also attending the classes.
With romance sparks flying up, the teens attending the program with Henri and Rosie as the main characters in the middle, really have to prove what they are worth to become the next top chefs.

Love à la Mode is a sweet and romantic read that is perfect for every teen interesting in cooking and everyone who loves cooking competition shows. The book also reminded me a little bit of Anna and the French Kiss so it is also a perfect read for fans of that one.
I do have to say though that I found the storyline thin. The romance between Henri, and Rosie was okay. It started slow though because Rosie first had her eyes set on Bodie Tal. In the end the romance part really took off but then the book ended. There is a lot of drama in between and some conflicts, but nothing really special that puts you on the edge of your seat. It was all a bit thin and sometimes needless, but I got the meaning that it was supposed to be all cute in the end. And of course no book set in Paris is complete with a scene at the Eiffel Tower!

Overall a okay and cute read centered around cooking.

I requested this book due to previously enjoyed Stephanie’s works, and because I love any book that envolves baking! and I definitely enjoyed it. It was sweet, heart warming and a super feel good story with an adorable little romance.

I really enjoyed the plot, which I thought was incredibly unique and interesting. A few years ago I read Anna and the French Kiss, and this definitely gave me a lot of the same vibes: a school in France! And that was an aspect of Anna that was one of my favorite parts of the story, so seeing it again in a contemporary was very exciting!

The characters were also endearing. I loved all of them, although I thought at times they were slightly childish; but they are still young, so the way they talk and act makes sense with their current age! I loved the friendships, and they all had a really good chemistry going on, not just the couple but the friendships as well, and I think that definitely was a plus when it came to me enjoying this story! For me, strong characters are what makes and breaks any book, so I was happy to find great and easy to love characters in this novel!


It was overall a very solid story, that made me feel super warm and fuzzy inside, which is something I am always looking for in a contemporary! I was excited to read this because I loved Stephanie’s previous works and I am happy to say that she definitely delivered another super charming story!

Stephanie Kate Strohm is cementing herself as one of my go-to authors for contemporary YA stories. Love a la Mode is sweet as sugar and more fun than any other book I've read in long time!

This story is about two midwestern teens who have an adorable airplane meet cute on their way to high school culinary school in Paris. The story isn't similar at all, but while reading, I felt so much nostalgia for Anna and the French Kiss and even When in Rome, the old Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen movie. I'm an absolute sucker for stories about a group of teens who meet during a school program and have adventures in a new city, and the students of the Ecole Denis Laurent are worth rooting for. There's a lot of diversity as the program is international, and I love that each of the characters' cultures influenced their cooking, especially when given the opportunity to create unique dishes instead of working on the fundamental basics of cooking.

And WOW the food portions of Ove a la Mode are spectacular! If you're the kind of person who loves to watch the Food Network or Gordon Ramsey shows, you'll really love this book, but beware: it'll make you hungry! Even descriptions of cheeseless omelets (wtf, France?? Everyone knows the cheese is the bwst part!) made me want to run to my kitchen, but I melted when the group hits a creperie and every time Henry or Rosie visited the boulengerie for some croissants, tarts, and baguettes! And one of my favorite parts of the book were all the scenes leading up to and including Thanksgiving, when all the students banded together to create a delightful Friendsgiving that featured a huge helping of delicious dishes.

But the detailed descriptions of food are like the cherry on top of the sundae. What really makes this book such a delight are the characters. Rosie and Henry are adorable, of course, nd they manage to have a quick burn AND a slow burning romance at the same time. That takes talent. Their chemistry sizzles like butter in a skillet! I also adore their ragtag friend group including Japanese-American sassmaster Yumi, sweet forager and morning fitness enthiast Swedish Hampus, English fangirl Priya, solid New Yorker Marquis, and "bad boy" celeb baker Bodie. As much as I love a good romance, I'm even more a fan of great friendship groups, particularly when written well and realistically. I work with a big teen group at my library, and the EDL students could have been my teens. They felt so real to me!

If you're looking for a fun, quick read with an authentic teen voice, I definitely recommend picking up Love a la Mode or Prince in Disguise by Stephanie Kate Strohm! She takes really fun premises and creates thoughtful, tummy-butterfly-inducing stories full of heart.

Love a la Mode is set at a culinary school in Paris, where Henry and Rosie fall in love amidst the pressures of competitive cooking. He is trying to prove himself and his dreams of becoming a chef to his strict Korean mother, who has other plans for his future. Rosie, a pastry chef from rural Ohio, wonders if she is up to the challenge, as she has little experience with main course cuisine. Their romance is thwarted by her cooking struggles and her flirtation with a fellow pastry chef, who is the school's celebrity chef owner's nephew. Witty banter, delectable portrayals of food obsessions and a rich cast of characters make this a winning rom-com that is a cut above.

Another delightful read by Stephanie Kate Strohm! A light, funny, sweet rom com that will leave you smiling!