This book was a lot of fun to read! I thoroughly enjoyed it AND the best part.... its about food!

The overall story was really good. I loved all the parts about the dueling restaurants. The actual cooking competition was really fun to read. It was like watching a TV show like Chopped but reading it instead and I was not disappointed in the slightest. I also really liked the parts about the restaurant renovation, coming up with new dishes, and training a new chef! All of that was just wonderful and really entertaining.

The LOVE aspect of the book was even better!! Two ex-lovers who are now restaurant owners in the SAME town!! Like obviously you know there is going to be drama. But I have to say, there really wasn't as much as I thought there would be between the ex's and more drama was family related. I still enjoyed it though! I felt it was the perfect amount and there was that "misunderstanding trope" going on which I love!

The characters were good. I found them to be relatable all on their own ways. I felt some of the characters to be a little frustrating but honestly that's the point when there is family drama.

If you enjoy cooking shows, home renos, drama, and a second chance cute romance then you will love this! So I highly recommend!

All Stirred Up was a cute romance between two chefs of high end restaurants. After closing down one of her family's restaurants, Susan takes on the challenge of renovating the one remaining restaurant in Scotland, to keep her family legacy alive.

Susan's ex boyfriend Chris is also heading home to Scotland to open his own restaurant, after finding fame in New York as a chef and a popular TV show judge.

With the two working in similar circles and old feelings being stirred up (see what I did there?), will the two be able to find their way back to each other?

I enjoyed this story. It was light and fun and more food focussed than romance. I've been told the story is similar to a retelling of Persuasion but since I've not read that one, I really can't comment on it.

I volunteered to read this book, through netgalley in exchange, for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This book is set in Edinburgh Scotland. The pacing of this story is good. It shares a little bit of Scottish history. The characters are enjoyable. This story is a little bit of a tearjerker. It is about two chefs named Susan and Chris. The family relationships within this book is well written. The relationship between the two main characters is good. This book is in stores now for $16.99 (USD).

“All Stirred Up” is not just a story about the cut-throat world of chefs and high-end restaurants. Set in Edinburgh, Scotland, this novel is also a novel about the importance of families. Susan Napier sets out to revitalize the family business by a total remake of Elliott’s, the restaurant started by her grandfather. In the process, she rediscovers her own talents and comes face to face with her past. Susan contends with neurotic sisters, old loves, disgruntled employees, and screen stars as she perseveres in her quest to honor the memory of her grandfather and raise Elliott’s to new heights of excellence.

This novel has its happy and sad parts, hilarious and heartrending situations. The story portrays the difficulties of dealing with family, and the importance of moving on from grief to new experiences. The best way to describe this novel is “women’s fiction,” although anyone interested in the world of executive chefs might enjoy this backstage peek into the restaurant business. The characters are realistically portrayed and quite likeable. The action plays out against the fascinating backdrop of Edinburgh festivals and venues. Readers should be aware that this novel is liberally sprinkled with all manner of profanity, although it lacks overt sexual or violent situations.
I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

All Stirred Up started off okay, but to be honest the introduction was very clunky. I felt like I was in too many places at once to really get a sense of the characters, especially Susan. Too many names and places with no real stakes in who the characters were. Like I said, clunky. I could already feel this would be a little too women's fiction-y and not enough romance.

All Stirred Up was so good! Chris and Susan were so wonderfully written and I loved their connection!

This book was such a good romance. Between the writing, characters and setting, this book had it all. I also loved that both characters were working on their restaurants and I felt that food was its own special character in the book!

Overall, this book was a cute one!

This was very difficult for me to get through and it did not hold my interest. It was hard to follow at times and felt overall lacking to me.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had high hopes for this book, but I was a bit disappointed! The pacing felt off and I was never totally in sync with the characters. I ended up putting it down about halfway through, sad to say!

This is probably the truest retelling of Persuasion I've read in years - it captures the atmosphere of the original very thoroughly (and the Anne character's appalling family is indeed appalling). Also, high quality food porn. For me, this was a bit angsty, but I think if you really love Persuasion and want to know what it would look like in the context of fancy restaurants, you'd have a great time with this.

In theory, a culinary retelling of Persuasion should be right up my alley. I mean, it's Jane Austen! And food! And Edinburgh! The reality of this book, however, was a bit of a let down. I had a lot of difficult connecting to the characters, which certainly wasn't helped by the story feeling quite rushed at places. Especially at the resolution I was left feeling plain old unsatisfied. I mean, what about the personal problems? How were they fixed? What exactly went on with Susan's sisters , how did their story evolve? The epilogue was basically just adding insult to injury in that asoect... I seriously loved the idea for this book, and I quite enjoyed the first half of it as well, just... All in all it didn't really work for me.

It took quite a while for me to get into this book. The story formed slowly and I nearly did not finish.
I ended up really liking the book. The competition between the two main chefs in the story. The storyline between them getting together. The aunt and her meddling.
The book ended quite nicely.

3.5/5 for this rating. I found the prose dense and repetitive. The story was a bit predictable as were the characterizations.

I have to admit, I was intrigued by the concept of this book, but I went into it a bit skeptical. I was pleasantly surprised by it.

Ten years ago, Susan's grandfather passed away. Ever since then, the family restaurant, Elliot's has been floundering, due to bad management and business decisions on her father's part. After closing the doors to all but the original restaurant, Susan and her family move to Edinburgh, the home to the original Elliot's, to see if Susan can revive the failing business. While there, she learns that her ex and old apprentice of her grandfather, Chris, is opening up his own restaurant. After a gossip blogger stirs up some trouble by putting words in each other's mouths, they must learn to get over their differences to succeed, or let the past fail them both.

I really enjoyed this story. I loved that while the story had romance, it was more about family and learning to cope after tragedy. I really enjoyed the dynamic of the sisters. Even though they are all very different, you can see them growing together and discovering that they aren't going through their grief alone, and they have each other to lean on. I think the author did a wonderful job with building a relationship between the reader and the characters. I felt like I could see a bit of myself in each sister: Susan's love for food, Meg's anxiety, and Julia's tendency to hide her true feelings. I do have to say, I didn't not care for their dad. It seemed like he played favorites, and he didn't support Susan's dreams. I felt like when he did show her affection or said he was proud, he wasn't being sincere.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It was a cute and very heartwarming story. I look forward to reading other books by this author in the future.

This was entertaining enough. I agree with most of the other reviews in saying this wasn’t really a romance, but more of a contemporary novel. Once I got that in my head, the reading experience was much more pleasant.

I do wish there was more interaction between Chris and Susan though. I feel as though their connection was great but could have been more developed the second time around (second-time romances are a guilty pleasure of mine, but this one was lacking).

I did enjoy reading it, just was disappointed about certain aspects (and oh my god, every side character was so annoying I found myself skimming over their parts).

A modern-day Persuasion retelling set in Edinburgh against the backdrop of the high-end restaurant world. What could be more delicious? I eagerly picked up this book by a debut author who knows her way around a professional kitchen and resided in Edinburgh. It was quite obvious the author made these, along with her love of literature, the superb ingredients she stirred into a low-heat second chance romance.

Susan Napier closes a restaurant in London and her life there. The failure hadn’t been her fault—that lay with her father who knew nothing about food and even less about business. She is flying ahead of her family to Edinburgh and back to her grandfather’s original Elliott’s to take over this flagging restaurant that once was the gem of the Royal Mile and, hopefully, can turn it around again. Unfortunately, this return brings with it all the regrets and painful memories of her past. It was at this Elliott’s under her grandfather and her mother’s tutelage in the kitchen where she met and fell in love with both food and a certain red-haired up and coming chef her grandfather gave a chance to. Then she lost her grandfather, her mother, and, because she gave up in a weak moment, the only man she could love. Years have passed and her dad has handed over the baton when the situation has grown dire. She has to shake off the past and forge ahead with an innovative menu, updated restaurant, and a motivated staff behind her if she is to save her grandfather’s legacy and prove to herself, her family, and beyond that she has what it takes.

She no sooner sets foot in Edinburgh than she runs smack into her still handsome ex, Chris Baker, and her biggest regret. Chris went on to become a celebrity chef and amazingly successful from his humble roots in the rough streets of Leith. Now, he seems to barely notice her existence and can’t think of a good thing to say about her family’s restaurant. Susan needs to step up her game whether it’s joining forces with her fashionable older sister to redo the restaurant interior, helping her younger sister through her neurosis and marriage troubles, keeping her dad’s spending in check, fighting off a sharkish reporter who wants to see something more than food sizzling, or taking on a celebrity chef in a cooking contest.

All Stirred Up took the bones of Jane Austen’s Persuasion and built its modern equivalent in a new place and setting. It takes it’s time and doesn’t rush through the setup of characters, their backgrounds, the professional kitchen world, or a slice of life in Edinburgh. I enjoyed how the author had Susan come into her own from her under-appreciated, dull-looking, and lacking in self-confidence self to a woman who set her goals and pressed forward with grit and hard work. The deck was stacked against her on all fronts and I loved seeing her quietly step up and meet the challenges.

Most of the book is narrated from Susan’s point of view, but I liked that there were a few scenes with Chris doing the narrating, so I got a good picture from both perspectives. This was necessary because I probably wouldn’t have liked Chris without them. He feels that he was wronged in the past and it has festered a bit so contact with Susan or those around her produce some bitter remarks. But, it doesn’t get over the top making it tough to root on the potential of romance for this pair. I liked them both working separately toward their goals and working out the past.

I think the most welcome surprise was what the author did with the surrounding cast of characters. They might be flawed or quirky, but they are fully-fleshed out and not just fillers. Susan might have been at odds with her family, but when the chips are down, they are there for her. I enjoyed the flamboyant personalities in her kitchen staff that she, like her grandfather, gave them their chance. On Chris’ end, he has some equally engaging kitchen staff, a hilarious sister, and a dog that is oh so adorable.

The author doesn’t let her description of Edinburgh take over, but I enjoyed how it was organic to the story weaving in and out of the characters and the plot. The people feel like they really live there and the Edinburgh of the story was easy to picture in my mind.

The story is slow going and slow-building, but the conflict is steadily building with some good tension moments throughout. The ending left a huge smile on my face and I thought the epilogue was a good balance to all that came before it.

All in all, I loved this foodie lovers nod to a classic that crosses over between women’s fic and contemporary romance.

What a fun novel this is! Yes, it's a retelling of Persuasion but if you, like me, aren't committed to keeping that pure, you're going to love this story of Susan and Chris. It's set in Edinburgh and- best of all- in restaurants. Susan's grandfather owned Eliot's- once a chain, now down to one she's determined to revitalize. Chris and Susan were a couple when cooked at the one in London until he disappeared. Now, years later, they're both in Scotland and both opening restaurants. Susan's head is turned for a bit by Phillip, an actor working with her aunt Kay during the Festival. You know, though, that that relationship is not the important one. This has wonderful characters in Susan. Chris, Meg, Julia, Gloria, Beth, and Rab. It also made me hungry! Moore clearly knows and loves her food; sadly there are no recipes. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. It's a wonderful read that would make an awesome beach book but I read it inside in the AC and loved it.

I WANT FANCY RESTAURANT FOOD NOW.

The best part of All Stirred Up, a romance revolving around a newly famous chief and a woman trying to revamp her family's stagnant chain of fancy restaurants, is the food stuff. There are so many amazing descriptions of desserts that I would probably read the book just for those.

Other than the food related plot points, the romance is fine. I would have liked to see the reconnection of the two main characters more developed but there was some good stuff. The POV that this book is written in is off putting, especially at first - I did grow to overlook that aspect and get used to it but it is straaange. The relationship between Susan, the MC, and her family had moments of being really engaging but I think it may have been too many moving parts to juggle. There is basically zero physical romance which seems like a good thing to note. Oh, and the ending felt a bit rushed. The whole climactic part of the story was over in like 2.5 seconds. I need my drama to last, thank you very much.

liked that the romance wasn't the main plot of the book and it was a slow burn and that there was more plot development and fun characters in this book than your typical romance.⁣
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When Susan's family restaurant group is facing hard times so they close all of them except the Edinburgh one, she's left to turn her grandfather's legacy back to what it was. Of course, her ex-boyfriend is back in Edinburgh and opening his first restaurant too...This was a re-telling of Jane Austen's Persuasion with a fun restaurant vibe!⁣

This book deserves 4 stars if you frame it as Women's Fiction, but it is very light on actual romance. It's a modern retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion and it's a fresh take. But I wasn't swooning and I didn't find myself particularly engaged.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This was okay as long as I ignored the fact that it's supposed to be a retelling of "Persuasion" by Jane Austen. The story itself was fine but I didn't connect with any of the characters so I wasn't super invested in the success of the restaurant or in the romance.