New book, new book! Finally hitting some books on my NetGalley to-read list!

This is my first experience with Beaty St. Amant, so I went into this book completely blind, simply hoping for some form of romantic comedy.

If I’m being honestly, what originally drew me into this book, was the illustrated cover. However, (and for me, this is an issue I always run into with illustrated covers) this was where some of my issues came in.

BLURB: Rory Perez is DONE with her aunts struggling food truck. She doesn’t feel passionate about cooking, and it shows, as the business tries to stay afloat. The upcoming food truck festival offers a cash prize that Rory’s family desperately needs (and this may be her chance to finally leave). Jude Strong is sick of the obligation working at his fathers law firm puts on him, when his real dream lays with cooking, the food truck festival is his chance to do what he loves. What happens when these lost people cross paths? They may find each other along the way.

Honestly for me, this story was too PG (maybe PG-13). I always get fooled by these illustrated covers hoping they maybe secretly spicy behind the pages. Sometimes, a lot of them are! However, this is not the case with this one. So, don’t go into this wanting some HAWT spicy action. That being said, if you want some behind closed doors romance, this may be for you.

Additionally, the ending snuck up on you with some religion. This doesn’t ALWAYS bother me, but I feel like if there’s going to be a heavy religious emphasis that should be more of a highlighted theme in the blurb.

When it comes to the characters Rory was one of those “un-likable” heroines. I think she’s one that’s supposed to grow on you, as you see an arc to her transformation For me, I didn’t really see that completely. I softened toward Rory, but never fell in love with her. I think this is because of her prickly attitude and her prickly, grump tendencies.

That being said, I won’t dissuade anyone from reading this. The food descriptors and food themes are really amazing, and the food truck festival is something fun to read about. Besides that, I love a third person told romance novel.

If you love a relatively clean, sometimes “uplifting” spiritual romance, with a fun background, give it a shot.

Heat Level: 🔥🔥

I enjoyed this modern love story as it perfectly captures the reality of meeting someone online and how they can come across as very different in person when the time finally comes for you to meet. I also love the different family make ups for both of the main characters who each suffered grief and pressure in their own ways. A refreshing storyline for 2021,

Loved the premise of the food trucks as the background for the romance, but this book dragged on for about 100 pages too long. By the end I was tired of reading the hero and heroine’s inner dialogue about their family issues and shortcomings. The You’ve Got Mail references were cute, and the Love at First Chat premise was adorable. It just did not pay off in the way I hoped.

Overall this was a pretty entertaining book. I don’t know if I would necessary call it a romantic comedy but it was romantic and it wasn’t heavy enough to be a drama. Overall though 3 stars. I had a good time reading. The writing style was great. I actually enjoyed how it was paced and the language that was used but it was just the character development, only in Rory’s case, that I couldn’t get over. The other characters were also very enjoyable and showed growth.

“How many times had she misjudged him? Assumed the worst?”

One too many times. I’m sorry but the miscommunication in this book was absurd. Rory was hard to like. She jumped to conclusion with literally NO reason whatsoever. There were past problems that were just thrown in to excuse her massive trust issues but it wasn’t done very well. She was just not it for me. I ended up rolling my eyes (like actually in real life I rolled my eyes and considered not finishing the book) the last, or second to last, time she jumped to an outrageous conclusion or mentioned how he betrayed her when he didn’t actually have a single bad bone in his body. Yet, he was also blaming himself.

Jude was great. He’s the reason I kept reading. I wanted to see him win because, to Rory, the food truck contest wasn’t the only conpetition her and Jude were participating in. I wanted to see him happy. He was genuine and just wanted to do what he loved. Nothing he did had any bad motivations but he was a little naive and so she ran with it and painted him out to be the worst person ever.

I still finished the book. I enjoyed it a lot in the first half… until I couldn’t handle Rory anymore. It felt like threw in too many problems, which were all one-sided, and didn’t take enough time resolving them. There were multiple reasons why she didn’t want to trust Jude but then only was resolved and that was it. The rest just disappeared? I would still say to read it because it wasn’t a waste of time. I did get my enjoyment but this isn’t going to blow your mind and make you giddy.

Tacos for Two is a wonderful romance novel that has a lot going for it. It’s drawers upon and references heavily You’ve Got Mail, but it is very much its own story.

Tacos for Two centres on the characters of Rory and Jude, two people a little lost in their lives and trying to figure out what gives their soul joy. They’ve each been talking to (and falling for) someone on an online dating platform that keeps the users images hidden - I’m sure you can imagine where this leads…

Though this is a romance there is so much more going on. It’s a book about finding yourself, but also in finding peace in who you are and what you wish to do. It’s about perception and misunderstandings. It’s about family, and not just those held together by blood but the families we create for ourselves. It also has absolutely brilliant disability representation - in fact I think Hannah was probably my favourite character.

I loved Rory and Jude, though often I wanted to grab Rory and stop her from getting in her own way so much. Though equally I think it’s great how Rory came to this realisation herself.

Betsy St. Amant’s writing style was so wonderful to read and I really loved how the chapters came from both Rory and Jude’s points of view. There were so many little puzzle pieces within this story that just came together so well.

This is a gem of a romance and one I very much enjoyed.

I really, really liked this book. These are some of the reasons:
I loved that even though it's like You've Got Mail, it takes much longer to get the happy ending after they realize who the other one is. There are lots of unexpected twists and turns.
The dating site banter was great! Loved them all couldn't wait until they got back online each time to see what they'd write.
Loved that the story features food trucks. While they are popular in our culture now, very few books are written where the goal of a character to have one.
Loved that Mexican food is so featured. It made me hungry for it all while reading and after.
Loved that a character just up and left a monied occupation to go for his dreams.
Loved that Jude is a guy who makes mistakes, not some perfect hero. But he also realizes them later and admits and asks forgiveness.
Loved that there is a special needs person who teaches great lessons to all the rest.
Loved that there was a bad guy and a little of a mystery.
I thought this was such a fun story. I didn't want to stop reading once I started.
Highly recommend!

This was a nice read. I love the deeper message about perseverance! It would be a great pick for a book club.
Thank you to Netgalley for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review!

A remake of You’ve got Mail in book form.

I loved that Rory and Jude felt like real people with real relationships and problems. It’s a sweet clean story and I liked that there was some representation of different cultures AND different abilities.

I wish there had been more flirty banter along with the wittiness and I wish there had been more angst along with the personal tensions. It took a little while to get to their “discovery” so this might be why there wasn’t as much angst.

Overall very likable characters even when their actions weren’t always so likable and a fun storyline.

Thank you NetGalley and Revell for the eARC!

This book was a lovely romance read, that kept me turning the page constantly. The only criticism I have is that it was a little bit too slow at times but overall a fabulous book.

My thoughts: this was a sweet romance, clean, without a strong faith message. There were some soft swear words used, and there was some drinking that might bother some readers. I liked Hannah the best of all the characters. She was a sweet girl. Otherwise it was a romantic comedy of sorts and them two main characters had a lot of issues to work through. If you like clean romance you might like tacos for two. I was given a copy free and all opinions are my own.

"Tacos For Two": 4⭐

(Unpaid Review: thank you to @netgalley, @betsystamant and the publishers for allowing me to read this eArc copy in exchange for a review.)

If you loved "You've Got Mail", then you'll for sure love this book! There's no way you won't, trust me! I'm a huge fan of the movie and this book just gave me all the butterflies!

I always am down for a book with cute and romantic scenes, good characters and food! And, of course, a beautiful cover! For me, this was the whole package and I think you'll really appreciate the author's intention! It's really beautiful and creative!

What a delightful story! When two people are doing online messaging, they thoroughly enjoy it. But wait! They meet, but as themselves, not the online persona they have cultivated. They both decide to enter a food truck contest, both doing the same type of food, too. All kind of craziness ensues and nothing is as it seems. And I was so hungry all through the book! I could smell the food on those trucks! Recommended.

My thanks to Revell Publishers for a copy of this book via Net Galley. The opinion here is my own.

"Tacos for Two" is an adorable rom-com set in the world of food trucks. Rory Perez has inherited her beloved aunt's Mexican food truck. Though cooking is not her passion, Rory works to keep the truck afloat in order to be able to pay the bills to keep her niece with Down's Syndrome in the home that she lives in. With her hometown's annual Food Truck Festival coming up, Rory see's it as an opportunity to win and put the business in a good spot financially with the prize earnings.

Jude Strong is a local soon-to-attorney at his father's prestigious law firm, Problem is, Jude's heart isn't in law- it's into cooking. He makes a deal with his father that if he can win the Food Truck Festival contest, he can forget taking the bar exam and leave the firm to pursue his passion in cooking. Familiar with Rory's food truck as it is one of the firm's regular lunch-time go-to's, Jude asks Rory to give him cooking lessons, and he enters the Food Truck Festival contest as well, now pitting himself against Rory.

As the contest progresses, Jude comes to realize that Rory is the woman that he has been talking to and falling in love with as they message back-and-forth with each other on an online dating site. And when Rory discovers this as well, she believes that Jude has been using her all along to get where he wants to be. Can they find a way to make it work?

"Tacos for Two" was a fun, quick read, with likeable characters, and it had you hoping for Rory and Jude to come back together in the end.

Thanks to Net Galley and Revell for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. "Tacos for Two" is scheduled to be released on 10/12/21.

Fun story with a serious undertone of what it takes to grow up and commit to figuring out your life!

The concept of Tacos for two intrigued me from the beginning. This story didn't disappoint me as I am a huge fan of foodie romances. It was great to read about Rory, the owner of a food truck, and Jade, who studies law. He works for his father and dreams of opening his own food truck. { How ironic is that?} The enemies to lovers trope had me hooked. It was an enjoyable plot. There were many surprises and twists to the story. There are flaws in Rory and Jade's relationship, but both of them shined in the end.

Thank you Revell and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was a honest review.

I want to fist say thank you to the author and for giving me the eARC. Ok hablemos primero del cover tan hermoso de este libro, es tan cute! Me encanto la Historia tanto. El libro es tan cute y fresh, ellos sacan lo mejor del otro y eso es tan cute para mi. Algo que no me gusto mucho fue todo el drama familiar que tuvo este libro, se sintió un poco innecesario. Me gustaron mucho los principales personajes y también los secundarios. La anticipación de saber que va a pasar desde hace que el libro sea fácil de leer.

A very sweet reworking of the beloved romance You’ve Got Mail and it’s predecessors. Very enjoyable!

If you like enemies to lovers and dysfunctional families, then you're going to love this!!! Her biggest nemesis is the guy she's dating online. This is a high stakes rom-com drama book.

This book ticked almost all the boxes that I feel good romcom should have. I loved the plot and the rivalry the two main characters had because of it and the anonymous dating app topped it off. The slow burn romance was on point, I was practically itching to get them to kiss and make up, however, I feel the “falling for each other” was a bit out of the blue, yes they had talked for a couple months prior to the identity reveal, but the conversations the reader themselves got to see were a bit lacking and not very “this will make you want to fall in love with me”. I also felt slightly let down by the epilogue as that could’ve been a chance to see what they were really like as a couple and it felt rushed and more like an easy way to wrap up instead of showing their relationship.
All in all though, I loved it and it made me smile throughout! :)

Well, that was utterly adorable. If you’re a fan of You’ve Got Mail, you’ll want to dive into this book. The texty banter exchanges were some of my favorite parts and I appreciated the inclusion of a character with Down syndrome. The heroine made me want to shake her at times with how she was constantly jumping to negative conclusions and it was probably a good thing Jude had gotten to know her online first or she might not have had a chance with him. An overall fun read.