4.5/5 Stars!

This book will make you smile even if you don't want to.

Love & Other Disasters is an adult romance between a queer f/nonbinary in a hilarious, sweet, heartfelt ride that will keep you grinning the whole way through.

Dahlia is a recently divorced ray of sunshine who is desperate to find herself and clear away her debt in the process. Dependable London wants to help other queer youth feel seen by opening a non-profit and to put their hands to something they love while doing so. Joining the cooking show Chef's Special cooking competition seemed like the solution to both of them. After a misunderstanding in Episode 1, the two become fast (if slightly reluctant) friends, navigating the world, the show, and their quickly growing affection.

This was so cute I almost couldn't STAND it. I was laughing out loud more than once and cheering for our leads the entire time. The prose was so down to earth, and it was easy to relate to the struggles and woes of Dahlia and London. Needless to say, the representation in this was also so refreshing. London dealing with wanting their father's true acceptance and having to navigate transphobia from fellow contestants and strangers alike hit right to the heart. But it was also so lovely to have them accepted and loved as they should be by their support system. Beautiful. Dahlia also dealing with her queerness and what that meant for her after having only loved a man before was also entirely relatable for me, and I'm sure will be for many others to come.

Where plot is concerned, this book is about love and acceptance — from others and yourself. It's a blushy, mushy love story and any lover will want to get their hands on this book when it hits the shelves in a couple weeks!

*My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for gifting me this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.*

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reading copy! Dahlia and London both enter a baking show competition, and sparks fly! Dahlia is coming off a divorce and is on the verge of bankruptcy and London is non-binary, announcing their pronouns at the beginning of the show. Dahlia and London feel an instant attraction, but struggle with navigating romance during a television competition and their various forms of baggage with family and life. I really loved this book because it made me laugh, cry, and love both of the main characters. I think that Anita Kelly does a great job making these characters realistic and lovable, showcasing their various emotional states through a competition and while falling in love, while writing beautiful moments of sadness, joy, and comedy. The author is great at describing the fear and joy of falling in love while queer, as well as navigating complicated family dynamics. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes cooking competitions, non-binary and mental health rep, and LGBTQ+ contemporary romance.

NetGalley Advanced Copy | What a fabulous way to start off the new year. We loved this feel-good and sizzling romance filled with representation, dynamic characters, and of course, a COOKING show!

If we had the time, we honestly would have read this California-set book in a day.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for a free advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

You can read our complete reviews on The Uncorked Librarian here: https://www.theuncorkedlibrarian.com/california-books/ or on our 2022 new releases reading list: https://www.theuncorkedlibrarian.com/upcoming-new-book-releases-2022/.

I have to thank the people of Twitter for buzzing about this book so much that I took a chance and requested it. Every single aspect of this book is perfection. From the representation to the love story to the food to the complex family dynamics, it was all just perfection. I laughed out loud multiple times and for most of the book, I had a humongous smile on my face. It was just so pleasant and refreshing and downright fun to read. My first five star of 2022. If you like cooking competitions and romance, you need to pick this book up.

Many thanks to the publisher for an advance copy and to Book of the Month for getting the hardcover in my hands 2 weeks before it's available to the public.

Making my thoughts in any way coherent about the brilliance of this story is incredibly difficult. I was somewhat intimidated on page one - I have never watched a cooking show and was worried I wouldn’t be as invested because of this - but the absolutely gorgeous characterization of both London and Dahlia is amazing. London is the best kind of giant, ginger, grump that I love to read. They are - literally and figuratively - bowled over by Dahlia and have no idea what to do with that. While I am cis and I cannot speak to London’s nonbinary representation - I loved that this book is a mainstream romance with a nonbinary romantic lead! London’s deeply personal journey of owning not only their sexuality - they are pansexual - but also their path to learning to navigate the world and have to defend their nonbinary status on a constant basis is a deeply pertinent and beautiful story to read. Dahlia is a brilliant lead - she is unsure of herself but also hilarious, and warm, and kind, and unbelievably strong. I love that she learned to cook for herself as a way to help herself heal. As someone who is straight passing and came out later in life - Dahlia’s queerness hit home so deeply for me too! In between, there are searing kisses, delicious food descriptions, and so much more. I honestly loved this book and cannot wait to read it again.

TL/DR Review
Stars: Five Blazing Brilliant Bright Stars
Steam: multiple sexual scenes, with a build in intimacy, no overt kink but one semi-public sexual scene
Tropes: grumpy/ sunshine, competence kink, cooking show competition, life after divorce, later in life coming of age
For Fans Of: Adriana Herrera and Roan Parrish
Theme Song: The Way I Tend to Be by Frank Turner
Subgenre: Contemporary/ Queer
CW/ TW: transphobia on the page, some body dysmorphia, coming out, toxic family dynamics

Thank you to the author and publisher for my complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

this is my first 5-star review of the year, and i know i won’t be able to express with words how much i loved this book, but i’m gonna try.

i loved it since the beginning, but it only got better and better and better, and then better again. i fell in love with dahlia the moment she spoke the first time because she’s the purest, brightest sunshine ever. after divorcing her high school sweetheart, she feels lost and like she disappointed everyone. i wanted to hug her and never let go.

london was delightful. a dream. obviously a book character because they’re too good to be real. the chemistry between london and dahlia was there since the first time they meet, and it only gets more intense with the chapters. they were so adorable together, and their bond felt so so so strong to me.

the book is set in a culinary tv competition, which i’m seriously starting to love. so many amazing books i’m reading lately have the same setting or involve chefs, and i’m getting addicted. in fact, i got another arc with chefs and the romance is also a nb/f relationship. 2022 is treating us so good already!

there was a perfect balance between fun and serious topics, and my eyes even got glassy at some points. the steam was greeeeat, and the ending was simply perfect.

last but not least, the spoon feeding coulis scene got me dizzy. omg. just simply perfect.

out january 18th!

tw: misgendering (mentioned, not on page), parent rejection

rating: 5/5
steam: 3/5

thank you so much to the publisher for my advance review copy!

Just a delightful warm hug of a sapphic romance between a queer woman and a nonbinary person on a cooking show, written by a nonbinary sapphic and making all of hearts turn into gooey chocolate chip cookies.

It is messy and awkward and just so lovely and loving. I am grateful for this book (and also it made me very hungry).

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for this ARC.

4.25⭐
R because it's not the food that's spicy in this book 😉

I will eat up all the cooking show competition books in a heartbeat because I am a sucker for anything remotely close to Great British Bake Off and this book did not disappoint!! I think this was the first book I've read with non-binary representation in a book and I'm so happy that more people can see themselves represented in books.

Dahlia and London meet when they join the cast of an amateur chef cooking competition and though they try to resist their feelings, they can't help falling in love as the competition heats up. I loved how wonderful these two characters were. Dahlia was a day of sunshine who was still trying to figure out how to handle life after divorce, while London chose to be out as non-binary on national television even though their dad couldn't use their correct pronouns.

Watching these two fall in love was so full of sweet, tender moments as these two characters found solace in each other and I loved that. The one thing I really missed in this book though was some of the tension in developing these feels and even the final climax felt more like a misunderstanding that could easily have been resolved. But the final scene of Dahlia and London living their happy ever after at the end was everything.

If you're looking for cute romance book and love cooking shows, I think this is a great book to book up. The non-binary and queer rep made this book stand out and I cannot wait to see more books like this from Anita Kelly and other queer writers in the future!

Also, can we talk about how perfect the cover is?!

This is the sweet queer romcom we all deserve! I’ve read a few recently that have fallen flat, so my queer little heart was overjoyed to read Love & Other Disasters.

The book opens with a killer line that encapsulates Dahlia in a sentence and has us hitting the ground running. We’re introduced to Dahlia and London right away as they navigate their first day on set of a top cooking show. Dahlia is spectacularly clumsy and London gruffly competent, but underneath their surface layers, there’s a lot more going on with both of them. Dahlia’s recently gone through a divorce, quit her job, and put all her eggs in one basket; London has publicly come out as nonbinary, decided to start a non profit, and is becoming increasingly distracted by Dahlia, whose work station is directly in front of theirs on the show.

This book melted my heart—and no! Those definitely aren’t tears on my face. How dare you! I loved how there was attraction from the start but deciding how to handle it and what it might mean long-term was where the tension came in. I never doubted that Dahlia and London were on each other’s team. Much like in real life, circumstances are the villain, and choosing how we deal with them can make or break us.

Both our MCs’ siblings and moms were key, and I loved them all fiercely by the end. Seriously. My favourites. (And shoutout to Dahlia’s dad who, like me, visits libraries—even local branches of public libraries—whenever in a new town or city!)

My only complaint is that Dahlia seemed to know exactly which pronouns to use for London even before having met them without giving us much of a description of them. While it isn’t necessary to describe someone’s body, there are certain in-group signals/queer clues that Dahlia could have picked upon that would have her use they/them pronouns right off the bat—considering that both she and London assume gendered pronouns for everyone else in the book.

But seriously, I think that’s the only thing I have to complain about. The book is sweet, tender, and raw—not how I’d like a steak, but it works well for a book. Please read it! We need more books like this in the world!

This was so tender, informative, and lovely. If you're looking to expand your LGBTQIA+ reads, I highly recommend this one.

Set during the filming of a cooking show, this story jumped immediately into action! It follows London and Dahlia, two contestants that unexpectedly find love together. Recently divorced and struggling to find herself again, Dahlia had a lot of self-doubt that I loved seeing healed. Forming a friendship first, the security and open discussions Dahlia and London shared were utterly heartwarming.

The energetic, adventurous side of Dahlia was such a fun combination with the more soft side of London. With London being the first non-binary contestant on Chef's Special, this story brought so many important discussions of appreciating someone exactly how they are. London finding a true comfort, a place of pure acceptance and bliss, with Dahlia was such a beautiful thing.

This came with a lot of laughs, too! And I loved the high-intensity moments within the competition. A must read to fill your heart with delight.

Review will be posted to Instagram (@kerosene.lit) closer to release day

I am actually super bummed that I did not like this book, it was a big book on my reads for 2022.

This book features an LGBTQA+ relationship on a cooking show. We have Dahlia, a queer woman freshly divorced who grew to love cooking as it helped her through her divorce and London, an openly non-binary person on the cooking show. They both fall for each other and go through heart-to-heart and silly accidents as they fall in love.

From this, I thought this was going to be my favourite read of the first of the month. But sadly, no. The writing threw me off with how it flowed, which is fair because some others I love, but their writing takes me a minute to adapt/get used to, but I couldn't because my saving grace in those moments are the characters or stories and I have no real lifeline.
While the characters grew on me, I did not see their chemistry as fast as it was written into this story. I feel like their connection and attachment occurs without any structure WAY too fast - it bothered me.
This story also felt like a bubble because besides one other character and a brief interaction with others (aka a sentence or two) all I read and dealt with was the two characters, I felt like it was just a bubble of them and I saw nothing else; story, setting, environment, plot etc

This is a debut book so I always give a boost to my ratings and I did appreciate the coming out and discussion on changing your mind about what you want in life (the reason for Dahlia's divorce) and London just being themselves and provoking it shouldn't be that hard to show the world that, as while as the frank conversation about acceptance.

The Good:
-Reality cooking show backdrop
-Real, messy characters
-Enby representation

The Eh:
-Middle third moved slowly
-Conflict caused by lack of communication (immaturity)

The Best:
The queer representation in this book is incredible. One of the MCs is non-binary and the other is queer. There are other side characters that are trans, gay and lesbian. It also addresses the challenges of being queer when someone close to you refuses to acknowledge your identity. It was handled truthfully and tactfully.

My Rec: If you’re looking for a fun, wonderfully queer rom-com, this is your book! The cooking show makes for a fun journey and the romance is adorable.

Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly
#secondbookof2022 #arc

CW: transphobia, misgendering off the page, divorce

This book is about two characters who are contestants on a reality cooking competition show and the romance that develops. One of them is said to be the first non-binary contestant on this particular reality show. It has great diversity and inclusion, and is quite steamy. I really liked the characters and thought they had great chemistry, and they were believable. There was incredible representation.

My ridiculous rant: I have one small issue, not with the characters themselves, but with a story point. The cooking competition that the characters are a part of had such a glaring plot issue that it took me out of it quite a bit. At this point in 2022, we all know that reality competition show contestants are isolated while filming, without access to the outside world, no phone, no communication with family, no real downtime, always exhausted. This is for a reason—the producers need the contestants to be in a bubble without assistance. This book allowed the characters to travel from filming locations to hotel alone repeatedly, and gave the main characters several three day weekends off from filming in which they explored their host city, repeatedly called their families and broke their NDAs, and posted photos on Instagram, all without producers ever checking on them. Seriously? I know of no reality show that would allow this. And it’s a small thing, a tiny plot issue, but it had such an impact on how the characters spent their time. I thought of little else when the characters mentioned their upcoming weekend off. I could not get past it.

However, if you don’t constantly obsess over small minor details like I do, and can focus on the main characters, you’d probably like this book a lot! It’s a good story, I liked the characters, and I would recommend it for the representation alone.

Thank you to @netgalley and @readforeverpub for the advance copy. (Pub date 1/18/22)

A very satisfying contemporary romance in the crowded field of cooking reality show romances! It provides both POVs, the characters spend real quality time together, they are really hot for each other: all things I want in contemporary romances. My only complaint is that I didn't buy the third act breakup. There isn't a ton of internal tension/conflict in this book, but it's got the obvious tension introduced by a reality show and some family drama, and I'm okay with that. Looking forward to reading more from Anita Kelly!

This was my first read of 2022 and I just loved it! I changed my rating a couple of times because after a few days passed and I was still thinking about this book, I had to give it five stars. It’s just so sweet, humorous, heartwarming and relevant that I couldn’t give it anything less. This is my first book by Anita Kelly and I already can’t wait to get my hands on their other works!

Dahlia and London are two contestants on the cooking show, Chef’s Special, where amateur chefs compete for a prize of $100,000. Dahlia is recently divorced, she just quit her job and she has no idea what she is doing with her life. Winning this contest could help with her financial issues and give her a sense of direction. London is the first nonbinary contestant on the show and is struggling to find acceptance with their fellow contestants and members of their own family. London and Dahlia develop a sweet friendship, and realize that maybe they want it to be more.

I thought this story was funny and genuine, with an adorable love story and delicious steam! Both characters are so likable and I found myself rooting for them to get together from the start. I loved the tension and the “will they, won’t they” that made the moment they finally realized their feelings even more perfect. The book has great banter, yummy food and a lot of angst. The vulnerable scenes between these two were so tender and really made this story the masterpiece that it is. Kelly handles a lot of sensitive topics delicately and I just love their writing style. I am officially a fan!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Anita Kelly, and Forever Publishing for the ARC of this book to read and review. Love & Other Disasters is out on 1/18 but you can get it a little bit early from Book of the Month Club!

What was your first read of 2022?

NF at 15%

I'm really getting tired of white queer stories being hyped for diversity and representation when the book is literally just white characters. Here we have a book that features cooking, which is so incredibly rich and diverse when thinking about different cultures, and guess what, all white chefs cooking standard American food. Huge wasted opportunity.

Now, onto this scene that I need to rant about.

Dahlia and London (non-binary) are two of the contestants on the show. After their first day, they both end up at the same bar to relax after a clearly stressful time. Mind you, these two don't know each other at this point minus a small meet cute that didn't go well.

Dahlia word vomits all of her emotional baggage onto London who is not really engaged in the conversation. At this point, I can't tell if London is autistic coded based on the descriptions given by the author but that's how it comes across. Dahlia gets annoyed that London isn't responding to her rapid fire, so she asks London what they are drinking and then proceeds to reach across and take a swig of London's bourbon without any sort of permission and without knowing this stranger.

Who in the hell just takes a swig of a complete stranger's drink at a bar?! And this book is releasing while we are in the fourth wave of a pandemic?! What in the caucasity?! Hell no. HELL NO. Red flags all around.

Needless to say, I'm not continuing with this mess. I'm done.

Thank you to Forever Pub and Hachette Audio for providing a review copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.

This book was WONDERFUL! I laughed and cried and rooted so hard for the MCs. While it by no means shied away from tough topics it was always more about the MCs and the love and positives in their lives.

This story is pure joy. There are bumps along the road for Dahlia and London. Not only is there a cooking contest in which they are both contestants, but both have family issues. Family can either show up or get out of the way, for each character. Both characters are dealing with their identity in a different way. Dahlia is divorced and questioning how that happened and whether she disappointed someone other than her former spouse, and herself, along the way. London is introducing themselves to the world as non-binary, with the support of some family members and a purposeful lack of support from others. The representation for both queer characters is excellent. This is the story of two people falling in love and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment, from the initial take your breath away moment when they meet, to spending time together in small and quiet ways to getting through the dark moment to being there at the end and thoroughly supporting each other. There are laughs and great heart. Sexy times are on the page. All in all, pure joy and I loved it.

CW for misgendering (but never on-page!!)

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.


Love, love, loved this book. I’ve been very into romances that take place on the set of a reality show, but many of my recent reality reads have been Bachelor-inspired. This was even better because it featured a cooking show!! Love & Other Disasters takes place on the set of a Master Chef-meets-Chopped inspired cooking show. London and Dahlia are two amateur chefs who meet on set and develop the sweetest, most tender romance over the course of the competition. This book had fantastic queer rep, good steam, and a lot of references that spoke directly to me (Jenis ice cream, character from the DC area, someone who genuinely just loves bbq, I could go on).

It also made me want to make a blueberry lavender galette, so now I’m excited for summer time!

My only note is that I occasionally felt like the pacing could’ve been tighter; I had a hard time figuring out how much time had actually passed while they were filming (it seemed like forever) and I occasionally had trouble figuring out which character the author was referring to since the book is written in third person, not first. But I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who loves food, romance, or any combination of those two things!

I can already tell this is going to be one of the big books of the year. It’s sweet, swoony, sexy, fun, and tackles serious issues and marginalized identities with care and so much love. And then, it has that undefinable something that makes a book resonate in your mind long after you read it, like a gong that just keeps echoing.

Highlights:
London is a slightly grumpy, focused, talented, attentive person who happens to be non-binary, and they just want to live their lives authentically. Dahlia is sunshine with occasional shadows, sweet, authentic, and full of so much life she leaps off the page. And together, they smooth rough edges, overlook scars, and want each other so desperately, with such ferocity that you can’t help but be swept along. I can’t believe they aren’t real people, they were so vividly drawn.

The cooking show setting was super fun, and I wanted to be competing right alongside them. The challenges and field trips were the perfect backdrop for the budding feelings between London and Dahlia. That cow scene.

Overall, this was lovely. The perfect balance between light, swoony, lovely times and the gravity of the challenges London has navigating other peoples perceptions of them. Get your copy as soon as you can.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, it didn’t influence my opinion at all.