read this if you like: sexy romcoms, cooking shows, and queer characters with amazing personalities.

Dahlia is a recent divorcée who kinda feels like a disappointment. London is non-binary and announced their pronouns a few years ago to their family only to feel rejected by their dad.

Dahlia and London both get chosen to compete on a cooking show. During the filming of the show, they discover each other and learn lots about themselves.

Love & Other Disasters is such a heartwarming story and I am so happy I got to read it and I need more books in this series ASAP.

Love & Other Disasters meshes together some of my favorite things: queer romance + reality cooking shows.

Dahlia meets London on their first day of shooting when she walks into London and then word vomits to cover up her nervousness about the show. Their first meeting leaves London unsure of how to handle the massive ball of color and energy that is Dahlia, who instantly thinks London doesn’t like her.

The two eventually hit it off and start an easy friendship, but the chemistry between these two is 😘👌🏻 The budding romance between the two of them seriously made me swoon. I’m seriously obsessed with this book, I loved it so much.

Love & Other Disasters follows Dahlia, who is recently divorced and unsure of her next steps in life, and London, who is nonbinary, as they meet and fall in love on a competitive cooking show called "Chef's Special." This was so dang cute! I loved it so much and couldn't stop reading once I picked it up. The writing style was simple, yet that adds to the addictive nature of the book. I loved both Dahlia and London and their chemistry was fantastic. I also enjoyed the setting as I love these types of shows and it was fun to see what they may look like behind the scenes. I have never read a book centering on a nonbinary character, but the writing was seamless and the representation was great. I didn't want their story to end! I will definitely be keeping my eye on Anita Kelly and anything they write in the future!

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

I cannot remember the last time I smiled so much throughout a book. This book just had so much going for it, and it served on all accounts. It was a beautiful story with a beautiful romance, and it tackled so many topics wonderfully. I was scared for the way the representation might be handled, but it was just so well done. I was so happy to read a romance with nonbinary rep and even happier when it was so well written. This book was a struggle to put down! I cannot wait to see more from this author.

Love & Other Disasters is, to me, home in every sense of the word. It's like this book was written for me personally. Silly, sexy, sweet and sincere, this book checks every single box when it comes to a great romance. I was completely sucked into Dahlia and London's romance and swept into the delightful world that Anita Kelly created. As a queer and non-binary reader, seeing messy and wonderful characters that represented my own identities and life experiences work through their trauma and get their happily ever after was invaluable, validating, and exhilarating. Love & Other Disasters is one for the ages, and one I will hold dear to my heart for the rest of my life.

Love & Other Disasters was such a fun and sizzling romcom that touched on prevalent issues in our society today about representation. London and Dahlia were fun and quirky. Abita Kelly did an amazing job highlighting their romance while also remaining sensitive to the issues of non-binary representation and coming out.

I loved how compatible Dahlia and London were. The cooking show element was also super fun and kept me smiling from ear to ear. I also loved how emotional this story was and how each character had their own personal issues they had to work through. This story was not only funny and swoony, but thought provoking and compelling. This was a solid read! 4 stars! ~Ratula 

I would like to thank Netgalley and Forever for an advanced copy of this book for an honest review.

*4.5 Stars*

Did you say a non-binary/woman romance set at a cooking show??? I am HERE for it.

London is the first non-binary contestant in all 8 seasons of Chef's Special but they're very confident in their cooking skills and they're just here to cook.
Dahlia is a nervous wreck, she missed the meet and greet before the first day of shooting and she can barely keep it together. So when she smashes into London, nothing but mumbles and oversharing comes out. And London looks very annoyed and grumpy and they reply with nothing more than grunts with stresses out Dahlia even more. Things don't improve for Dahlia when the judging arrives and she falls with her meal flying everywhere. Why did she want to do this again?

I'm really sorry for the poor summary over there. But anyway, this was great, I really loved the characters. They were both complex and so very interesting. I loved that we had both points of views and how the relationships evolved. I also loved the cooking show setting and the representation. The side characters were also pretty great and that was just a great time from start to finish. The only reason I didn't rate this 5 stars is that I felt like they fell in love a bit too quickly but that might be just because it takes me months and months.
Anyway, I also loved that the characters were 26 and 28, and that 28 yo Dahlia was trying to find her way. I will be turning 28 on this book's release date and I very much am trying to find out what I want. So that was A+ for me.
Honestly, just a great book all around. I can't wait to read more by Anita Kelly.

This book was VERY cute! I love the modernness of the plot and the ties is has to real life situations (and I love that we’re normalizing pronouns and showing love for our non-binary friends. ❤️) I truly can’t say enough about how lovely this rom com was!

This was such an addictive read, it actually distracted me from work and I was physically unable to put it down. Anita Kelly’s stories are like the best hugs. I simply did not want to put this down and I was both satisfied (because it was perfect) and sad (because it was over) when it ended.

This book was lovely and refreshing. A blossoming relationship without the miscommunication trope is always a plus. Love drama but high swooning made this story so wonderful.

This book was ADORABLE. Romance and cooking reality show? I’m in.

It took me a little bit to get into this, I didn’t feel like the opening of the book was very strong? It sort of felt rushed and a little tell not as much show. But around 30-40% in, I was hooked and I LOVED Dahlia and London.

I think the story of them on the cooking show complimented their growing relationship and I liked that the author didn’t obsess over the details of the show. I did think some of the narration got lengthy in some areas.

But I loved Dahlia and London’s relationship. They were seriously so cute. I think I would have loved to get to know more of the other characters that were on the cooking show. It could have been a really fun dynamic I think if the author has fleshed them out a little more and included them more in Dahlia and London’s story.

Overall, I thought this was a fun read. Super cute.

I picked this book up, read the very first line and did not put it back down until I was DONE! It is addictive and witty and sexy and SO much fun. Anita has a way of hooking you in ans convincing you that you cannot take another breath until you know what happens next. I am over the moon about this comfort food comfort read just utterly utterly in love!

Before I review, thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dahlia Woodson and London Parker are contestants on a reality TV cooking show, which is already enough to draw me in to a romance novel, but also, London is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns!

There’s enough about the show to keep things interesting on that front, the characters feel like they have depth beyond their romance and cooking (there is plenty of backstory and plans for what they want to do with the prize money if they win). The queer sex scenes are steamy and feel authentic, and the consent/communication with each other was awesome. I loved that there was a mix of people who were supportive of London’s identity (both on the cast and in their own life) and people who were problematic. As someone who is genderqueer and uses they/them pronouns, this made it feel authentic without the issue that sometimes happens where all queer and trans stories have to either have trauma in their backstories or have a fairy tale.

I had two tiny criticisms, which were that there’s a reference to London getting “dumb girl gifts” every birthday, which seems like an inelegant way to talk about gifts that didn’t match London’s interests considering that we’re talking about thinking beyond the gender binary. Also, when Dahlia wants to go for a snack run and London is described as in pajamas and not wearing a binder and says they can’t go out in their current state, it seems glossed over the issue is much less likely to be looking a mess/being in PJs than wearing a binder, and yet they go out without a discussion of that. Seems like a missed opportunity to affirm that a binder is a critical item for stepping into public for some folks. (I thought that’s where it was going when the binder was mentioned but then it didn’t come back up!) That being said, these small things didn't take away from my overall feelings about the book.

All in all, this was super cute, totally my kind of novel at a glance, and I am delighted that it met my expectations.

This is the first romance novel I have ever read with a non-binary lead, and that feels pretty important. The plot is cute and the book is a quick read, but I do with the backgrounds of the main characters were fleshed out a little better so we could get to know them a bit more. I think it would help me to feel a little more invested in the story. Overall, a very cute romance novel that will likely really resonate with an audience that doesn’t see themselves much in romance novels.

While this book struggled the line between having adult romance content and an almost young adult-like dialogue outside of those moments, I did enjoy the characters, the reality tv show set-up, and the conversations about discrimination

This book will not only make you incredibly hungry, but it's sooooo needed!

Hot Takes
- This is my first non-binary romance and I learned so much! Hence why it's needed, especially in traditional publishing! I think the rep was handled incredibly well and I especially love how Dahlia and London's love story just went in head first and was never about Dahlia questioning her own sexuality in regards to London's identity.
- For me, this is the perfect amount of steam in a traditionally published romance. It started earlier then expected and we got some good good scenes! And I LOVEDDDDD how London lusted over Dahlia early on. They were clearly enamored with Dahlia, especially in the beginning and it was adorable and swoony.
- If you love food in your romance, this is it. I love a good cooking competition and it was giving me some Top Chef vibes so I enjoyed that while being incredibly hungry lololo. Also, loved seeing a bit of Jewish rep thrown in when the contestants had to make food for a Bar Mitzvah!
- This is really random, but I really appreciated London's shirt choice BAHAHAHAHA. I hate when a small detail in a book essentially ruins it (remind me to tell you about my aunt's feelings about a character's lampshades...) but this was an example where I was excited to see what shirt they were wearing that day. It's random, I know but whatever.

Read If You Like
- Food competitions, like in Accidentally Engaged!
- A cute little meet cute!

Love & Other Disasters was the love story I didn't know I needed! I loved the connection between London and Dahlia! The cooking competitions felt a little too fast paced and I wish the rivalry between them would have been tapped into a bit more, but their connection was honest and organic and I couldn't help but fall in love with both of them! The pacing and development of their individual journeys as well as their relationship was really well done! The writer did an incredible job with the characterization I felt like Dahlia and London were friends of mine. This is a book I will come back to when I need a feel-good romance or am just in the mood to revisit these characters that became a comfort for me throughout the book.

So this was a lot of fun! I loved the cooking competition TV show setting, and the main characters Dahlia and London were really easy to love. I thought they had great chemistry and found each of their individual struggles really interesting and relatable. Some gripes I had were sometimes I wish I had more POV of certain characters at certain points and I wish some of the other competitors had more of a spotlight.

If I reread this, I may give this a higher rating just bc i have been in a terrible reading slump for the past like 2 months so we will see.

Thank you Forever and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this adorable queer rom-com! I really enjoyed this one and loved that it was centered around a cooking show! This was a great friends to lovers story with funny bantering, fell in love with both main characters, London and Dahilia. Definately recommend this book to anyone looking for a funny, adorable romance.

Friends, I’m about to gush over “Love & Other Disasters” by Anita Kelly, and if you’ve been following me for even a little bit of time, you know I’m not shy about the books I love. I love, love, love this book. Do us both a favor and add it to the pre-order list right this moment. Go ahead, go now. I’ll wait.
….

Ok, now that we’ve taken care of business, I’ll resume my obsession over this fast-paced, adorkable and charming rom-com that fans of “The Charm Offensive” and any competition show on the Food Network will truly devour come January ‘22. I’ve never highlighted so many passages in an ebook before. I’m going to need a physical copy of this book so that I can refer back to my favorite parts over and over again.

Dahlia and London are competitors on “Chef’s Special”, a cooking show for amatuer chefs attempting to win $100,000. Each has applied to the cooking show for different reasons: Dahlia, to prove to herself that she could live her life out loud and create a new dream for herself after her divorce, while London aims to win the prize money in hope that they can start a non-profit for LGBTQIA and non-binary kids. Dahlia’s spark and sass is an electrical charge, a beacon of light that shines on others. London, conversely, is the stoic and steady ‘grump’ that we didn’t know we needed in our lives.

I can only speak for myself, but as I read I imagine the characters as real people. Dahlia and London might be fictitious, but their conflicts and issues are very real: divorce, questions of identity, sexuality, family drama, and even someone, somewhere competing on an amateur cooking show, the lucky devil. I always try to put myself in their shoes, in the shoes of their family, their best friend. This is my long winded way of saying Anita Kelly made me feel deeply.

Dahlia’s inner strength and self-awareness is awe inspiring. She made tough choices in the name of her own happiness and has to deal with those repercussions. Her character reminds me of the phrase “speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.” I’m so happy to have read my first book with a character using “they/them” as their pronouns. London is a beautiful character, and I know there are going to be so many people who will be able to see themselves in London.

Forever is a fantastic publisher for the LGBTQ community and I’m always proud to see the progress and inclusivity in the books they’re publishing. Thank you to @Netgalley and @readforeverpub for the arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.