A queer love story set in the middle of a reality cooking show? Sounds like a recipe for success to me.

Dahlia, recently divorced, has followed her passion for cooking and ended up as a contestant on Chef’s Special (basically Master Chef). While there she quite literally runs into London, a non-bianary contestant, and they alternate perspectives through the book.

The beauty of this story is in its tender care of the evolution of London’s character, as well as the sureness of identity both London and Dahlia have. It made for a perfect pre-bed read.

While I wish there was just a little more food talk in here, let’s be honest, I was in for a cute love story and a HEA - which it delivered.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC.

Love and Other Disasters is a romance set within a reality TV cooking competition and two of the contestants. London is the very first openly non-binary competitor this show has ever had and Dahlia is a recently divorced woman dealing with major financial difficulties. While this romance pretty much follows the recipe for romance novels (including the dreaded miscommunication-leading-to-argument), it's unique in that it features a nonbinary main character and a dual POV. The LQBTQ rep in this book is fantastic and I love seeing these characters normalized and not just used as diversity checkbox. We really get to see London's motivations, their struggles, and how they deal with the unsupportive people in their life. There are elements of a rom-com, definitely many heart-wrenching moments as London deals with the challenges of being openly nonbinary on a national TV competition, and some "spice" sprinkled throughout.

Over the past year I've read my fair share of queer books, but nearly enough with non-binary leads, and I honestly think this is my new favourite! This had me in a constant goofy smile and was just so darn adorable. I only had time to read between work/on lunch breaks and every time I was forced to put it down, it was a struggle.

I love that Dahlias story wasn't centred on coming out, and that while some of London's story did involve a bit about people not respecting their pronouns, the main gut wasn't really about that. I found was more about self growth, acceptance, and a good old fashioned cheesy rom com about a couple of people falling in love when they least expected it.

London and Dahlia are my new favourite fictional couple.I cannot recommend this book enough and cannot wait to get my hands on a hard copy!

I really liked the start of the book, I was really excited about the food making! i just really love the idea of sharing and preparing as a love language and queer people sharing that could have been really great. alas there's little food making than i wanted :')

So anyways, this book suffers from everyone only experiencing heightened emotions all the time? Like the protagonists are always either really overjoyed or really sad and distressed? Also the writing doesn't hype up the tension at all, I was simply bored.

If this book had been fun, I would've rated it higher but I did not enjoy reading it. The kissing descriptions felt too clinical, the side characters too insignificant, the dynamics between the leads were just not compelling enough. Scenes that I thought could've been great were just mediocre, I mean the cow milking scene should've been obj at least funny but I was bored.

I expected better ngl :/ I didn't rate one star because I really appreciate more trans characters in published romance books and also I liked the first 3-4 chapters.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion in any way.

3.5/5 stars

At first I wasn't too sure about this book but I really enjoyed it in the end. I enjoyed London and Dahlia's relationship and found that the food bits didn't take away from the overall plot.

This is a great book to pick up if you like a good friends-to-lovers romance with a mix of reality TV (because who doesn't love reality TV). It was a breeze to read and took almost no time at all. Definitely one to add to your TBR.

I thought that I just didn’t like contemporary romance because I had a lot of issues with the last several contemporary romance books I read. And maybe this still isn’t the genre for me, but this book definitely changed my mind about some things.

This book is fun. It’s cute. It’s sexy. The characters are engaging. It’s wonderfully queer. It’s perfect for fans of cooking competition shows.

Even when this book used tropes or kinks that I don’t like, I didn’t mind because the characters didn’t take themselves too seriously and I never felt like the author was trying to force me to be into those things.

This book is friends to lovers and I would say somewhere comfortably between slowburn and insta-love. They’re attracted to each other from the beginning, but the author takes the time to build their friendship between putting them in explicitly sexual or romantic situations.

I relate to Dahlia a lot. I’m not sure that’s a good thing. But I would probably also fall for London cause they’re very cool.

I was bothered by some of the pacing near the end of the book, but it’s definitely possible that things will change before publication and overall I enjoyed it a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

AAAAA! Dahlia and London *WEEPING*! This was the most adorable romcom I've read this week and such awesome rep <3 I felt so happy and elated after reading this, I loved the idea of live show element and managing the media. All of it was so sweet!

A delight!!! I loved the cooking competition setting in general, and especially loved the scenes where London and Dahlia get to know each other through exploring LA and crashing weddings and hanging out at their hotel. As an LA native, that setting felt so sparkly and true and just--fun! The scene at the beach!! Excellent stuff.

thank you to netgalley and grand central publishing for the arc!!

Very cute. I love the non-binary representation and I loved seeing characters find themselves at an older age. Not that late twenties is older!

I wished to see more of both the main characters’ families as they are both interesting. They added a real dynamic that a lot of books miss. Or I read too much YA.

Either way, I recommend for a cute romance.

This book was very cute! I really enjoyed the main characters and I really like to read from a NB perspective. I wish we got more of the drama on the cooking show but I understand why it focused on their relationship.

I did find that the pace of the book was really slow, and it took me a while to read it. I found myself enjoying any parts that brought up their sexuality and identity. (i.e. when Dahlia spoke about her queerness, Londons story, her relationship with her dad) I enjoyed that the most.

but the Fruit scene is probably what brought it down from a 4 to a 3 star.

4.5 Stars

– Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC for a review –

• Reality Cooking Show
• F/NB Queer Romcom
• Friends to Lovers
• Excellent Chemistry
• Yummy food
• 3 Flames

I loved this book. It was a total delight, completely hooked me and didn’t let go and I stayed up way too late reading last night and then said out loud “Oh that was sooo goooood!” when I finished it. It’s very charming and feel-good.

This book has similar vibes to The Charm Offensive and Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake in that it’s a queer romantic comedy taking place on the set of a reality TV show. In this case it’s a cooking competition. And if you liked those books, you will like this one too.

Dahlia & London, our female/non-binary MCs, meet on the show and their chemistry is palpable, you fall in love with them and cheer for them the entire time. The book has great banter, yummy food, a few steamy scenes and lots of angst and feelings. Dahlia is divorced and not out yet, London is the first openly non-binary contestant on the show. They are opposites in their experience and the things they like, but compliment each other so well and it's through their love of cooking that their bond grows. I loved the inner thoughts dual POV about identity and insecurities that each character goes through, it feels really important for right now. Dahlia’s trans brother Hank is also a scene-stealer.

I have seen every season of Top Chef and live in Santa Monica so the trips to the beach, drive on PCH and the Burbank studio felt very familiar, and some of the other things they do around town and observations are literally right outside my door. Dahlia thinks palm trees are spectacular and London thinks they look like an alien species. So cute.

Love & Other Disasters releases on January 18, 2022. Do your heart a favor and pre-order this one.

This was more of a 3.5 for me.

I really enjoyed the overall tone of this book, and having a non-binary character is pretty rare these days. Additionally, I really loved Dahlia as a main character. I thought she was the perfect amount of bubbly and smart and slightly chaotic that worked well. I could picture her easily in my head, the details around her personality and quirks were delightful.

I also enjoy the setting of this book quite a bit - reading this while The Great British Bake Off is currently airing is actually really fun. However, the big issue I had was how fast London fell for Dahlia. Truly, I think it was within 2 chapters and a whole book to go! I think if there was a little more tension or a little more resistance to the crush this book would have worked a lot better for me. For example, have London resist more than just a couple of pages before falling head over heels for Dahlia.

Overall, I think this worked well for me, with a few exceptions. I look forward to reading Anita's other books!

Loved this! Such phenomenal representation of queer and nonbinary characters in such a fun, refreshing way. Super cute and will be going on the shortlist for my queer book club!

"Love and Other Disasters" is an extremely heartwarming cooking competition love story with a queer and a nonbinary main character.

Cooking and gays, where can you go wrong? This is a stunning debut that portrays the worry and fear of pursuing what (and who) you love. Kelly perfectly portrays the "what ifs" of life that grasps you in a chokehold so strong it sometimes pulls you back from a great future.

I love the fact London's dead name, specific transphobic comments and incorrect pronouns are never used, simultaneously portraying the importance of showing what trans people deal with while not disrespecting trans people. It is made very clear that behavior is unacceptable by every character as well.

This steamy, messy and real story of two people falling in love and working to make changes in their life is a must read.

Other Disasters is a story about the healing that comes from cooking, the power of food and the strength to put everything on the line for love and finding yourself.

Love and Other Disasters was a perfect sweet romance! Set during filming for Chef’s Special (a cooking show suspiciously similar to MasterChef) recently divorced Dahlia meets non-binary contestant London and after an initial connection get to know each other over as they film.
The characters were wonderfully written, they were well developed outside of the romance plot which I really appreciated. For me, Dahlia’s personal story arc was even more fulfilling than her relationship one. I loved how she grew over the course of the book in her own way, discovering who she was as a chef and as a person. The book dealt really well with expectations that she had placed on herself throughout her life, and how she could work towards finding happiness and a fulfilling life. London being so certain in their identity was lovely to see, they were strong and bold and didn’t let anyone push them about. Though transphobia did occur within the book, ultimately the ending was positive and hopeful.
The set of a cooking show was extremely fun! Some of the food descriptions were absolutely mouth-watering and this aspect of the book created some really interesting character dynamics. Some of the plot felt a little simplistic, but honestly I found it didn’t detract from the story as the characters and relationships were tight enough that the book worked regardless. Although a good plot is important to all books, in a romance like this as long as the relationship plot feels strong, other factors lacking feels less important. One of my few criticisms of this book is that although it took place over the course of a few months, the plot didn’t really give a good sense of that. Each chapter flew from week to week of the cooking show with very little sense of that time passing, it really seemed like the book took place over a much shorter amount of time, so that aspect of pacing could have been executed better.
The whole atmosphere of this book was fast-paced and exciting; the writing style aided in that greatly. Although there perhaps could have been a little more description, the snappy writing meant that the book flowed well, and I often found myself loosing track of time as I read. It was super compelling, and I just kept wanting to read more! Some nights I stayed up into the early hours of the morning just to keep reading!
Personally, I think this book was fantastic. It was sweet and fun but had enough depth to make the characters and relationships feel real and well rounded. I was in a rather bad reading slump and this was the perfect book to pull me out of it; it was light enough that I could fly through it, but had enough substance to keep my interested and ultimately leave me satisfied.

Dahlia’s marriage is over and divorce isn’t cheap, but a popular cooking show just might be the golden opportunity for a new start and a new Dahlia. As the first openly nonbinary contestant on the show, London feels like they have a lot to prove. But the stress of the show causes things to heat up between the competitors—and not in the expected way.

What I thought 💕 Okay, so I think this book is more of a 2.5 star than a 3. I loved the conversations about gender and enjoyed the nb representation. I wanted this to be a new favourite book for me but I found I was let down by the writing and how rushed it all felt. At first London hated Dahlia and then without warning and without prompting they were in love with her? I don’t know about you, but I like my romance to build. I just wasn’t feeling the chemistry. The pacing was a bit weird. The story was a bit boring at times because the plot would slow down, but then suddenly the final cooking contest began and done with in no time. So overall, this book might be for you if you want a breezy romcom. But if you like character-driven stories it might not be the one for you.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an eARC in exchange for my Horst review.

I love cooking shows, so getting approved for this ARC was delightful.

Dahlia and London are both competing on Chef's Special, a reality tv show for amateur cooks for a chance at winning $100,000. Dahlia is coming off a divorce and trying to see what new direction she might want to take her life, while London has come out on national tv and is determined to prove the trolls wrong and win the competition.

I'm a huge fan of Masterchef, so reading about Chef's Special was very familiar to me. The details of behind-the-scenes of filming a reality tv show - how judging works, the individual interviews, the way that Dahlia would marvel at the set in between shooting, the off-site competitions, they were all so much fun. I also appreciated that neither of them really knew what they were going to do if they won - London had a vague idea that became more fully formed as the competition went on, and Dahlia had to discover what she wanted to do both on and off the show.

I really liked reading a book with a nonbinary main character - I haven't read many books so seeing a romance with an nb character was amazing. I can't comment on the accuracy of the representation, but I will say that I appreciated the way the book handled the subject of misgendering - there are instances where misgendering is implied to have happened but London's pronouns are depicted correctly on-page in the book the entire time.

I'm a sucker for the grumpy x sunshine trope, so watching Dahlia and London slowly get to know each other both on the show and off-camera on days off was fun. The scenes where Dahlia and London collaborate and get feedback from each other while cooking was so adorable. I'm not familiar with LA, but discovering it as Dahlia and London did was enjoyable. I also appreciated that their time apart allowed them both to fully grow more as individuals who were more self-assured, allowing for a strong relationship when they finally decide to pursue one. I also loved what they decided to do after their time on the show.

I liked how both characters had family struggles and pressures, albeit very different ones. I do wish we got to see more of the close relationship that Dahlia and Hank and London and Julia had, as we're told they've always been close but we don't see that as much as I would have liked in this book, but we still get very satisfying arcs as it relates to Dahlia and London with their families.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the ARC.

Let me start by saying that getting to read a romance novel with a nonbinary love interest was something that I’ve never really gotten to experience as a nonbinary person before, and I am so deeply grateful for that. I thought this book was pretty good, and I think a lot of people will enjoy it, I’m just not sure it’s the nonbinary romance novel for me. The overall character arcs were fairly enjoyable and I liked the concept, but as someone who’s a big fan of emotional growth in romance novels, it just felt a little too tied up in the characters having sex.

LOVE & OTHER DISASTERS follows two contestants on a Masterchef-esque cooking show called Chef’s Special. There’s Dahlia Woodson, a somewhat recently divorced former copy editor who’s finally going after doing things she loves. And there’s London Parker, a nonbinary audio engineer who just announced their pronouns (they/them) on national television. But is the sizzle only in the kitchen, or are they destined for a happily ever after.

I genuinely think that Kelly creates some really interesting characters, especially in that sort of reality show setting. In all honesty, even the depth of certain characters is really similar to reality shows, where those who are on for the longest you tend to know the most about. It’s clear that while the side characters aren’t just completely disregarded, they’re still there to function as a part of London and Dahlia falling in love. As far as London and Dahlia go, I actually enjoy their characters a lot, especially when it comes to their backstories. You have London in immense places of privilege in some places, and the acknowledgement of how that makes their life easier, but also how their coming out as nonbinary still had a lot of personal obstacles. The same can be said for Dahlia in another way, specifically as she navigates her own life after leaving what could be considered a normal and acceptable life in society (married to a man, with a job). At core, I think one of the biggest themes in both of their character arcs is really being solid in their identity, boundaries, and happiness after pushing back against societal ideals.

Here’s the thing about all of this though, as much as I like the characters, as soon as I get to the actual romance, I remember why I didn’t quite like the book as much. Some of this might just be personal preference, but it just ultimately soured my reading. In general, it seems like nearly all of the growth in their relationship, emotionally, etc, originates and occurs almost entirely in them having sex. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with this, but it felt like that was used as the only point of connection at first even though they were clearly also emotionally connected. They get together by having sex, their relationship progresses through sex, and to some degree they even make up with sex. And to some degree, I can understand why this can be important, especially with London trusting Dahlia with their body even with societal characterisitics of their assigned gender at birth, but all it does for me is result in me not really caring about their relationship because the moments where they’re having sex didn’t evoke those emotional feelings in me. I was just left sitting there wondering whether or not it was bad that I didn’t really care about the romance in a literal romance novel.

At the end of the day, I really don’t think this is a bad book. Again, I really do think that some people will really enjoy this, and I want to see more nonbinary love interests and protagonists in romance. Hopefully, they’ll go down a slightly different route than this one though.

Great read for anyone look for a nice lighthearted romance. Really important queer representation. Personally, didn't enjoy the cooking show setup.

(This review is based on an advanced reader's copy provided by NetGalley.)

2.5ish stars - this was cute and a quick read, but I mostly didn't feel that strongly about it. The prose is very simple and straightforward, which, nothing wrong with that, but it wasn't really my style. And some of the big moments felt a little glossed over or distant. At times I also wished there was more about the cooking show - sometimes it felt kind of incidental. There were a few really good conversations, though (Dahlia with her mom, London with their dad), and a declaration of love that made me tear up. Overall, I enjoyed it well enough while reading it, but when I wasn't reading it, I could take it or leave it.

Rep: two POV characters, both white twenty-somethings, one nonbinary and pansexual who uses they/them pronouns and wears a binder, one a queer cis woman (who has been in love with at least one man and one nonbinary person). Side characters include a butch lesbian and a trans man.

Content notes: Misgendering and other transphobia (no physical violence or slurs), recent divorce, semi-explicit sex scenes