Anita Kelly: a new queer voice conquering the world! Their stories are heartwarming, fluffy, relevant, and sooo amazing! This is how rom-coms should be written!

I was so happy that I got the opportunity to read Love & Other Disasters early. I adored both of Anita Kelly’s novella’s in the Moonlighters series. Their writing is vibrant and witty, and their characters are beautifully imperfect, inside and out. I still want to immerse myself in Love & Other Disasters, in the fantastic personalities Anita created, in the humor, the banter, and all those difficult topics that came up in between.

Dahlia is bankrupt and just got divorced from her first love. She feels guilty for letting David down and has doubts about her future. While reading I listened to Alone by Rag ‘n Bone Man & Nothing but Thieves, and this song fits so well with Dahlia’s struggles.

‘Maybe it would stop hurting, each reminder of how easily everyone she knew was navigating the path David wanted so badly, the path Dahlia couldn’t give him.’

Three years ago, London announced that they’re non-binary, and they’re the first openly non-binary character in a cooking show. But from the moment London told their beloved dad that they’re non-binary, he refused their gender identity and his rejection still hurts.

‘It was a hard thing to explain. That they could exist in a space that was all their own, and that they could shift and adjust until it felt right.’

I fell head over heels in love with Dahlia and London. Love & Other Disasters is touching, sexy, and refreshing. It’s about following your dreams, accepting yourself, being vulnerable. All in all, it’s an astonishingly funny story and so well written. There will be more books in this series, an m/m story and an f/f, and I’m dying to read them 🥰!

A reallly cute rom com. Enjoyable characters, dual pov’s and a fun cooking competition made for a fun engaging read. Would recommend.

You know, I learned a lot from reading this book and I enjoyed the journey. I love cooking shows and love, so, the combination of these things created a lovely and thought-provoking book.

This book was so good I feel the need to start reading it again after just finishing it. Dahlia and London are perfectly imperfect in so many ways and they kept me entertained throughout. I loved their interactions with each other and with their various family members. The cooking show filming served as a great catalyst for throwing them together and I loved that Dahlia was so protective of London and their identity right from the beginning. This book addresses deep issues that affect the LGBTQ community every day in a way that keeps me hopeful for the future. Loved this book and can’t wait for more to come from Anita Kelly.

Today I read an eARC of Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly! The Instagram outage today sure gave me time to focus on reading so I think I finished this in a little under 5 hours.
Super cute sweet book. Dahlia and London meet as contestants on a cooking competition show called Chef’s Special. It’s friends to lovers and grumpy sunshine. Relationship is F/NB which I have somehow never read before. This is actually my first read with a non binary main character. I love a good queer romance that makes my heart happy.
Both of the characters were really lovable. Dahlia is recently divorced from her husband, they met in high school and he’s the only person she’s ever been with. She’s trying to find herself and move on to the right path for herself. London has been out as non binary for 3 years and out as pan since college. Their family is mostly supportive other than their father who refuses to use they/them pronouns. London hasn’t been with anyone since coming out as non binary. It’s really the two of them opening up and taking the risk of falling in love. I won’t go into more detail than that but the story is really sweet and I totally binged it.
There are spicy scenes in the book but nothing too wild. Just a few moments where it makes sense.
The release date is 1/18/22! It’s definitely worth a read if you like romcoms or queer romances or both! Thanks to NetGalley & Forever for the ARC.

This was such a cute contemporary romance novel! I appreciated how the London, who is non-binary, was a main character and that issues were addressed but also in some ways was a non-issue-- this is reflective of reality today and a range of how people react to those who are different from them. I enjoyed the cooking show setting and how it created this unique environment for the characters to interact.

Looking for a sweet queer romance to keep you warm this winter? This is the one for you. It’s a Great British Bake-Off type of show where a contestant just can’t help falling for one of the judges.

This book was absolutely phenomenal. I've never read one by Kelly before, but I'd heard rave reviews about their previous novellas and couldn't wait to pick this up based on the premise. It's a story about love, but also love that asks for vulnerability and acceptance from both sides. I can't wait to read more from this author.

4.5 stars

This is a sweet romance set against the backdrop of a reality cooking competition.. What makes it more important is that it provides representation to groups that are usually marginalized. It follows two contestants, Dahlia Woodson and London Parker, as they navigate not only the rigors of the competition but also their growing attraction to each other.

Dahlia has been financially struggling since the divorce from her husband, is questioning her sexuality. She needs this win to get back on her feet financially. Perhaps more importantly, her connection with London is helping her to figure out who she is.

London comes from a life of privilege, but as is the first openly non-binary contestant on the show, they struggle are for acceptance not only with the show's audience (and intolerant fellow contestants) but also within their own family. Their father refuses to use London's preferred pronouns, causing a rift within the family.

This line especially stuck with me "If there was a society where everyone rejected the binary, where gender norms didn't exist at all, where bodies were just bodies, every one real and valid and equally human, and you didn't have to worry about what people were assuming or not assuming about you." I know this was an advanced copy and the finished copy could be different, but I sure hope that line makes the cut because it is so important. Our society is so intent on labels - whether it's race or sexual orientation or gender or even conditions like autism. What a wonderful world it would be if people could just be people, without being pigeonholed into a certain category!?

I'm the sponsor of the Gay-Straight Alliance at the high school where I teach. I'm a straight cisgender woman, who hasn't experienced the struggles my GSA students endure. However, books like this one will help me to be a better ally and advocate for my kids. Thank you Forever/Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced digital copy in return for an honest review.

So I really enjoyed this book about a nonbinary person and queer woman falling in love on a cooking reality show!

To start off this review I want to note, that I have the memory of a goldfish when it comes to book titles of things I haven't read. So when I got the email that I was approved for this ARC I first thought "didn't I review that book already this year?" then when I double checked I realized I was just mixing it up with Love and Other Natural Disasters. In my defense, the titles are very similar.

This book follows London Parker and Dahlia Woodson as they compete in a show called Chef's Special (That is suspiciously a lot like MasterChef...) Dahlia is somewhat recently divorced and trying to fully find her identity post divorce, and hopefully her time on the show will lead to that. And London is nervous about how their identity will be treated on national television and just wants to participate in the show so they can help people afterward. But after London is charmed by Dahlia being a lovable clutz, they just seemed drawn together. But will it last after the show?

So I found this book to be a whole lot of fun, and surprisingly touching as well.

I do want to get out of the way, this show sounds a LOT like Masterchef with minor variations of course. But as a fan of the show, I didn't mind at all! It was fun to imagine two characters getting together! And the food ugh. It all sounded so yummy!

The characters Dahlia and London were really great together. They're just one of those couples that I can so vividly imagine in real life actually working together well. And that doesn't happen in every book. They really seem to balance each other out perfectly and fit together really well. I was a big fan of this pairing. And individually, they were both really nuanced characters with their own motivations for what they wanted, their own flaws and insecurities that needed to be worked on. They both just felt very real to me. And it really helped me get into the book.

Additionally, I really loved how this book handled misgendering. The book definitely discusses misgendering, and even indirectly depicts London being misgendered- but it never actually says it or refers to London as anything but they/them. And it's just done very well. I've read many other books with trans or nonbinary characters, and I don't necessarily dislike when a character misgenders another when it makes narrative sense (I don't actually like when it happens lol) but I like the way this book handles it even better.

Also, I don't always bring it up in my reviews but get ready for some spicy scenes in this book!

I do have some minor critiques of the book, but they aren't unique to this book as much as just general pet peeves of mine. This book does have the very excepted black moment at 70-98% of the way through the book with a resolution at the end. Which isn't necessarily bad but just kinda is what it is. And also the declarations of love seem to come very fast timeline speaking (even if later in the book). Being on a reality show is a contained environment with being around each other for a month straight, but still that seems fast to use that L word to me.

I liked Love and Other Disasters a lot. It was a fun story with touching characters, and depicted nonbinary characters very well. 4.25/5

Oh my goodness, Anita Kelly! What a debut! I've followed Anita for so long on Twitter and was unsurprised to find how much I adored her book! This Grumpy/Sunshine romance was unputdownable.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Honestly, I loved this book so much. It was beautiful. I smiled throughout so many of this book, both at the love, the sex, and the identity discussions. Even when I had tears in my eyes at London confronting their dad and reading the messages they were sent on social media after living their truth ... every second of this book was perfect. I didn't know I needed this book until I had it - a bisexual female MC and a pansexual nonbinary MC in a full-length romance novel? I will never be the same.

This book was terrific! It focuses on two contestants on a cooking competition show, Chef's Special. The two contestants, Dahlia Woodson and London Parker, get off to a rocky start. As the competition heats up, the two become closer and closer and their connection is undeniable. But as they face the end of the show, they must face whether they have a future outside of the bubble of the show.

This was an enjoyable story -- the two main characters were both compelling and the backdrop of the cooking competition provided a great context for this story.

Recommended!

thank you to netgalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review!


i loved this book!! the representation was so good and the characters were lovable and extremely relatable. i will be recommending this to all of my friends<3

Apparently cooking show romances are all the new rage. Recently I've read Rosaline Palmer, Battle Royal, and now Love & Other Disasters. I love this setting! It’s always interesting to hear the contestants’ thought processes and read the descriptions of the dishes. It always makes me crave really good food!

Love and Other Disasters is an own voices nb/f romance. This was also the first book I've read with a main character that uses they/them pronouns, which I love to see! I've read a few with nonbinary side characters, but this is the first MC. I hope to see many more romances with nonbinary main characters in the future!

I adored London. I’m a sucker for a closed-off grump turned softie, and they certainly fit the bill. I liked that neither character was perfect but that both showed growth throughout the book. In the beginning, Dahlia read much younger than her age to me, but as the book progressed she seemed to grow up a lot. Both characters seemed to have great relationships with their siblings, and I would have liked to see more scenes between them.

This is no closed-door romance--it was way steamier than I was expecting, in the best way possible. That fruit scene!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this lighthearted romance. I’m excited to see what Anita Kelly does next--a Hank or Julie spinoff??

Dahlia, recently divorced and trying to figure out what’s next for her, is chosen to be on a cooking show! The prize money would give her what she needs to get out of debt and start her life over. London ends up on the show because of a dare from their sister, but there is so much they can do with that prize money to benefit others, but mostly this is a great opportunity for them to be themselves and to be completely upfront about it.

I really enjoyed this book! I love cooking and cooking shows, and I enjoyed reading about them just as much! I loved Dahlia’s character, she really came across as a big ray of sunshine and someone I’d love to be friends with. This is the first book I’ve ever read with a non-binary character and I loved that! London is amazing, and the way that she feels about Dahlia could give you butterflies.

I love their romantic relationship and their friendship. I loved the way that they accepted each other wholeheartedly, and how they came together to overcome their challenges. They make a good team and I really enjoyed their story.

Love & Other Disasters is an extremely cute contemporary romance centered around two bakers in competition on "Chef's Special," a Food Network-esque reality tv show that brings in amateur bakers. This is another take on the grumpy-sunshine trope, although the grumpiness doesn't last long! London is a nonbinary contestant navigating their public identity amidst a show that tries to play up transphobia for drama and Dahlia is a queer woman with a ton of insecurities and instability in her life. Set in LA, there are lots of fun outings in which these two get closer and discover that maybe baking isn't the only thing they have in common. I was very emotionally invested in their romance and I think that it is well paced, with realistic conflict in the ultimate act.

Other things to love: lots of side characters that round out the cast, including some very endearing elderly women contestants and London's twin sister.. There's tons of delicious food and of course, some great banter. The only issue that I had was that one of the key reasons that Dahlia got divorced is never talked about with London, as they are looking to form a relationship. It felt like something that would be pretty important to discuss when considering a possible future together (but also -- this is a romance, so it can't get THAT serious, right?).

I highly recommend this if you love romance and want something light and fast to read, and also recommend Kelly's other books (two novellas centered around a karaoke bar!!). I can't wait to see what she releases in the future. Thanks to NetGalley for an early review copy, all opinions are my own. 4.5 stars.

3.5 stars
Reality baking show with lots of drama? ☑️
Rom-com with queer and non-binary characters? ☑️
Fantastic descriptions of food and baking? ☑️
Love and Other Words does a lovely job of bringing a non-binary character first and foremost into the romance genre. London Parker is the tall quiet smirking first ever non-binary contestant on Chef’s Special who meets the bouncy effervescent runs-her-mouth-too-much Dahlia Woodson. A baking competition show, the two contestants become more intertwined as the show progresses and other contestants are kicked off. Unable to avoid one another, Dahlia and London find that they have more in common than just cooking. I found this book to be an easy read, possibly predictable, but sweet nonetheless. The cooking challenges were my favorite parts of the book and the antics of Chef’s Special follow much like any reality competition show—laughable, cringe-worthy, and high stakes drama. I was excited to read about a non-binary character (a first for me in this genre) and although it mentally took my brain a moment with the pronouns used for London (reading them feels different to me than speaking them), I appreciated Anita Kelly’s subtlety in introducing London first as “Strawberry Blond Hair” seen through the eyes of Dahlia. Although enjoyable and definitely steamy at points, I felt like I never quite knew who Dahlia was as a character. Her development was a little on the surface to me; London seems to truly be a giver whereas Dahlia is a taker in their relationship. Perhaps this is because Dahlia has just come through a divorce, but I wanted more out of her as a character than it seemed I was getting. I would also have liked to see more family dynamics, especially between London and their sister/mother/father and I never felt like I had much of a sense of who Hank was to Dahlia or her mother and father. Perhaps too many story lines were trying to be told? But the Chef’s Special scenes were on point and the most fun parts of the book. The best writing was during the on-set filming parts of the Reality Show where character tension was used through a glance, a feeling, or a moment between contestants.
A big thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Book Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book was heartwarming in every sense of the word. It was so refreshing to see a non-binary person represented as a love interest and I thought Kelly did a fantastic job really getting inside London’s head and illustrating all the joy and insecurities they dealt with throughout the novel navigating love, family, and the competition. The cooking show side was a fun and inventive way of pushing our main characters together and I found myself hungry while reading! Overall I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend.

Nonbinary, rom-com, cooking competition, sexy, fun, HEA.

I loved loved this book, I couldn’t put it down. I was completely drawn to both characters and their stories. The concept is simple but oh so great, two contestants on a cooking show literally bump into each other on day one and have instant chemistry. Who doesn't love a cooking show? I do that’s for sure. Dahlia is a complete wrecking ball of endearing chaos that I adore, while London is a more quiet precise individual with a big heart.

I absolutely loved watching both of them grow individually while falling for each other during their timeout from their regular lives. This book was a great balance of fun antics, heavy life stuff and sexiness. This was also my first nonbinary POV and it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It gave me all the feels and hope that the world is becoming a better and more accepting place, even if it’s just one book at a time.

#teamDahlia&London

Special thank you to NetGalley and Forever for sharing this digital copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

#NetGalley #Love&OtherDisasters