This book hits a sweet balance between developing the friends to lovers to enemies to lovers plot and integrating contemporary issues related to being young and in the workforce. The development of supportive female friendships is another bright spot that isn’t often seen. This book would be enjoyed by folks looks for a cozy contemporary romance anchored in modern reality.

Reese and Benny are spending the summer competing for a job at the cooking channel, Friends of Flavor. When a video of the two goes viral, they're force together to compete in a variety of cooking challenges. "The more time their rivalry heats up, the harder it is to keep love on the back burner..."

This is a cute YA romance. I'm not big on the cooking channel - or cooking in general - but the setting of this is super sweet. The audiobook is a quick listen. Its fluffy but fun!

I an unable to review this title, as it was archived before I had a chance to download and read it. This feedback is only to stop this title from adversely affecting my netgalley feedback rate. If in the future I have the opportunity to read this title, I will post a proper review here.

Super cute and fun!

Reese and Benny are both interns at Friends of Flavor, and in a rush, they are thrown together to shoot a video together. Largely because of their chemistry and banter, it goes viral. This leads their bosses to make their spot more full time, but with a twist: competing for the fall internship. Reese has wanted this position for as long as she can remember. She doesn’t want anything to get between her and this job, but Benny’s charm is hard to hold back.

This book was an interesting look at how sexism affects Reese in a male lead industry. The juxtaposition of her treatment vs Benny’s is prevalent and talked about at length, but not in a way that the reader feels they’re being beaten over the head with a “message.”

While I enjoyed the read, the story left no long lasting impression on me, but I would recommend to young readers. 3.5/5

Relatively cute story. Loved Benny. Tolerated Reese most of the time. Really liked the premise, the pacing, and most of the other characters. A solid message, but becomes too much at points and detracts from the reading enjoyment.

Love from Scratch features a rivalry between Reese Camden and Benny Beneventi. Both of them are interns at a bakery, and thereby are in competition for a full time fall job. While they are rivals, it's clear they have chemistry, but Reese is willing to shove those feelings aside to get the job, but ignoring her feelings is easier said than done.

While this book's premise is cute, I found the trope tired and not particularly refreshing in any way. It's the same trope with no twist and the story falls flat ultimately.

Sort of rivals-to-lovers with a cooking and food setting because the MC are both interns at a food video company, and both "compete" for a longer internship in the fall.

Resse and Benny are both young, 18 years old and recent graduates. They came to Seattle from their respective towns seeking a better future and finding their path in life.

Positive points:

-A GREAT critique of patriarchy, misogyny in the labor industry, cyberbullying, and prejudice.

-Sweet novel, without spicy and full of sweet moments.

-I thought the setting was beautiful. Imagine that whole building where there are so many kitchens to record so many culinary shows 10/10

-Female characters on point (apart from the protagonist). Great union of women ♥

Negative points:

-The male lead is perfect. It's literally perfect. Emotionally stable, he knows that men are disgusting and shows her empathy towards misogyny and shit without questioning anything. He talks about his feelings, lets Resse talk about hers, and hardly ever contradicts her. And that is the problem. He is SO perfect that he has no character, he has no flaws and that makes him too forced within any story, especially since ALL the men in the novel are trash, so Benny remains the only saving angel without a bad detail.

-The above is highly contrasting with Resse, who is the most insecure girl of herself because of things that happened to her in the past, she's the most emotionally closed and what I lhate the most: she is a victim. Misoginy exists, yes, we all women suffer it, but I want to see empowered women who fight against it, not one who only lives suffering for the patriarchy, complaining about it, doing nothing to fight it and just feeling sorry for herself. Needless to say, obviously Benny is always there to steady her.

I think the author went to very big extremes. Perfect Benny, Resse full of imperfections and without a good side; she made two opposites so forced that they are unreal as people and despite the main message being feminism, they only showed me a damsel who started to feel better when the savior man on duty validated her feelings and said "yes, you're right".

I guess it's a novel written for teenagers where the goal is for the insecure girl to feel identified with and deserving of an UNREAL guy like Benny.

And I say deserving because objectively speaking of the love relationship, Benny offered a lot and Resse offered nothing back but headaches and victimhood. Benny listened, defended her, complimented her frequently, the perfect love interest, but Resse never did any of that, and why? because she is a woman and a victim? Why is it the man who must "conquer" and the woman "let herself be conquered and fall in love"? For a novel that fights against this kind of machism, those micro machisms are very marked. Bad there.


I have given it 4 stars, yes, because it is entertaining. I never got bored and despite the aforementioned shortcomings (and the fact that there were many scenes that felt too wonderful to imagine that they could be real), I smiled a lot while reading it. I enjoyed several moments and I liked the secondary characters a lot. In addition, I stand for the importance of everything that Resse highlights about patriarchy at work and cyber-bullying, about how a man can do better for the mere fact of existing than a woman who makes a real effort. How even if the woman does things well, there will always be criticism of her appearance and not of her actions, that kind of things. I felt powerless to know that all this is a reality and it seems important to me that space be given to these problems in youth novels.

I recommend it if you want to read a fresh, simple novel, without strong or erotic content and a romance full of (imbalance) sugar to smile all the way ♥

I enjoyed the food part and the Seattle setting, so I decided to give this book a go. Thanks, NetGalley, for giving me an eARC of it.

Southern Reese lands an internship at Friends of Flavor, a popular cooking channel in Seattle. But then there’s Benny, the charming, backward-baseball-cap-wearing intern—and her main competition for the fall job. They’re thrown together for a video shoot that goes viral…Amateur Hour. Soon, they are in an all-out food war. Reese can’t deny the chemistry between her and Benny. But the more their rivalry heats up, the harder it is to keep love on the back burner…

Reese’s southern hospitality shines through in this book, and I loved reading from her point of view. The book, on occasion, made me hungry, as there were a lot of parts that talked about food. I also enjoyed the two short trips they went on. And Benny and Reese’s budding romance grew naturally, which is something I want in books. Readers will see the chemistry between the two of them long before Reese herself admits it.

I do have to put one tiny spoiler, there is a small bit of sexism that Reese has to face in her workplace environment: being stereotyped to clean the kitchen, name-calling, and more. I am so thrilled Benny does not add to it. He’s a good guy. I’d be lucky to have a guy like him have my back, if only he were real. The sexism doesn’t override the book. There’s more romance in it than that.

All in all, this is a good romance to read. This book will make you hungry, so don’t read it on an empty stomach (or a full one). Pick up this book for a good, medium-hearted teen YA romance.

I enjoyed the food part and the Seattle setting, so I decided to give this book a go. Thanks, NetGalley, for giving me an eARC of it.

Southern Reese lands an internship at Friends of Flavor, a popular cooking channel in Seattle. But then there’s Benny, the charming, backward-baseball-cap-wearing intern—and her main competition for the fall job. They’re thrown together for a video shoot that goes viral…Amateur Hour. Soon, they are in an all-out food war. Reese can’t deny the chemistry between her and Benny. But the more their rivalry heats up, the harder it is to keep love on the back burner…

Reese’s southern hospitality shines through in this book, and I loved reading from her point of view. The book, on occasion, made me hungry, as there were a lot of parts that talked about food. I also enjoyed the two short trips they went on. And Benny and Reese’s budding romance grew naturally, which is something I want in books. Readers will see the chemistry between the two of them long before Reese herself admits it.

I do have to put one tiny spoiler, there is a small bit of sexism that Reese has to face in her workplace environment: being stereotyped to clean the kitchen, name-calling, and more. I am so thrilled Benny does not add to it. He’s a good guy. I’d be lucky to have a guy like him have my back, if only he were real. The sexism doesn’t override the book. There’s more romance in it than that.

All in all, this is a good romance to read. This book will make you hungry, so don’t read it on an empty stomach (or a full one). Pick up this book for a good, medium-hearted teen YA romance.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory.

Book wasn't meant for me. Hopefully someone will enjoy it more. I will look into renting it in the future

I really wanted to love this, but a few of its elements just didn't work for me. Love from Scratch follows Reese, a marketing intern for a popular cooking Youtube channel (think Bon Appetit). She follows for Benny, a culinary intern that ends up being her competition for a more permanent position. This set up on its own is super fun, but some of the heavier elements just didn't work perfectly.

First of all, this book is about feminism, but to me, Reese is the picture of white feminism. She's gaslighting, gatekeeping and girl bossing. She's not horrible. She makes a lot of points about how women online are treated and viewed, but makes so many bad choices. She constantly reads comments that she knows she shouldn't read, her boyfriend is literally the only man that gets misogyny exists, and constantly wants more from him, even though he gives a lot. Also, it's not sexist for Benny to get more points in the cooking competition they do. He is an actual cook. She is not.. The line between sexism and not being qualified for this job are often blurred. Also, Benny is so sweet but also dumb? Like how did he not know that dress codes exist and are unfairly forced upon woman? The feminism in this was very surface, but I do think that for younger girls this would be a great starting point. The ending was super satisfying and a little badass, but the journey was a little frustrating.

Ultimately I didn't hate this, but there were some things I can not see past. I'm excited for what this author does next, and can see myself recommending this to girls who want some romance and a few life lessons. I just think this main character needed therapy and someone to hold her accountable.

ahhhh so so cute! I couldn't get enough. it gave everything I wanted and needed but I need a book 2. I loved the characters and their relationship. highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! I thought this book was cute and funny and worth a quick read! There were many topics covered that the book did a good job addressing.

I thought this was a sweet premise and sweet idea but admittedly the main character irritated me a bit. I understand that given her age she still has room to grow but I do think her whininess did at times take away from the story. I did appreciate the inclusion of very important themes.

This was an OK book for me. I finished it, but probably won’t remember a thing about it next week. A little too slow of a pace and I would have loved more angst and more relationship stuff vs. the cooking and all that.

This was a super cute romance story and I found it to be really fun and entertaining. I'm really looking forward to reading more books by this author.

UM, HELLO! I LOVE BENNY!

This was such a quick read; I ended up doing the audio because I was given a gifted copy, and holy cannoli. SWOON!

If you could mix the Great British Baking Show with a swoony meet cute and serve it up as a YA novel, you would have Kaitlyn Hill’s debut Love from Scratch. When two teenage interns working summer jobs behind the scenes at a foodie cooking channel abruptly find themselves thrown in front the camera, they discover they are cooking up a little romance in the kitchen alongside delectable dishes … and their audience can’t get enough of it. This punny novel is for anyone who loves food and adores young love, which are both in abundance in this sweet read.

For a first novel. Hill’s Love from Scratch has a lot going for it. I loved getting to read about what goes into running a cooking channel, and how interns, such as main character Reese, often do the social media grunt work by liking and responding to fans’ comments. Equally intriguing was the concept of this book’s cooking channel, Friends of Flavors. The channel’s cooks are dubbed the “Friends,” and each hosts a different kind of cooking show for the outlet, bringing their own personalities and tastes to the table.

But what I am sure you really want to hear about is the romance. Reese and her love interest Benny have a playful, witty relationship, and Love from Scratch is chock full of punny nicknames and spicy comebacks. I loved watching these two teens play off of each other and liked how they balanced each other out, offering up what the other partner lacks. Throw a little food into the mix and you have a recipe for success! I enjoyed the competition created between Reese and Benny by way of the Amateur Hour, and couldn’t wait to see what they cooked up next.

On the other hand, there were several things that I did not like about this book, one primarily being Reese herself. As much as Reese whines in this book about coming across as unlikeable to viewers of the Friends of Flavor channel, they are spot-on in their observations. Reese is honestly the worst, and I could barely stomach her by the end of this novel. She plays the victim, falling prey to what everyone around her thinks, while also trying to purport herself as being a strong, independent feminist. This otherwise spunky, comical novel later becomes downtrodden and miserable, with Reese throwing sound bites out right and left, rallying against the patriarchy and standing up against misogyny, while also coming across as completely unbelievable. Reese reads as the kind of girl who is a feminist just because she thinks it makes her relevant, and none of her protestations felt original or true to her story.

Love from Scratch is recommended to those who loved Maggie Knox’s The Holiday Swap, as well as readers who enjoy books that mix food & love.

A true chef's kiss of a book! This foodie feminist romance is sweet, funny, and voice-y. Reese and Benny are each delightful, and even more delightful together. I loved rooting for them.