4.5 stars

Y’all, this romance novel was so incredibly cute. I was literally grinning my face off at the end when a particular scene happened and that one scene single handedly elevated my rating half a star. I want to start off this review by mentioning that this is pegged as a YA romance novel, but I would definitely say it is a NA romance instead, as I’ve written above. The main characters are both 18 and recent high school graduates. The novel follows these two interns as they’re thrust into a sudden workplace partnership filming cooking videos under a segment titled Amateur Hour. I don’t know about you, but all of that screams new adult to me.

There are so many glorious tropes thrown into this one. We have workplace romance, food themes, and rivals/workplace competition. While there were a few tropes that I could have definitely done without such as workplace misogyny (a particularly taxing trope for me as a queer woman of color in a cis-het white male dominated field) and miscommunication (boo!), the main and supporting characters were just so lovely that I couldn’t really be upset for long.

One of the many things that I think this book handled really well was feminism. Misogyny and sexism in the workplace and on the internet is something that basically every woman can attest to. This book tackles this head on and fights back in a way that I was particularly proud of. We had some fantastic male allies come to bat as well as a healthy dose of women supporting women. While I do think it could become a bit preachy at times and that there could have been a bit more intersectionality with trans/non-binary folks, I thought it was really well handled.

This is definitely a book that I’ll file under comfort reads for future sad times. I see myself revisiting these characters and this story multiple times in my future.

I will be the first to admit that I typically have high expectations going into most books, so when a book surprises me, that is truly saying a lot! Love From Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill was one of those rare and surprising books!

Basically, the novel follows Reese during her summer internship at a popular company called Friends of Flavor (kind of like The Food Network, but more social media oriented). When Reese meets the charming Benny, who seems like the perfect guy, she quickly realizes that her summer may not turn out as she had planned. She struggles to work through trauma from her past, while also striving to achieve her goals for her future.

On the surface, this book is a cute and food-oriented rom-com. What more could a girl ask for? FEMINISM! Love From Scratch incorporates feminism like very few romance novels can (and do). Towards the beginning of the novel, Reese says something relating to apologizing to feminism because she was not knowledgeable about cooking. Initially, I thought, “Great, another novel that mentions feminism once and moves on…” BUT NO! Feminism is such an important part of this book throughout its entirety, and I adored it! Not to mention the fact that one of the older, and wiser characters raises the importance of intersectional feminism!

Additionally, Benny was the romantic interest of my dreams! Like Reese, I think he might be a unicorn, but I loved reading the idealized version of a partner most people would die for. He was so in tune with Reese’s feelings and communication was clearly important to him. Overall, he was just amazing, and despite him feeling a bit unrealistic, I loved every aspect of him!

Furthermore, the plot was captivating! Reese and Benny being roped into filming a show was a fun addition, and all the events that unfolded afterwards felt perfect. There was even a point in the novel where I was thinking that a certain event should happen, and it did. The entire plot of Love From Scratch just felt right!

All in all, Love From Scratch was everything you could want in a romance novel and more! It was so unexpected in such a wonderful way! I hope Kaitlyn Hill incorporates feminism in all of her future books, because I will certainly be reading them!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review!

3.5⭐️

“Love from Scratch” fully satisfied my southern, Bon Appetit loving heart, as well as giving me a strong female main character and a swoon love interest. My main issues lie in the repetitiveness and lack of development for our side characters.

Reese Camden is living her dream working at “Friends of Flavor”, her favorite food media creators. Working as a marketing intern, she hopes to win the fall scholarship to be able to stay working there more permanently. One day, she is roped into making one video in place of a worker who was out that day with the main chef intern, Benny. After their video goes viral with millions of people shipping them online, Reese and Benny have to keep making videos together. Reeses’ main issues are the fact that Benny is her main competition for the scholarship, as well as her personal trauma involving being seen and judged online (especially with men).

I LOVED the setting of this book, since I’m decidedly a huge Bon Appetit fan. My main issues with this book were the lack of development for basically every character besides Reese. Reese can be very annoying and seemingly over dramatic at times with the lengths she goes to to end her relationship with Benny. Her reasoning though felt VERY legitimate and well explained, and she also tries to overcome her expectations and give him good chances throughout the book, so I didn’t really have many issues with her. Benny though I felt wasn’t given enough depth. He seemed just like a very typical good guy throughout the book (which I love btw. I think normalizing good dudes and healthy relationships are important in books.), but he wasn’t really given much more than certain expectations by his family, and I think that was resolved a little quickly as well. Lastly, there were SO many great side characters that could have been developed more and given more important roles and none of them really were. I just wish I could’ve seen some more of these really cool people.

That being said, I did really love the talks of sexism in the workplace, and online. The women at this office are pretty awesome.

Thank you again Netgalley for an e-arc! Book out now! 😄

This is a cute YA book. I'm a sucker for anything baking related and then throw in a reality TV show and I'm sold. I loved the banter between the main characters as they are battling it out for the fall internship and also as they are falling for each other.

I appreciate the fact that the author addressed sexism in a YA book, but I didn't love the way it was handled. It didn't keep me from enjoying the book overall, but there were times that it definitely irked me.

This is an enjoyable and fun read.
3.5 stars

I didn't only adore Love from Scratch, I loved the experience of reading it.
The characters in this book are absolutely amazing and nothing if not sweet. Honestly, "media personas who get shipped by everyone" is one of my favorite tropes, especially amongst secret relationships. Reese, our lovely POV MC, is a marketing intern at the Friends of Flavor cooking channel before she makes a video with the culinary intern and their vast public support leads the Friends to give them their own channel and make it into a competition to see who gets the fall internship position. Reese is such a powerful character and a great role model. She's so persistent, but also vulnerable, but she's never portrayed as weak. Meanwhile, Benny is incredibly sweet and supportive for Reese and in general. I loved seeing them and the other (non-sexist) characters in this story and they made it so fun.
I really loved how Hill did the relationships in this book. Although the main point is obviously Benny and Reese's romance, she shows that there's a lot of importance in friendship between women, both in Reese and her friends back home and her colleagues. Going back to Benny and Reese, their relationship was SO CUTE. While they were competing, that didn't stop the two from being incredibly supportive of one another and so loving. However, their relationship isn't shown as perfect! It showed that support includes speaking up, regardless of past teachings and normalized negative behavior. Their dedication to one another was too cute and so powerful. Reese's friendship with the other women at Friends of Flavor, especially standing up against sexism together, was so beautiful to see.
As I mentioned before, this plot as two purposes: Our lovely romance between the nicest people ever and calling out sexism in internet spaces and harassment. There was a perfect balance of "Look at how cute!!!" and "Men with bigger platforms could be doing more." Between the rivalry, romance, and outside factors, I can't really say anything about this plot other than how good it was. I couldn't help but be so happy and so sad at the same time when reading.
I would absolutely recommend this book to contemporary and romcom fans. It's cute and funny, but also relevant in such a digital age where people with experiences like Reese's both with the Friends and in high school are there witnessing and being victims of cruelty. I absolutely loved this book.

I was really hoping to enjoy Love From Scratch (because any book about food is an automatic win in my book), but I honestly struggled to fall in love with this as I'd hoped.

I think my biggest issue was Reese, which is a fairly big problem since she's the main character! I totally understood her anger and frustration over sexism in the workplace - you could tell that it was written from an authentic place, and the injustice she faced felt real. However, there were times when it just felt a bit...dramatic.

Yes, there were obvious instances of favoritism to Benny that were sexist, but a lot of it also just felt like things he genuinely had an advantage in. She's the marketing intern, he's a cooking intern, and they're both vying for the fall cooking internship. It makes sense for them to show signs of choosing Benny - he has a background in what the internship requires, while Reese states multiple times she's not the best at cooking.

My other issue was in the enemies-to-lovers part. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love that trope, but it just didn't work well here. It felt more like Reese deciding to hate Benny for no good reason than an actual enemies-to-lovers arc, which was disappointing.

On the positive side, though, I absolutely loved Benny!! He was so sweet, and I'd love to see more love interests like him in books instead of angsty guys who are actually pretty toxic.

Overall, this was a pretty average romance for me, and to be honest, not one that I think I'll remember much longer than the time it took me to write this.

In ”Love from Scratch”, we follow Reese who’s landed her dream internship. I have to admit that I was a tiny bit jealous because of that internship. Would have loved to have the same one, lol. Nevermind, as Reese’s bubble is soon going to burst once she’s put in a video with Benny – another intern. Both are rivals but we soon see romantic feelings coming up between them. Drama is in the air!

I loved the setting of this novel and was totally able to relate with Reese. The writing style was amazing and the pacing was just as expected. Perfect! I would have managed to read this one in a sitting if I’d have had a day off during my reading. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case but this might be a helpful information for you readers out there if you’re in for a cute and fast read.

If you’re in for a cheesy PG-rated Romance Novel, with lovable characters and a lot of food puns (believe me, they are going to make you laugh!) then you absolutely have to read this book. It is a refreshing novel in the YA universe and will certainly not be my last book by this author. Can’t wait to see what she’s having in store for us in the future.

Listen. I am a sucker for a rom com... but an enemies to lovers romcom is 10000000% my jam. Kaitlyn Hill has cooked up something wonderful with Love from Scratch with characters as sweet as honey and a slow burn romance that keeps everything simmering just long enough.

I don't know how I can shoehorn anymore cooking/baking related puns into this review so just run out and grab this book!

Loved this story. I think its feminist message was well done. I do wish that there was more of the solution at the end than the men didn't face any consequences.

This was adorable - thoroughly enjoyed this. I loved Reese and Benny and the overall vibe of the book. While there were some elements and moments that irked me a little bit, but ultimately they didn't detract or pull me from the book. I absolutely enjoyed this and I'm definitely recommending this to all of my friends.

Reese Camden is living her dream. When she was going through a particularly difficult time during her freshman year, her two best friends Natalie and Clara introduced her to Friends of Flavor, a popular cooking channel out of Seattle. They spent their evenings and weekends watching the videos of the cooking shows, and when they found out that Katherine, host of Fuss-Free Foodie also had a blog where she talked not just about recipes and cooking but about feminist issues, they all read it religiously.

So when Reese found out that they were hiring a marketing intern for the summer, she had to apply. She was already planning on leaving Virginia to head to the University of Washington in the fall. With this opportunity, she could move out there a few months sooner and see what it’s like behind the scenes of her favorite cooking shows.

Even when the job was mostly getting coffee and keeping an eye on the social media comments, Reese felt like she was living the dream. But one day, Aiden changed her world.

Aiden, one of the Friends of Flavor (FoF) chefs and the guy who managed the shooting schedule informed Reese’s boss that he had a problem. They were scheduled to shoot an episode of Piece of Cake, but the host of the show is heading out of town on a last-minute shoot that includes all the other talent of FoF. Who will they get to shoot the episode? Margie immediately points out the cooking intern in the kitchen, a dude with a backwards baseball cap and an easy grin. And when the bosses decide to add Reese to the shoot, the add Amateur Hour to the title of the show, and the idea is set.

Reese shows up for the shoot, not even knowing what they’re supposed to be making, but her co-star Benny is confident in the kitchen. He figures out that the ingredients are for macarons, and he helps Reese make the filling for the cookies while he makes the shells. They fall into an easy banter, and when Reese forgets to fasten the top of the food processor and gets covered in pulverized pistachios, they laugh at the mess and move forward anyway.

Amateur Hour turns out to be a success, and Reese and Benny find themselves filming more episodes. Outside of the kitchen, they find a certain compatibility as well, and they start spending time together, learning more about each other and finding a closeness that Reese wasn’t expecting. But then the CEO of the corporation decides that Benny and Reese should be competing for the one fall internship. And while the ratings for their show keep going up, it also brings out the haters and the trolls, and Reese finds the online comments difficult to deal with. But when she starts to think about bowing out quietly so the haters can’t reach her anymore, she finds that she has friends who may be even stronger than the internet trolls.

Love from Scratch is a sweet rom com that also faces the very real problem of sexism on the internet. The combination of the slow-burn romance between these two lovable characters and the honest look at what young women in the spotlight have to go through. With lots of witty banter and bad food puns, this delicious story sings with charm and flavor.

I really enjoyed the warm romance of Love from Scratch. I thought it was lovely how the friendship evolves between Reese and Benny, and it was smart how the feminist storyline played out. Some of the bro-culture sexism may have been a little heavy-handed for today’s environment, but I’m sure a lot of it rings true for today’s teens and young adults. But this was definitely a fun read, and I think any romance fan who loves cooking shows will devour this one.

Egalleys for Love from Scratch were provided by Random House Children's (Delacorte Press) through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Cute feminist love story about two interns competing for the fall spot on a cooking Youtube channel. The main character Reese was relatable and highlighted the many challenges women face in the workplace, especially when they are on camera and their physical appearance and "likeability" can greatly affect success. Benny seemed almost too good to be true, but he definitely served as a positive role model for young guys out there. I was almost disappointed in the happy ending, as I was interested to see how the relationship would survive one of them winning out over the other, but I enjoyed it regardless. Would recommend to older teens.

Love From Scratch is a debut young adult romance book that is currently out. I think if you have to classify the book I would say it’s the higher end of YA into New Adult.

A fun little fact about me but I love watching any kind of cooking show on the Food Network, especially ones that involve competition. Who doesn’t like to watch chefs battle it out?

This falls right into one of my favorite tropes of enemies/rivals to lovers. This is very PG-rated in the romance department. This was a light fun cute ya romance that I pretty much devoured in a weekend. Even though it was a fun light read I should also mention that there are heavy topics being discussed. It’s really sad that in this day and age that women are struggling in the workplace. Why is there still a double standard there? Why do male bosses act the way they do with women employees? Why are we treated so differently?

The book’s two main characters are Reese (marketing) and Benny (culinary) both are interns for Friends of Flavour. One day at work they are asked to fill in and host a cooking video because the original hosts have to be somewhere else last minute. Unprepared they improvise thinking that it’s a disaster they soon realize it’s a huge hit. Which leads them to have their one show called Amateur Hours.

Amateur Hours starts out all fun but then quickly turns into a competition if either of them wants to land that job position in the fall. It’s not really a fair competition because this is Benny’s domain but that won’t stop Reese from trying her hardest to land this job.

You definitely can feel the chemistry between the two of them as they continue to work together. I have to say I definitely could see this be adapted to a movie that I would definitely watch.

Sadly with the rise of their fame online, the haters come out but they are mostly going after Reese. I felt bad for Reese because she was the target of it and the haters were really mean and nasty towards her. This is where real life comes into play because even though this is fiction it’s happening in real life. Anybody who doesn’t like who you are (the way you look, dress, speak, etc) is quick to become a keyboard warrior hiding behind their screens with made-up names to type nasty things about you. Those nasty comments do hurt the person. If you have nothing nice to say to someone then don’t say anything at all. It’s easier to hide behind the screen and say those nasty things when you know full well that in real life you would never say those things to a person’s face.

I have to say that I really like Benny between his puns and cute nicknames for Reese (I couldn’t help but crave Reese’s peanut butter cups while reading this) you can’t help but not love him. To me, this is my idol kind of guy because he is straightforward and says how he feels. Not many guys are like that. He actually listens to Reese and cares what she has to say.

Love from Scratch is the story of Reese and Benny, dueling interns on a popular cooking show. Reese and Benny are equally determined to land the fall internship. When Reese and Benny are unexpectedly required to perform on the show, sparks fly. Fans of the show love their chemistry and begin to request more of them. The fans speculate wildly on whether there is romance between them and online bullying becomes an issue. Reese must decide whether she truly wants a romance and figure out how she will deal with the bullies.

This was a sweet and straightforward romance. I enjoyed that Reese is very aware of the sexism and double standards that she faces. She does a great job explaining it to Benny and ultimately reaching out to get help from her coworkers. Benny and Reese have an adorable romance, with lots of banter and longing looks. This was a light-hearted and enjoyable read. I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys cooking shows, forced proximity, and a healthy dose of competition. Love From Scratch is available now. Thank you so much to Kaitlyn Hill, Delacorte Press, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

What an absolute treasure of a book. It's as fun as the cover and synopsis say, but also such a thoughtful, perceptive look at facing the internet as a young woman. I think this will resonate with a ton of teenagers and women in their twenties. (Also, I personally don't mind profanity in my books - I like it - but I'm always super impressed when an author can pull off a book about eighteen-year-olds with zero profanity, which this author does!)

A cute, fluffy-but-not-without-substance food-centered YA romcom. Kaitlyn Hill's voice shines through in Reese's inner dialogue—there are dozens of silly jokes and puns and witty observations that made me stop to laugh out loud. This is a book people will devour when they're looking for something happy in a dark world.

Who doesn’t love a good romantic comedy to brighten your day? It's sweet, charming, and a realistic setting with a happily ever after. Just a feel good book for any reader who loves love. It flowed nicely, and it was a quick, easy read. The female and male main characters in this book are relatable, down to earth, and sweet without being too cheesy (haha food pun). They have strength in themselves and each other. While there may have been a miscommunication or two, communication and just showing up for one another was prevalent in the story.

In a Food Network kind of setting, I would be happy as a clam, even though I am not a great chef. It was a workplace, but it was also a family. Playing around in a kitchen all day, making viral videos with someone who just gets you and the chemistry is zinging back and forth made the book easy to read. There are great examples of issues women may or may not have to tackle within the professional world. This book touches on misogyny and the fact that women have to work twice as hard, with half the benefits rewarded. Reese constantly juggles not “ruffling any feathers” of the male CEO with trying not to freak out at her male higher-ups when her remarkable skills are overlooked because she is female and pretty. Not to mention that stupid dress code that seems to only be aimed at female employees.

What else can I say about Benny? This specific character made the whole book. A sweet, understanding romantic lead that was in love, but not following Reese around like a puppy dog, even if his eyes said something different. He wanted to support her but also understands she doesn’t want to be saved. He validates her feelings/frustrations and tries his best to support her in whatever way she needs. Plus, he doesn’t play games and just tells Reese he likes her.

This was a very cute read. I do think I'm personally over books set in reality cooking shows - it seems I've read several of these over the last year and for some reason the premise doesn't really work for me, but this is a me problem, not a book problem. I do think the book maybe tried to do a bit too much or was a bit heavy-handed with some of the topics it tackled but overall this was a fun read and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

This was an adorable romance novel with the culinary skills that I will never have. I love the way that the two main characters work toward their relationship. Throughout the entire novel, I could tell that the fall internship would get in between them as they both wanted it, but only one person could have it. I think that Reese had a lot to go through with herself from the beginning of the novel and she kind of let it all out on Benny, which he could take, but she should be able to love herself before falling in love with someone else. I think their relationship is adorable and very slow, which is good for Reese. I love Reese's character and can see a lot of myself in her, especially her anxiety with relationships. I know she is young, but not every guy is the same and she needs to understand that Benny is not going to hurt her in the way she thinks he is. I loved the author's writing and the way she timed everything.

The talks about food is making me hungry, the bantering and flirting between the two main characters, Reese and Benny can't stop making me smile and how Reese handle

Reese is a relatable character, I love seeing her slowly opening up to Benny which is not an easy thing to do. Benny is just a sweet, caring and supportive guy to Reese. His adorable food puns melted Reese's heart and mine, even if it's a bit cheesy but I love it!
I'm rooting for them from the start because the chemistry between the two of them is growing as the story goes.

This is a lighthearted book and easy to read, but at the same time it also brought attention to some important issues we have in real life like gender discrimination in workplace, how cyber bullying affect a person's life and how to respect people's boundaries especially when a person who gain popularity so sudden.

I love the show of support from Reese's friends and work colleagues, so it doesn't feel like she's facing everything alone.
Reese also slowly learn how to stand up for herself, stop letting other people control what she did and recognize her self-worth.

Overall, for a debut novel this is a fantastic read with perfect combination of food, romance and girl power! It is enjoyable, entertaining adorable and heart warming with great messages about important issues we see everyday!
Highly recommended to those who loves contemporary romance with delicious foods and a rival to lovers trope!
I'm looking forward for more books from this author!