There is much to love in this book but other parts were frustrating. Sophie is the head chef at a new and struggling restaurant called Amy and May’s. I love Sophie. She loves to cook but has lost a little of her passion for it. Her world has flipped as she has accepted her bi-sexuality and broken up with fiancé Paul. She is frustrated in her kitchen because Amy is continually micromanaging everything in the restaurant down to the menu Sophie prepares. Amy is 26 and the restaurant is her baby. She is totally infatuated with chef Sophie having fallen for her when she won a tv reality cooking show.

The chapters alternate POVs between the lead characters. Their mutual pining is endearing till you finally want to shake them and tell them to say something to each other. Sophie has a hard time speaking up for herself as a chef and as newly queer. My frustration comes more from Amy’s character. Amy assumes she knows what the restaurant needs and what Sophie desires too. But she isn’t hearing what Sophie tells her. Even down to the last argument that dynamic continues. On the flip side there are moments of tenderness between the two that are heartwarming and lifting.

This is the second book by Ruby Barrett and I read as a stand alone. I didn’t realize till I finished that Amy’s brother Wes and his girlfriend were the MCs in her first novel. Maybe that explains why Amy's daddy issues felt like a bigger part of the story then it needed to be. I think I was expecting a lighter book but the tones were sometimes foreboding. There is an uneasiness in whether the restaurant will survive or the relationship. But I am hopeful for both. Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press & Carina Adores for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was just completely stunning from start to finish. I don’t think I can possibly sum up my feelings in a review, but Ruby Barrett so clearly wrote every bit of this book with care, attention, and heart, and it translated into characters so lovable, so easy to root for, so truly human that I don’t fully know how to put my thoughts on it into words.

I loved Amy so quickly—her unending desire to be strong and steady not just for the people she cares about but for herself? Her arc towards learning to let herself be soft? I feel like I have known so many people like Amy, and Barrett captured that complexity so well.

Sophie’s journey towards not just embracing her queerness but demanding respect for it was absolutely beautiful. This plot in particular was so special—this book gives so much respect to Sophie not just for being a bisexual woman coming out slightly later in life (her 30s), and the nuance that Barrett brings to the conversation about bisexual erasure was truly incredible. This topic doesn’t frequently get addressed in romance, and CERTAINLY not with this level of detail, but Barrett handles it with complete grace. I loved every bit of it.

Amy and Sophie’s relationship was so good and so strong, and I loved watching the progression of it. The tension between them? (Chef’s kiss), as expected in a Ruby Barrett novel! There were some turns of phrase so beautiful I wished I could highlight them twice. Also, as someone who worked in restaurants for a few years, I loved the detailed brush Barrett painted their restaurant with.

All this to say, THE ROMANCE RECIPE stunned from the first page. Read this book for beautifully multifaceted queer women lifting very heavy things, tending to plants, crying in the walk-in (relatable), wearing very distracting shirts, having crises over those shirts, and using kitchen counters for things kitchen counters shouldn’t be used for. A wholehearted 5/5 for me.

Fun f/f romance novel. The opening few chapters are adorkable. I also liked that the two leads mostly resolved their own issues, without too many heavy-handed third party interventions, and that those issues stemmed from misguided good intentions, rather than malice. There's never a deliberate attempt to hurt, here - which doesn't mean everything runs smoothly, mind you!

I had a feeling that Ruby Barrett was going to be an auto-read author for me following HOT COPY, but this sealed the deal. THE ROMANCE RECIPE is a delightful, sexy, queer love story with good food, big feelings, and lots of heart. The novel is a dual-POV f/f adult contemporary romance with lesbian and bisexual representation.

I loved our lead couple, Amy and Sophie, both as individuals and as a couple. Sophie is a Baby Bi™️ who is just beginning to explore her sexuality, whereas Amy is a swoony lesbian who fears feelings. A match made in heaven - or in this case, in the kitchen.

The story wraps up pretty quickly, so I do think this book would have been stronger with 1-2 extra chapters at the end. I thought that there was going to be more appearances from side characters - mainly Wesley and Corrine - but the relationship between Amy and Sophie (and their individual inner conflicts) are surely at the forefront. This isn’t a critique, per say, but TRR indeed prioritizes Amy and Sophie’s developing relationship over any sense of ensemble cast.

I also wanted to note that though Sophie is a former reality TV chef and the topic of another show is addressed throughout the plot, this story is NOT set on a reality cooking show. Which is fine, but I don’t think the synopsis really makes this clear.

That said, if you are a fan of any of the following in your romance books, I highly recommend THE ROMANCE RECIPE:
❤️ Emotionally-stunted (but sympathetic) leads with ALL THE FEELINGS
❤️ Queer love and acceptance. No on-page homophobia!!!!
❤️ Nuanced explorations of queer identities through the lens of adult characters
❤️ Food + restaurant settings
❤️ Multiple “open-door” steamy times

I really enjoyed THE ROMANCE RECIPE and cannot wait to read more from Ruby Barrett!

<i>Thanks to Carina Press & Netgalley for the eARC</i>

Cute queer love story about a restauranteur and her head chef falling for one another. The things I liked best about this book is that, though much of it, the two leads were really interesting and engaging, the handling of Sophie's coming out story was great, and the sex...oof...mega spice. And can we talk about how fucking cute that cover is?!

The yo-yoing of their relationship...eh, that wasn't as much my favourite.

If I had to pick, I think I somewhat preferred the chapters from Sophie's POV. I mean, number one, she's Canadian so I kinda have to prefer her, just based on national pride. Hehe. Kidding aside, I just thought she had the stronger voice. I loved what this story said about bisexuality, about how feelings can be dismissed until one day a lightbulb can go off. Also the hurt when you share something about yourself to a loved one only for them to dismiss it. I also loved Amy shutting things right down when Sophie started to say the tired crap about bi people being and/or coming out as an adult being 'not queer enough'. Even Sophie's scene with her mother when she comes out...it was nice that the mother who's pushing for marriage and <i>seems to be</i> very old fashioned doesn't actually care the gender of who Sophie marries, just that she gets married. It was an interesting dynamic.

I did also like Amy, I honestly did, and some of her POV scenes were amongst my favourites, like after Sophie sleeps over at Amy's the first time and they make pancakes together? Freakin' adorable! Unfortunately, her chapters were marred by the sheer number of times where they would start to get together, and then she'd push Sophie away. And then she'd be the one to start things up again...only to push her away again. It happened over, and over, and yes, it's tied with Amy's issues with her father and is somewhat addressed, but still the amount of times it happened honestly became very frustrating. <spoiler>Sophie's anger, especially after her knife accident, was 100% justified, and if this wasn't a HEA romance, that probably should have been it for them.</spoiler>

The other major character of the book, in all honesty, was the restaurant, even moreso than the other human characters. I could really feel the space...the kitchen, the walk-in that plays a huge role in the story, all of it. It felt alive and I loved it.

I confess, I somehow missed that this was a semi-sequel to [book:Hot Copy|54228603]. In hindsight, it says so on Netgalley, I just missed it, but there's no indication on Goodreads and so I was very confused why the book spent so much time talking about how Amy's brother Wes got together with his girlfriend, who barely appears. It kept hinting at backstory that, from my perspective, wasn't covered in the text so it seemed an odd choice. It wasn't until I was almost done the book that I looked up Ruby and noticed the character names of her previous book. So, that was a thing.

Spice-wise? Damn. This book was hot. Just had to say.

All it all, really enjoyable romance with just some minor issues. 4/5 stars.

This book was pure PERFECTION.

Ruby's writing was already brilliant for me since I read HOT COPY, but this book simply multiplied that feeling. She writes in such an emotional, majestic way. Her books are a perfect balance between sorrow, forgiveness and hope.

While Wes's story was about him overcoming their mother's death, Amy's was about overcoming their father's absence and hurtful expectations. I didn't know how much I needed to be in Amy's mind until I started reading her POV, and it was just as I described: I could feel her pain, forgiveness and hope. I loved her so, SO much.

This book was sapphic excellence! Oh god, I wish I had count all the times I felt literal butterflies in my stomach because they were a lot. I told Ruby that this story was a hug to bisexual women, and I still feel like that. Sophie's path to discovering herself was beautiful and relatable for me, and I bet it will be for a lot of women who discovered their sexuality later in life. That feeling of knowing that you feel something you don't see other people feeling and not being able to put a finger on it is frustrating, but once you finally can name it... it's one of the most freeing experiences ever, and Sophie was the perfect representation.

This was god tier romance. Sophie and Amy are perfect together. Learning how to navigate new feelings when two personalities are so different is always an intense but rewarding journey to read, and this case was exactly like that. All of my praise goes to Ruby for writing it in such a beautiful way.

THE ROMANCE RECIPE is on my list of top favorite reads of the year now. I can't recommend this book hard enough, but I can do it frequently enough, and you can bet I will do it.

Rating: 5/5
Steam: 3/5

THANK YOU to the publisher for my advance review copy!

Amy and Sophie aka Hollywood. The start was shaky for me, I couldn't get into it. We have all had crushes before, or not, but here it seemed rather over the top. Sophie was cute, esp, she had this vibe about her that I found adorable. Her insecurities were rather heart breaking, and her solution was a good one, kudos to that. Amy wasn't bad either, just her micromanagement thingy she had going on was rather annoying.

Chemistry wise, that was just ok either. They had their crushes but don't get me started on sex in the restaurant kitchen, now that was unsanitary, either way. Home kitchen, is another thing. The on and off, push and pull drama, girl, that almost got annoying. It was overused to the end I almost wished they would just quit each other.



I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was everything I hoped it would be and more. I just felt so seen by Sophie and all of her feelings about not knowing who she was until later in life. The romance between Sophie and Amy is just so good and I loved everything about it.

I received an arc through netgalley.

A fast pace romance between a head strong resturant owner and her head chef. It’s funny, steamy and it talks about self acceptance and queer identity. It’s well developed and you should give it a chance. Oh, and the cover it’s fantastic!
Free ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book builds like a perfectly composed tasting menu. The use of food imagery is deftly woven throughout the story, leaving me hungry for food and romance. And the fire from the kitchen is HOT HOT HOT! Maybe borderline erotic romance? Personally, I wanted more from the climax (the story plot point, not the bedroom one), and I felt some of the things the characters took offense to were overblown. But on the whole, I really enjoyed the story – the main characters were mostly believable as well as the challenges they faced, and the side characters were entertaining. It was a good glimpse into the restaurant industry, and definitely made me want to eat out.

Short Summary: Amy is a restaurant owner and Sophie is her head chef. They are business partners and that’s all they are and will ever be. Because Amy is a control freak and Sophie is straight. Right? The kitchen is hot and it’s not just from the ovens…

Thanks to Netgalley and Carina Press & Carina Adores. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Ruby Barrett book, and I was really excited to read it! Unfortunately, I think I liked the idea of this book more than the book itself. I’m always up for a sapphic romance, and this was a steamy one, however, it seemed like the steamy bits were more in depth that the rest of the book. I love Amy and Sophie and their relationship, but I felt like a lot of character development was missing from the story. It felt like there were a lot of plot holes and the timing either skipped around a bunch or everything happened really fast. I did really like it, I just wanted there to be more.

Thanks to NetGalley and Carina Press & Carina Adores (Harlequin) for providing this ARC. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars
Wow, this was so freaking good. Right from the start the premise and characters were really strong, then the romance developed really naturally and with the inclusion of a ton of good tropes (and so much pining <3 ), and the conversations surrounding queer identity and self acceptance were super relatable and well written. I can't recommend this book enough!

This was such a cute love story.
I really enjoyed the fact that this wasn't your standard slow burn, and that things got heavy pretty early on. I enjoyed the characters and their development, especially Sophie navigating her coming out as bisexual.
Got to love some representation for us bi/pan people!
Sophie certainly loves that peach shampoo, hey 😉
All in all a great sapphic story that I read in one day, and would recommend.
I'll be reading Ruby's other book asap!

This book definitely had me hooked from the first couple chapters in! I was immediately in love with Sophie ad Amy. However, I feel as though as soon as they got together everything stage of their relationship felt a bit rushed. I loved the backstory of Sophie having trouble with being on TV but i wished it was delved into more considering a main point was the, going on another cooking show. Maybe it was just me, but I feel as though the idea of them going on the new cooking was way too rushed as we didn’t see much of it but it was the main point, in their fights and conversations towards the end.

While the story was really good and I did like it, I just wish it was longer and we got more of EVERYTHING.

A heartfelt, deeply romantic hug of a book that ticks every Romance-lover's wishlist: unputdownable, swoons for days, a well-deserved HEA, and food descriptions to drool over! Amy and Sophie remind every queer reader they are more than enough. Another stunning work of heart from Ruby Barrett.

Thank you, Carina Adores, for allowing me to read The Romance Recipe early!

I really, really, really enjoyed Ruby Barrett's new book. It was spicy and delicious, fun and emotional, surprising and exactly what I need to read at this moment in time. I loved the relationship that bloomed between headstrong Amy and multifaceted Sophie and that cover, my gosh, it is stunning!

A steamy romance that features two well developed woman in their careers. I was expecting us to see how being on the tv show would play out and was shocked when we never actually got there and that the novel did not even cover the tv show despite it being the center of the plot line.

This book really throws you right into the story and the relationship, which I felt made it difficult to see what really drew the characters to each other beyond just physical attraction? If you like a fast paced romance you'll probably enjoy this, it just wasn't my favorite.

Hot, sexy, funny, and even better than Barrett's debut! Amy and Sophie, grumpy and sunshine, are a perfect pairing. They go well with everything. They are delicious, and sexy, and will make you want to come back again and again.

THE ROMANCE RECIPE is full of charm and wonderful writing.
Ruby Barrett creates a beautiful novel. And one I knew when it ended in was going to be sad to see it ended.
The characters were so lovable and it was amazing to see them grow and discover their identities. They are unique and fresh, with witty language to tell an engaging story full of diverse and authentic characters!
With incredibly writing, with some of the best writing I've seen in romance.
It's voice-y with extremely sensory prose, and that alone warrants five stars.
The story is one I'm going to remember for awhile.
Ruby knows how to write a pure engaging romance story.
I loved the concept of this story. Packed with heart, delicious tension and laugh out loud moments, this novel strikes a charming balance between fun and emotion.
All the best things about romance in one place!
This will be the next hit f/f romance to fly off the shelves, as it should!
And this cover, omg the cover! I'm buying a copy to sit all pretty on my shelf!
I need more of this I'm my life!

Carina Adores,
I can't thank you enough for this delicious ebook copy!
I will post to my blog and platforms close to pub date!