This was a fun one (and it made me hungry!). Julie is an executive assistant by day and an Instagram food reviewer by night; Bennet is a fancy newspaper restaurant critic. They butt heads by chance one day at a food truck festival, but when a video of the encounter goes viral, they agree to team up to review restaurants and offer their different takes on them. Along the way, sparks fly.

What I liked: all the food! The discussion of classism, racism, and sexism in the culinary world.

What I didn't: I wish there had been a little more chemistry between Julie and Bennet.

The food descriptions really took this one over the top for me. 3.5 rounded to 4 stars.

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

this book made me incredibly hungry and wanting to try even more new foods. I loved watching Julie come into her own, I only wish we had a little more on page development in their relationship, to help understand the progression

Best Served Hot was this foodie’s dream book! The setting of New York City was perfect, and I loved all of the scenes set in restaurants and reading the descriptions of the food. The Central Park food festival scene was a lot of fun and had me drooling over the food!

As someone who has a foodie Instagram page, I loved Julie’s character and her @juliezeeeatsnyc page. I adored Bennett and thought it was great that he was a food critic for a newspaper. Seeing the different sides of print media versus social media was a fun way to do an enemies to lovers story. I shipped Julie and Bennett and loved everything about their relationship.

There are so many great supporting characters in this book especially Julie’s best friend, Alice, and her boss’s daughter, Emerson Leigh. I can totally see interconnected books about both of these characters.

I adored this story and look forward to reading more from the author. I highly recommend this book, but make sure you don’t read it on an empty stomach because it will definitely make you hungry!

Thank you Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.

This book was fun! The FMC, Julie, is a food critic/influencer on Instagram and I loved seeing an influencer portrayed in such an honest way. The food descriptions had my mouth watering - if you are a foodie who loves NYC you will love this book! I really loved both of our main characters and they had such great banter which is SO important to me as a romance reader.

Thank you SO much to Berkley for the advanced copy. This one is out TODAY and I would highly recommend!

First, I recommend you do not go into reading this book if you are hungry. The amazing descriptions of the food in this one will have you drooling and your stomach growling.

This is an enemies to lovers romcom, which is one of my favorites! The banter between Julie and Bennett was amusing. I found myself rooting for them to get together because they seemed like a great match, despite their initial interaction.

This one gave an honest portrayal of social media, the good and the bad. And showed the divides between socials and print media. Julie was so real, and, despite, being what Julie thought of as the rich and privileged, Bennett did as well. If you love romcoms, enemies to lovers, food and NYC, this one is right up your alley.

I haven’t read Sadie on a Plate, which from what I understand is an interconnected standalone to this one, but I definitely will now. I will also be on the lookout for more from this author!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Best Served Hot is an enemies to lovers romance that will have your mouth watering!

Julie Zimmerman is an executive assistant during the day, but evenings and weekends she’s @JulieZeeEatsNYC, a social media restaurant reviewer with more than 50,000 followers. Bennett Richard Macalester Wright is the new restaurant critic for the New York Scroll, a job Julie longed for. When the two meet, it's clear that Bennett disdains social media. Or at least Julie thinks he does. And a romp through the new, eclectic and interesting restaurants across the city ensues.

If you're a foodie, or even a foodie wanna be like me, you'll definitely want to check this one out. The descriptions of the food alone will make your stomach grumble as you turn the pages. I enjoyed Julie and Bennett's interactions as they get to know each other and appreciate their respective approaches to reviewing restaurants and food. There's a little steam as the relationship grows and a lot of enjoyable non-steamy banter as well. I wasn't crazy about the opening and the way they met at the food festival, but once I got past that it was a pretty solid story.

I thought side character Emerson Leigh, the spoiled socialite daughter of Julie's daytime boss, was great comic relief. I was laughing and eye rolling at her idea for a yoga studio for pets (even a goldfish!) and was pleasantly surprised when she was finally able to find her niche thanks to Julie's influence. There are a lot of women supporting women themes throughout the book, and I truly appreciated that aspect.

I did think the ending, especially with Julie's best friend Alice's business, seemed a little out of place but overall I thought this was a fun, lighthearted romance.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬💭:
This was my first from the author and I was excited to learn that she was the same author of Sadie On A Plate. I’ve been wanting to read that one so it was fun that Sadie cameos on this book!

I went through this book as both physical and audio. I enjoyed both formats so thank you to Berkley Romance for my free copy and PRH Audio for my audio.

𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛📝:
Julie is an executive assistance by day, but is also a social media food reviewer on the side. Her goal is to become an acclaimed food critic for the major newspaper The Scroll. When she applies, her application is rejected and is snagged by a social media snob Bennett. Julie confronts him at a festival and was all taken on video that trended. They decide to work together to take advantage of the buzz, but things heat up from there.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. Disclaimer: this book will totally tickle your taste buds! Do not to read on an empty stomach lol. It was a fun read that takes you for a ride around NYC, the world of social media and food criticism. While I enjoyed most of these references, I found the story a bit lacking and found some disconnect with the characters. I still recommend this one though for fans of rom coms centering around food. It’s a quick one that you’ll enjoy especially if you like the enemies to lovers trope.

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚: 𝘕𝘠𝘊, 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢

Short synopsis: Julie is a food influencer struggling to make ends meet, and is disappointed when she doesn’t get a job as a food critic. After she meets Bennet, the privileged white man who got the job, they decide to work together to help each other out.

My thoughts: I binged this one on a plane ride. It was the perfect mix of banter, influencer problems, classism and sexism, but done in a light hearted way.

Julie was such a great character, doing everything she could to fulfill her real passion… food. I especially enjoyed the cooking fails and the wine spills, those little humorous tid-bits had me giggling!

This one definitely made me hungry! I want to try so many of the delicious foods described in this book, and feel like I need to be more adventurous in my eating. Can I just go visit NYC and eat yummy food?

I did a mix of audio and e-book reading on this. The writing was done so well, and the story was told so great by the narrator. Just don’t forget snacks when divulging into this story!

Read if you love:
* Enemies to lovers
* Competing businesses
* Jewish representation
* Food descriptions
* Social media and influencers
* Pushing the classism boundaries

Thank you so much to Berkley for the early copy of this book! Pub date is set for Feb 21, 2023.

Julie Zimmerman has been working for years on her social media presence. She posts videos and photos all about food, restaurants, and chefs. Despite having a day job as an executive assistant, she posts several times a week as @JulieZeeEatsNYC, introducing her followers to all her favorite foods, to the hottest new restaurants, and to the chefs who are bringing the flavors. And when the restaurant reviewer job for the prestigious New York Scroll is up for grabs, Julie thinks she’s got a shot at it.

She wants that job, to help bring that outdated column from the pretentious old New York restaurants that all the rich white guys go to into the golden age of international cuisine. She wants to teach the Scroll readers all about the small restaurants opening up with celebrity chefs, the food trucks, the neighborhood dives with the best bites, and the local dishes that have come to Manhattan from all over the world.

So she’s devastated to find out that she didn’t get the job. Instead of an email telling her that they went a different way or a thanks for applying, Julie is faced with the story that the Scroll hired a new restaurant reviewer. Bennett Richard Macalester Wright. Even his name sounds pretentious. Julie is disappointed but she has to focus. The Central Park Food Festival is coming up, and she needs a game plan to find all the delicious dishes she wants to feature.

Imagine her delight as she stands in line at the shaobing stand only to find new reviewer Ben standing right in front of her. And when the two of them start arguing about what food media should be, and her friend catches it all on video, Julie decides to post the video to her social media accounts, calling out the Scroll on its outdated ideas.

Julie thinks her impulsive decision to post the video will end her career as @JulieZeeEatsNYC. Instead, the Scroll makes a public commitment to more diverse restaurant reviewing and offers Julie a chance to team up with them on social media. Immediately, both Julie’s accounts and the newspaper accounts start garnering more followers, so she can’t say no to the offer. She and Ben will both review the same restaurant, on the same night, and the readers can decide whose food feelings they want to follow.

After some early misunderstandings, the original disdain between the two reviewers cool, leaving room for spicier moments. But as the heat grows between them, Julie is reminded that there is still a divide between them, between the reviewer for one of the most respected newspapers in the city and a woman who posts pictures of her food online. Is there a way to create a fusion between them, or will their attempts to create a delicious duo go up in flames?

Best Served Hot is a foodie rom com filled with lots of tasty bits of friendship, food, feuds, and falling in love. Author Amanda Elliot, who wrote Sadie on a Plate, is back with this story that looks at privilege and class and how we can choose the life we want, no matter where we come from. Blending charming flirtations with revealing moments of entitlement, this isn’t just a fluffy dessert of a novel. It’s a full meal, meaty and filling and served with at least one type of potatoes.

I loved this book from the first page. Julie is a strong character, smart and determined and scrappy. And watching her go down in flames in front of her nemesis over and over is a lot of fun. But this is also a dangerous book. There are so many delicious sounding dishes that (if you’re anything like me) you will get hungry. You will get very hungry over and over. So be prepared with lots of snacks. Perhaps some should be potato based (I’m with Julie on her love of potatoes, so that got me hungry a lot). But overall, Best Served Hot is fun and funny, with layers of honesty and warmth and frustration and butter and buzzy feelings and internet posting and uppity restaurant hostesses. What more could you want in a foodie rom com?

Egalleys for Best Served Hot were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks.

I honestly don’t know if my favorite part of this book is the enemies to lovers trope, the fact that the main character is a social media food influencer, or the many delectable food descriptions that are sprinkled throughout this read.

It’s a sweet and fun romance for all of us that consider ourselves connoisseurs of the edible.

If you’re looking for a light palette cleanser, this could be a good one for you! After really liking Sadie on a Plate last year, I was excited to dive into Amanda Elliot’s latest enemies to lovers romance about two food critics - one an influencer and the other a critic for a paper. This one didn’t work as well for me (especially the back half), but it was a fun enough read.

Here are the things I liked about this one:
✨ The food! This book made me so hungry. I loved all the descriptions of Julie’s meals and texted a friend that we needed to make some fun reservations ASAP while reading.
✨ The NYC setting - it felt so realistic, especially all the funny commentary about public transportation.
✨ The humor - I cackled a lot reading this one, the humor is very quippy.
✨ Bonus: Easter eggs from Sadie on a Plate!

Here’s what I would have loved to see more of:
✨ Character development - While messiness is okay, I expected to see character growth and we unfortunately didn’t get much. Julie makes a lot of bad/confusing decisions - I would have loved to see her learn from them.
✨ Character depth - We didn’t really get to know the male love interest at all. The characters all felt very surface, even Julie.
✨ Plot depth - The main theme of this one was surrounding privilege, but it also felt handled in a very surface way…it was, frankly, odd and felt like it could have been left out.

Overall, if you want to turn your brain off and read about the NYC food scene, this could be a good one to pick up!

Read if you like books with:
🍱 Major Foodie Vibes
🗽 NYC Setting
📱 Influencers
✍🏻 Food Critics
🏳️‍⚧️ Diverse Characters and LGBTQ Rep

If you love food descriptions and reading books that will make your mouth water this one is definitely for you!

I love that Amanda writes books that are truly about the growth of the main character with slow burn romance added in.

This one has the tension I love with enemies to lovers between Julie and Bennett but also has a diverse cast of characters that all have their place and make sense to help the story along.

If you are looking for your next drool worthy book I highly suggest picking up this one! Thank you to Berkley for my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝:
It was interesting to read about two worlds of marketing colliding - traditional marketing (newspaper advertising) vs the world of influencer marketing/social media. Julie (influencer) is unhappy in her job that provides her financial security, but struggles because it’s not her passion. I think this is so relatable in today’s world especially with the rise of influencers and being able to create income.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞:
- I was expecting a rom-com, but there was very little romance in this one. It doesn’t really show until the 75-80% mark.
- There is more emphasis on the “foodie/influencer” side, rather than the romance or plot. Some of the descriptions of the food were paragraphs long, which seemed a bit much for me (but I can see why this might work for others.)

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫:
✔ traditional newspaper writer vs. influencer
✔ foodie vibes / critics
✔ NYC life
✔ a DASH of enemies to lovers

BEST SERVED HOT is dreamy, delicious fun as two food critics battle it out. Julie who is a food influencer with an Instagram account of fifty thousand followers, hopes to soar to new heights! Her ambition is to work for a high profile newspaper and get compensated as a food critic. But, she doesn't even get a reply back and learns that snobby, well-heeled, Bennett Wright, was hired. Julie is pretty steamed. Then at a food festival she meets Bennett and tells him what she really thinks. A video of their irate conversation goes viral, push comes to shove in their jobs, and they relent on going to restaurants together to evaluate the food. Will they behave or is it war between them?

Julie admittedly thinks Bennett's attractive, but is jealous of his job. Bennett is quite taken by the spitfire beauty who brazenly flambeed him in public. Time spent with her is heating up his hormones. He secretly loves every minute spent with her. Will the forced working conditions change Julie's offensive opinion of Bennett?

Watch out, fireworks ignite, as two judgmental food critics battle it out in Ms. Elliot's new novel, BEST SERVED HOT. Sparkly, optimistic, Julie makes a name for herself based on her own merits and roadblocks. Whereas, Bennett is born into wealth and connections. They are quite a contrary couple who secretly enjoy each other's company and more! Is this a reservation for romance or disaster?⁣

What I loved is the slow simmering romance between Bennett and Julie as they savor dishes at restaurants, while lambasting each other at the same time. As Julie and Bennett collaborate on critiquing food, their attraction and spice levels ramp up! The author expertly squeezes in the differences in social classes and opportunities in the job market. The New York setting is amazing and the delicious food dishes described throughout made my mouth water! Warning, have snacks on hand while reading this amazing comedic romantic story! BEST SERVED HOT is just like red hots candy, sweet, sizzling and fiery hot!

| Best Served Hot ARC Review |
By Amanda Elliot

Don’t read when hungry! 😂

Best Served Hot is a delightful rivals to lovers contemporary romance about Julie, a food influencer, and Bennet, a food reviewer for an old school publication, fawning over delicious food and eventually, each other.

This book is a foodie’s dream. Amanda Elliot has a real knack for mouth watering descriptions and charming/likable characters. I don’t think there was a focal character that I didn’t like. Julie is absolutely adorable and relatable in battling her struggles for validation as an influencer. Bennet is cute and quirky, and their banter was charismatic.

While not the spiciest, this romance was lighthearted, heartfelt, and sweet - I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn’t wait to dive back in when I had to put my kindle down. Near the end I would’ve loved a little less food description in exchange for a little more character/relationship development, but honestly, I was delighted by the story and the cast of characters the entire time. Highly recommend! 🖤

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘌𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘵, 𝘉𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺. 𝘈𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

This is an entertaining read about two food critics reviewing the same restaurants together. Julie works as an executive assistant during the day for an extremely wealthy man. His entitled daughter is a great character!
At night, she writes a food blog featuring smaller restaurants.
Bennett recently became the food critic for the city’s largest newspaper and writes about fancier and more expensive restaurants.
As they spend time together their feelings grow. The characters have great chemistry.

I liked the characters, and the plot was interesting, especially if you are a foodie. It was fun to read about the food they ate at different restaurants, don’t read this book while you’re hungry!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

Julie has a food blog and she hopes to gain momentum. She dreams of writing for one of the big publishers but when she was passed over at Scroll for another pretentious white guy, she has basically had it. She sees the new reviewer at a food fair, and tries to throw him off his game. He doesn't know her from anyone, and she is just an unknown blogger in the sea of many, so how could this come back to haunt her?
When her video goes viral, the paper wants them to work together hoping it will gain viewers for them and she could benefit from name recognition too. What they don't expect is that it's also possible to see the person behind the name and fall for the enemy.
Bennett immediately jumped out at me as such a gentleman. Yes, he wanted to prove that his way was superior, but once they both showed themselves and we got down to the nitty gritty of why they were so in love with the food they were reviewing and what it meant to them, I just melted.
Warning, do NOT read this book hungry. This book has some of the best food descriptions I have ever read, not only with what it looked like, but how it tasted. It was almost like I was the one eating it. My mouth was watering and stomach was growling through the whole thing and I never wanted to put it down.
I loved this follow up to Sadie on a Plate and I hope we see more of Julie and Bennett in the future! They were adorable.

In Amanda Elliot’s new novel Best Served Hot, Julie Zimmerman dreams of becoming a restaurant reviewer for a major newspaper. Right now, however, she’s working as an executive assistant and only has an unpaid side gig as a food influencer on Instagram. She applies for a restaurant critic position at the prestigious New York Scroll, but loses out to rich society guy, Bennett Richard Macalester Wright. Julie hates everything about Bennett, from his obnoxious name all the way to his haughty attitude toward social media influencers and followers. When a public argument between them on this subject goes viral, Bennett’s boss loves the chemistry between Julie and Bennett and decides it would be fun to have a collaboration between the two of them, an old guard (print journalism) vs. new guard (social media) approach to reviewing the same restaurants. Julie is torn between being appalled at having to spend time with Bennett, while at the same time, knowing that this could bring her a lot of exposure and open doors for her.

I love a good rivals to lovers story and am also a fan of the forced proximity trope, so Best Served Hot was right up my alley. I loved the chemistry between Julie and Bennett, especially the transition from those early awkward, borderline hostile scenes, to those moments when Julie realizes that maybe hanging out with Bennett and eating delicious foods isn’t the worst way she could be spending her time and that maybe he isn’t as pompous and entitled as she originally judged him to be. I also just really liked watching them work together, how different their styles were, and how they actually learned from each other.

The vibrant food descriptions were of course a hit with me and practically had me drooling on my kindle, and I also loved the entire cast of secondary characters, especially Jada, another foodie social media influencer who reaches out to Julie during her competition with Bennett, and Alice, Julie’s bestie and a talented coder who has grown frustrated working with obnoxious, arrogant men. I loved the sense of community and sisterhood between these ladies. Emerson Leigh, a rich girl who is oblivious of her privilege but who also has a heart of gold, also turns out to be a gem of a character.

If you enjoy foodie romances as much as I do, you’ll definitely want to check out Best Served Hot!

Thank you for the free book @berkleyromance!! #penguinrandomhousepartner #berkleyIG #BerkleyBookstagram

𝑩𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝑯𝒐𝒕
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🌶🌶🌶
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞: NYC setting, rivals to lovers, influencer tropes, food, food, and more food\
𝐏𝐔𝐁 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: Feb 21 (next Tuesday! )

I have seen a lot of good reviews for Sadie on a Plate last year so naturally I was so excited when I received this book and I read it immediately!

In one sitting, I was able to read all the way up to page 180 lol. Yes, it was an easy read for me. I love stories set in NYC (because favorite city 💅🏽) and I love how the story started.

Julie is a food influencer and was aiming for a job to be a food reviewer for The Scroll. The job unfortunately went to Bennett (male lead). He doesn’t believe in social media and still prefers to read his news in print. While at a food festival, the two had a heated argument that was unfortunately recorded and had gone viral in a matter of hours. Due to the unexpected success of the viral video, the two partnered up trying out and reviewing several more restaurants all over NYC with the hopes of drawing more traffic towards their respective platforms…

And that’s how the story starts, I’m warning you, don’t read this at night unless midnight snacking is your thing because this book will make you hungry! 😂 I hope the restaurants mentioned in this book exists because they all sound great! Sadie’s restaurant might actually make a cameo 😉

I also love all the women supporting women vibes from this book. And I appreciate that it was somehow political in that equality in the workplace is still somehow a foreign concept to some people.

As for the romance part, the banter initially was really good but I didn’t feel a lot of chemistry and spark that I usually feel when reading romance books.

Also, I just love how this book is like a shoutout to influencers and how hard it is to get your content reach more people! See friends, we are not alone. 😅 Just keep doing what you enjoy doing, otherwise it will start feeling like unpaid work and you don’t deserve to feel that way 😊

💭 Are you a picky eater?
☕️ I am not and that is the problem 😂 As long as there’s no beans/ raisins on it, I will eat it. And ohh, I don’t eat veal out of principle 😅

This was an enjoyable book which is about two food critics whose accounts soar after criticizing each other but there is something that heats up their relationship. I have read Sadie on A Plate which I enjoyed so I was glad to have picked up this book. Elliot has an incredible writing style and knows how to describe the food. Let me say that half of the time I was hungry for something yummy because everything was described so well. The storyline was really well done and I liked the calm pacing of this book. It wasn’t fast or slow which was great. I enjoyed learning about the social media topics of this book and seeing how it can be hard. This book took place in NYC so you know the whole style of the setting. The story is only told from the girl’s pov.

The main character in this book is Julie who is a social media food critic. I have to say that she kind of annoyed me. She was often pitiful but she did grow throughout the book. Then there is Bennett who I enjoyed reading about and wish we got his pov too. Their bantering and scenes were really well written which made the book really good. There are many side characters whom I enjoyed especially Julie’s friends. The romance is enemies to lovers which was cute as there was a lot of bantering between the couple and chemistry. There were also some steamy scenes but not spicy scenes.

The ending was well done and I thought this book was really well written. I enjoyed it more than Sadie on a Plate as this one I can relate to the whole social media side of the story. This book was really well written though I would love to have gotten Bennett’s pov and Julie not being annoying at times. Overall it was a well-written book and I totally recommend this book to those looking for foodie romance.