A cute love story. I love how the two main characters grow throughout the book. The plot is interesting and kept me engaged with the book.

This was very different from what I expected, and another case of a "romcom" where the romance aspect is more of a subplot. At this point I'm BEGGING publishers to market their books honestly. Because this was actually a pretty good read, but I kept waiting for the romance to become more prominent, and it was just barely there.

Like I said, this was a pretty good read. It's hard to dislike a book featuring a baking competition, and the competition is described in a lot of detail. Quite frankly, I found myself a little bored at times, and this felt like too long of a read. But I did like seeing so much of the competition at the same time.

As it is, this was very middle of the road for me, and I'm disappointed that the romance wasn't more present. This would have added some much-needed variety to the baking competition plot as well.

Love At 350°

Publication Date: 10/10/23| read 8/24/23.

Format: e-ARC

Source: Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC! I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Page Count: 336

Setting: Sequoia and Sonoma, CA

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction

Tropes:
✅ grumpy/sunshine
✅ sapphic romance
✅ slow burn
✅ reality tv show/ baking competition
✅ clean romance/forbidden romance

Standalone/Cliffhanger/Part of a Series: standalone

HEA/HFN ending: HEA

Character(s)POV Spoken: Tori and Kendra

BOOK DESCRIPTION
Synopsis/Plot Summary: 2 women on reality tv baking show American Bake-o-Rama, 1 a judge Kendra and one a contestant Tori. There's an instant attraction but they have strict non fraternization policy for the 6-week competition and 1 year after the show ends. Prize money is $100,000 and starring in your own show on Food and Drink Network.

M/F-M/M-M/M/F-etc: F/F

Contains Cheating: yes, Tori was cheated on 3 years before.

Contains Children: yes, Tori's twins Mia and Milo just graduated high school, going to University of Colorado

Amount of Sex In The Book: none

Overall Smex Rating: 0

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION

Heroine: Tori Moore

Heroine Description: 40+ divorcee, 20-year career as a high school science teacher and enjoys baking. Always wanted her own restaurant. Her twins submit an application on her behalf for the show.

Heroine Likability Rating: 5

Heroine: Kendra Campbell

Heroine Description: 40, a celebrity chef. Has a restaurant Gamma Raye's and cookie empire Chippy Chunk. Has a mean and ruthless persona for the show (think Simon Cowell) she's been on for 4 years and needs the money in order to keep businesses afloat.

Heroine Likability Rating: 3


Secondary characters:
Alden Ross-Kendra's older brother and business manager
Trevor Flynn-Senior judge on the show, British
Anika-the show's host
Natalie- a contestant on the show
Cassie and Lee Anne-Tori's bffs
Joey and Johnny-Tori's cats
Julia-Kendra's French bulldog


H /h RELATIONSHIP INFO

OW/OM/Exes: Tori's last relationship was w/ ex-wife Shelby. They were married for 10+years. Kendra's last relationship was 2 years ago and lasted 4 months.

Look out for:
⚠️ past cheating, artificial insemination(mentioned), adoption(mentioned)

AUTHOR OVERVIEW
Lisa Peers

New or read before & any favorites: debut author

PERSONAL OVERVIEW

Overall Rating: 3.5


COMMENTS/NOTES:
If you love Top Chef or the Great British Bake Off (which I've never seen) you will love this. Its opposites attract with angst and pining away for each other until the very end of the book. Most of the focus is on the challenges and disasters within the competition. Kendra and Tori don't spend much time together other than cute notes and quick parking lot chats. There's a little mystery as someone is sabotaging Tori, and she and Kendra work together to find out who it is. This was a nice palette cleanser- its light w/ family friendly entertainment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Tori is a high school science teacher stuck at a crossroads. She is still reeling from the betrayal from her ex-wife, and with her kids about to head off to college, she is looking for something else to focus her energy on. Her kids submit an application on her behalf to the country’s most popular reality show - American Bake-o-Rama. Much to her surprise, she makes it on the show.

Kendra is also at a crossroad. Her role as judge on American Bake-o-Rama is going well, as is her chain of cookie stores. Her one true love, her restaurant Gamma Ray is facing closure, but she’s not ready to let that go. Meeting Tori throws another wrench in her plans.

Both Tori and Kendra fight their feelings for each other in order to follow the rules of the show that will pave the way to the future they both want. Strange things start happening on the production of the show. Can the two follow their dreams, and follow their heart?

This book has everything I want - a reality show premise, heavy on the baking, and a WLW romance. It was a very sweet book, but not necessarily the most engaging. It had a few twists, but I could figure out where it was going. I felt like it wrapped up a little too quickly for me. There was also 0 spice in this book, which is totally fine, but just not the book for you if that’s what you’re looking for.

This was an enjoyable read! I really liked the baking competition. I’m a sucker for books with a reality show aspect so I had lots of fun. It gave me cozy vibes and definitely made me want to bake some cookies. I wish the romance would have been more of a focus. Kendra & Tori were cute but there just wasn’t enough scenes of them together.

Love at 350° is the story of Kendra, a chef and baking show host, and baking show contestant Tori. Kendra is burned out on Bake-o-Rama, but needs the money she earns as a judge to support her restaurants. Tori is a chemistry teacher who is convinced to audition by her college-bound children. Tori and Kendra feel a connection, but must keep everything professional for the sake of the show. When someone seems to be sabotaging Tori, Kendra and Tori must work together to uncover the culprit. What will they do when the show ends and they can finally explore their feelings?

Love at 350° is a sweet, sapphic, and lighthearted romance. I really enjoyed how Tori gained self-confidence and learned to believe in her baking ability. While Kendra and Tori are intrigued by each other, they must keep their distance to maintain the integrity of the show and avoid legal trouble. The sapphic romance is very light and slow-burn, because at times the rules keeping them apart work a little too well. Love at 350° has a strong focus on the recipes and competition rounds of Bake-o-Rama. There are some great recipes at the back of the book for readers to try. Readers who love the Great British Bake-Off will devour this delectable and sweet sapphic romance!

Thank you so much to Lisa Peers, Random House, 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

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974


A refreshing romance, featuring middle aged women. Starting life over and exploring new facets of life. One enters a baking competition and the other is a judge. There are many themes explored within the book. It is a one sitting read that you can envision on Lifetime or the Hallmark channel. I enjoyed it and will recommend it to many.

The premise of this romance sounded great but I didn't particularly feel connected to any of the characters.

Love at 350 is a Hallmark style sapphic rom com meets the Great British Baking Show. There was so much to love about this one- fabulous descriptions of food, two MCs that are falling in love after 40 (shout out to Gen. X!), and fully developed characters with strong motivations for the choices they make. The one pitfall is that this read more like an ensemble fiction, than the romance it was pitched as. Fab women’s fiction, think more sweet than spicy. I know this will be someone’s next comfort read!

Love at 350° is a must read! It tackles some fairly heavy themes in the most light hearted of ways. Themes of infidelity, starting over, pursuing your dreams, fear of failure, taking risks, believing in yourself, new love, major life changes - there’s so much to explore. I was sold at reality baking show and fell in love with the entire cast of characters. I loved how both Kendra and Tori are middle-aged women on the cusp of some major life changes. You don’t see that often enough in the romance genre. Their relationship was refreshing and backdrop of the baking competition provided the perfect setting. I just wish there had been an epilogue showing the two a year or so from the events in the story. If you’re looking for a fun read, I highly recommend picking this up!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really cute book! I love baking shows being written into books and this one featured just the right amount of the reality show in my opinion.

What I liked:
*Reality baking show competition
*Main characters in their 40s
*Fun and lighthearted

Overall I enjoyed this book. It is being marketed as a romcom, however I think the reality show is more the star of this book and the romance is secondary.

to start,……..the chemistryyyyyyy *sqeeeee*, so 👏🏻 good 👏🏻. Love at 350 is a sapphic, slow-burn romance, full of flirtatious chatter, self-reflection and discovery. Our MCs are in their 40’s, which really lent itself to less drama and more introspective emotions throughout the story. And that’s just so damn refreshing if you’re a contemporary romance reader, like myself. Tory is a single mom, teacher and avid-baker, whose world is turned upside when she joins the contestants on a popular bake-off tv show. Top Chef meets The Great British Bake Off. Enter Kendra, the famous casually cool chef and judge who write the cutest little letter at the end- I just can’t even! IYKYK. If you don’t, just read it already, it’s damn adorable!! (The food writing alone- omggg, I’m hungry) 4 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley, and the publisher for this advance copy, in exchange for my unbiased review!

I love the trend of baking show romances.
But even more characters with some life experience.
Tori is a mom of adult twins, she has been divorced for years and has dedicated her life to being a mom and a teacher. Her twins are off to college but before they leave they enter her into a baking competition. Bake-O-Rama.
Kendra is know as “#cookiequeen” and “#thechopper” for her many cookie shops and her cuttthroat judging on Bake-O-Rama. This season she is going to try to be kinder and more supportive of the bakers on the show. Can she stay impartial once she meets Tori? 👀
The mutual pining.
Omg.
This was darling.
It was definitely more focused on the cooking competition and the food than the romance but it felt very believable and accurate to the personalities of the women.
I would have loved an epilogue of a year later…
But it was very cute.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an eARC.

This ended up being a really cute, fun romance. Tori is a single mother, a chemistry teacher, and a home baker. When her twins sign her up for American Bake-o-Rama, she is hesitant but then sees it as an opportunity to prove her abilities and skills, most especially to herself, and if she wins she can take the prize money to finally start the bakery she’s always dreamed of. Kendra is a well-renowned chef but her restaurant of the heart, Gamma Rae’s, isn’t doing as well as her chain of cookie shops, and to help her financial solvency she decides to re-up her contract with Bake-o-Rama to be a judge, but trying to be more empathetic than she’s been in previous seasons. Despite the no fraternization clause in the show’s contract, there is undeniable chemistry between Tori and Kendra, and watching them navigate their interest in each other while not compromising the integrity of the show and judging with fantastic.

I really, especially enjoyed all the scenes with family and the friendships that both Tori and Kendra had at their backs. Tori’s twins were so delightful, plus her best friends who always had her back. I loved Kendra’s dynamic with her older brother, Alden, and would have loved seeing more with her nephews. The way Tori and Kendra helped each other grow and improve in so many ways was also such a great component.

If you’re looking for a romance centering food and baking shows, lesbians in their 40s, and a great cast of friends and family supporting them, this is absolutely a book you should have on your radar!

[CannonballRead will post October 8, 2023]

This was a cute read, but there was too much baking and not enough romance. That said, I didn't enjoy how much instalove there was. I liked that the main characters were both older than the average romantic leads, and I loved Tori's relationship with her kids. I'd definitely read more from this author, despite this not being a favorite.

Give me food, give me drama, give me gay!! This book was an absolute joy - I love how this is a sapphic story about women in their forties as they deal with the curveballs in life and find the courage to take on new dreams. It's fun and lighthearted, with the elements of forbidden love brought on by legally binding contracts prohibiting fraternization, and the ups and downs of reality television.

Wonderful rom-com about an at home baker/teacher who has been signed up by her children to compete on a popular baking show. I enjoyed meeting Tori and Kendra and following their different paths during the course of the story.

Loved it so much! I did expect a little more romance but loved the bake-off competition. I really enjoyed the character development and I highly recommend

First off, I'd like to start off by thanking NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the e-book ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a solid 3.5 star read for me as we follow along Tori's adventures on set of Bake-O-Rama, the American TV baking competition show. What I enjoyed about this book was being able to see Tori and Kendra's character development throughout the show as well as the character development of some of the people Tori meets along the way.

All of that being said, this book is marketed as a romance, when I'd say maybe a quarter of it is and the rest is the baking competition show. Idk if it was because I was looking for more romance, but because of that it left me disengaged at times and was a little difficult to get through at certain points. Additionally, there were a few side characters that just felt very 1 dimensional to me and weren't fully fleshed out imo.

If you want to read the details of a baking competition show with a romance sprinkled in here and there, this book is for you. I'd recommend for those that aren't looking for an in-depth romance, but still looking for something light and fluffy. Loved the conclusion to this story, just wish we saw a bit more throughout.

Thank you again NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group! Love at 350° is officially out on October 10th, 2023!

This was fantastic. I loved the characters, setting, atmosphere, and everything about this book. It was a true 5 star read.