This book was utterly delightful. I loved watching the characters figure out what they wanted and slowly fall for each other. The baking show setting was interesting, and the writing excellent. I'm a big fan.

Review based on ARC.

This was such a wholesome read ❤️ you know that calm feeling you get when you smell a fresh-baked cake? That's what this was like.

This is book is a baking reality show, and it's a sapphic romance between a contestant and a judge, both of whom are middle aged women who are facing burnout in their career and love lives for various reasons. The book is pretty slow-burn, and I loved the focus on both of them healing individually and together. A lot of the book focuses on the baking itself (6-7 rounds of baking) plus some angsty from-afar pining, since judges and contestants are not allowed to fraternize for the time period of the show plus a year. I loved the focus on the baking, the descriptions in this book made me want to bake (or well, atleast go to a bakery and eat). And the romance was developed really, really well. The hea was so sweet and wholesome 🥲🥲 I also loved all the friendships that developed between the reality show contestants!

TWs - divorce after cheating (faced by an MC), mentions of death of spouse (side character), sabotage in a reality show

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

I loved the concept of this book but it dragged for me. So much focus on the actual cooking competition and not enough on the relationships built. I think it could have benefitted from an epilogue or some glimpse into the future.

Loved this book! Such a good sapphic slow burn. Things really heat up in the kitchen. I loved the competition reality tv vibe it was done well. I finished this book really fast and couldn’t put it down! I’d recommend it to anyone.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgallery for the eARC.

ARC Review - 3.75

This was a quick and easy read that I was able to finish in less than a day. It was definitely a super slow burn that at times didn’t give the reader glimpses, outside of the secret letters, about their relationship. It felt sort of random that they came together and never truly had THE moment or even an obstacle to overcome.

I enjoyed this one! The setting of the baking competition is great, and the stakes for the characters are high and track well throughout the book. And, of course, there's the charming romance between Tori and Kendra to give us a little heat (pun intended) in the kitchen. An easy summer read, will recommend for vacations!

Love at 350 degrees features Tori, an at-home baker/chemistry teacher that winds up on a competition baking show. We get a split POV between her and Kendra, a renowned chef known for being a tough critic. As a fan of reality TV it's always fun to get a peak behind the curtain, and get to really see what goes on at a TV set.

The main antagonist is the "non-fraternization" clause in Tori and Kendra's contracts, which keeps them from pursuing anything more. The risk they take is to send each other notes and messages instead. These notes were what kept me reading. I loved seeing these women get closer and be vulnerable through their writing.

The cast of characters were solidly entertaining, and I had a fondness for all of Tori's friends and fellow competitors (I want to know more about Natalie SOO BAD).

I only wished the characters in this book took more risks romantically. It made sense for their characters as they are both semi-well adjusted 40 something year olds, but I wished to feel a bit more suspense in their interactions and maybe even some rule breaks. Instead the author takes the more sensible and realistic approach (and in real life i would probably do the exact same things the characters did). I live for a bit of drama in fiction, as that's the place you might be able to get away with it.

In the end, I was extremely excited with the way the characters ended up. When I finished, I was begging for a flash-forward epilogue so I could read about their new life together, and their dreams coming true.

(4.5)

Kendra is a famous restauranteur, Cookie Queen, and TV personality who's unfortunately barely able to pay the bills. Tori is a divorced, single mom, and high school science teacher who's put her dreams on hold to help everyone else succeed in theirs. When Tori's kids nominate her for a TV competition baking show, Tori decides to do something for herself in hopes of winning the cash prize to open a bakery. What she didn't expect was to fall for the judge, Kendra.

This book has tons of heart. Kendra and Tori are really great main characters and I enjoyed getting to know them better via the dual POV. The secondary characters and the baking show were are well developed and fun to read. Unfortunately, Tori and Kendra are barely together so their love story is quite unbelievable. Yes, there's mutual attraction and they start to secretly pass notes to each other, but the notes lacked chemistry or any romance. I wish they would've interacted more. I wish they broke the non-fraternization rule a little more. If both those thing would've happened, I think this story really would've turned up the heat and had more life to it. Not that I want characters to break rules, but a lot of their choices were reactions to an external conflict instead of them choosing something for themselves. When Tori finally does make her own choices at the end, that's when I truly enjoyed her as a character.

First, thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Lisa Peers writes a lesbian cooking romance featuring protagonists in their 40s, lending a more mature view of love and dating to the novel. Tori, a teacher, mother of twins, divorcee, and baking enthusiast has an opportunity to star in a reality show that is strikingly similar to The Great British Bake Off. One of the judges, Kendra, is a celebrity chef with a line of cookie shops and a fine dining restaurant.

The two connect over their shared passion, eye contact, and some major vibes over the course of the show. Judges are contractually forbidden to date contestants, though, so how will the two explore this new, exciting connection?

Love at 350 featured logical, smart, careful woman who let their love simmer throughout the course of the book. This was a slow burn romance, giving the reader more reality TV content and baking tips than cute interactions.

Readers will enjoy being inside the drama of reality TV, and will drool over the amazing descriptions of the food. Peers' world is as sweet as Kendra's cookies, and you will root for her thoughtful protagonists.

I give it 7 out of 10 stars as I was left wanting a little more "screen time" of Tori and Kendra.

Love at 350° is a delightfully wholesome romance tucked inside a Great British Baking Show style baking competition. While it may not be deep-dish or have a strong depth of flavor, it is certainly a tasty treat worthy of a nibble.

*I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I loved this book!! Super well done. I love Top Chef and felt like this book was well-modeled after that show. I didn’t think the romance was 100% realistic as I didn’t really feel the tension between Tori and Kendra, but I loved the reality booking show dynamics and all of the side characters. Will definitely be recommending this to my bookstagram audience!

I read this because I love a well written romance (see more on that below) and was pleasantly surprised by how surprisingly appealing the cooking competition show aspect was (I’m not a fan of reality shows, cooking or otherwise).

I had really hoped for more from the romance aspect of this one. The way too non-steamy romantic relationship between Tori and Kendra is fairly nonexistent until the very end of the book; it asserts itself in the form of handwritten notes until the end.

The writing, engaging storyline, and great secondary characters made this one outweigh the negative of the lack of romance, and kept me turning the pages.




Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the DRC

4.5/5 stars

Absolutely loved this book, while it was a bit different than I expected I still enjoyed it a lot. I expected to read a book that heavily revolved around the romance between Lisa and Kendra (wished there was a bit more chemistry between them). I was surprised by how well-written and intriguing the cooking competition was. I was on the edge of my seat towards the end of the book and was happy with how everything was resolved.

I had never read anything by Lisa Peers, but I am a new fan and I already know I’ll read anything she puts out after this one! I was reading this book at night before bed and found myself staying up later than expected, just swooning over Tori and Kendra’s adorable, slow burn romance! I don’t watch a ton of baking shows, but I felt myself being excited to read the book as it felt like a behind the scenes baking show, an actual baking show (and yes, I’d totally watch America’s Bake-O-Rama any day if it was a real show!), and a cute love story all at once. The characters were absolutely amazing and we all need supportive kids like Tori’s and a hot chef like Kendra! If you haven’t read this one, do yourself the favor and read it!

As the easiest of marks for a queer cooking show romance novel, there was no question that i would read this book immediately. The question was much more: will this book be trash in a bad way? And i am happy to report, no! It was not trash in a bad way!

It's worth noting this is a romance novel about women who are about 40, which is shockingly rare! I am always up for reading about people in my general age range finding happiness, and this offered that both romantically and professionally. It had "midlife crisis" as a sort of underpinning theme i think which tracks.

I will warn you that if you are very easily stressed by people taking totally ridiculous risks (like, idk, violating network contracts), you will feel stress during this book! It's a romance novel, so obviously there's payoff for it, but that "OH NO THAT'S A REALLY BAD CHOICE" feeling that comes up for me during new adult books appeared on several occasions.

So fun, and worth reading!

NetGalley ARC.

I liked this. For fans of Love and Other Disasters, and Chef's Kiss. Gay baking dramas are great. My main critique is that Kendra and Tori don't actually interact that much directly through the book... it is a little strange.

I thought this was very cute and very relatable - as a divorced, single mom in her forties still hoping for love. I loved how this book was about both Tori and Kendra improving their lives, their romance more of a backstory.

Netgalley review in link. Thank you for the book!

I really enjoyed reading this book, it reminded me of the Great British Baking Show with the characters and the way they acted and the way the competition was formatted.

From the description of the book, I thought it was going to include more romance however this was not the case. It is about a teacher, Tori who loves cooking and dreams of opening her own bakery. Her kids enter her into a cooking competition on a tv show. Kendra is a famous chef and also the judge of the cooking show. Tori is a bright light for the show and is a natural on tv. Everyone on the show truly loves her for how genuine she is, including Kendra.

This book went really in depth about the cooking competition each week and the dishes they created for the judges. It also has a mystery plot imbedded at the end that intrigues the reader. However, the reason I am giving it a low rating is because of the lack of romance. I never felt the two characters make a romantic connection. They never got to spend any time together and relied on notes for their romantic communication and even when the show was wrapped up, they still couldn't because of their contract. If you love a baking contest plot, then you will love this book but if you're looking for more romance, looking elsewhere.

Chef Kendra Campbell would rather not return to her role as a judge on American Bake-o-rama, where she’s known for her harsh critiques, but she needs the show to build her brand. High school chemistry teacher and home baker Tori Moore never dreamed of competing on Bake-o-rama until her twin teenagers applied on her behalf, but she just might have what it takes to win. Can Tori keep her eyes on the prize when things heat up between her and Kendra?

This grumpy/sunshine romance is a delightful treat from start to finish. In addition to Tori and Kendra’s love story, Love at 350° is also a love letter to food, to friendship, and to pursuing your dreams even when they scare you. For anyone who likes to destress with a rom-com or a TV baking competition, this book is sure to hit the spot.