My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. This is my honest review.

I wanted to like this. I love baking shows, sunshine and grumpy romances, romances about older protagonists.

But I couldn’t engage with this as much as I’d hoped. It felt slick and surface level. I didn’t feel the depth in the characters and there was much that was very predictable. The writing was good but also somewhat indistinguishable from a myriad of other romances I’ve read.

It wasn’t necessarily bad or good. Just not as memorable or engaging as I’d hoped.

Tori is a chemistry teacher in her 40s who’s famous for her class on baking, which demonstrates the practical applications of chemistry. At the urging of her twin teenagers, who are about to go to college, she auditions for “American Bake-o-Rama” (a fictional Great British Baking Show). Tori hopes that if she wins, she can use the money to quit teaching and open her own bakery. But on set, she starts getting distracted by her crush on the notoriously ruthless celebrity judge Kendra, who also has a lot of hopes riding on the show. Kendra’s new restaurant is failing financially, and she has to do an awesome job as a judge to pay the bills. There is (obviously) a romance between the two, which both women are scared to explore, but it’s a very slow burn, and the plot focuses much more on the competition than the romance. It was really cool to see behind of the scenes of a TV baking competition, and it gave me a lot of insight into GBBO – I ended up diving in and watching that right after reading, and it really enriched the experience! I also really appreciated that the writing was smart and realistic; both women were appropriately cautious with the relationship, and it felt like something that would actually happen. Highly, highly recommend this if you’re looking for a lighter romance and are a cooking show fan – it earned a rare 5 stars from me!

Cute story with loveable characters! Loved the story between Tori and Kendra. This was a fun book, more of a competition than a love story but I still enjoyed it all! My stomach was rumbling the whole time reading this.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This is a really cute book with a cooking contest and it was so cute. But have snacks on hand when reading, my mouth watered through most of this book as the recipes sounded so good that I had to keep getting up for snacks.

This was a sweet, fun little read. I enjoyed the characters and the story about a baking competition and a contestant/judge romance. I thought the details around the baking pieces were interesting and liked that the tone was light and fun without being superficial. The writing style was clear, descriptive, and easy to read.

I didn't get the romance however - which made the book fall flat for me. The notes back and forth without any context in their relationship didn't work at all for what I look for in a romance. It didn't have any of the slow burn or tender moments that I look for - it was just letters back and forth, that made very little sense to me in the context of the story. I also found the main characters to have some rounding to them - but the background characters were very lightly sketched out and I didn't have much of a sense of who they were or how they fit into the story. I think the book needs a bit more depth, or if not, more focus on the romance to make it interesting all the way through.

Thank you for the opportunity to review.

Love at 350 is a cozy, Hallmark channel style book about a baking competition show. There is romance between one of the contestants, Tori, and celebrity chef/judge, Kendra, but the romance really takes a back seat to the baking and the show.

It was a pretty straightforward read for me; not my favorite, but I think there is a definite audience for this one! If you love baking, or the Food Network, or a sapphic HEA, this is the book for you. Thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press for the ARC.

I received this book for free from netgalley for an honest review.

Great queer wrongful I loved every second of it. My sapphic group is going to love this!

i loved this book so much!!! not only did it have such a cute romance story but it showed the main character really finding herself and realizing how talented she actually was. tori and kendra have my whole heart and they deserve everything good they got! their story together was definitely a slowburn but you can tell how much they felt for each other throughout the whole book! i definitely recommend this book to everyone!!

Having snacks next to you is an absolute must when reading this delightful rom com. And this read takes slow burn to a whole new level. It's more like a slow simmer over a low heat that fills the house with a warm and delicious aroma. It's a beautiful tale of children wanting their mother to achieve her dreams, a mother learning to let go of her grown up kids and finding love again. There's the sense of "I would throw this all away for love: but the good sense that being older gives you that you have to be practical sometimes. But of course it's a romance so the love is always going to win, which is the cherry on top of this sweet treat of a story.

Such a cute story! Different from what I usually read, and the slowest of slow burns, but I loved seeing the relationship develop and the respect they had for one another to not take away each others dreams.
The character growth throughout the story was also fantastic. I loved seeing them grow to be better people in so many ways.
Not your typical romance, love story, but completely gripping and well written.

I had just finished the week's episode of Top Chef when I dove into this novel! It was refreshing to read a lesbian romance focusing on women over 40! Tori was almost too sweet and understanding at times--I could have used a few naughty fantasies/daydreams on her side. Kendra was rough and prickly but I adored how quickly she was enchanted by Tori and her talent in the kitchen. If you are looking for physical romance, this novel is a really slow build with little to no payoff, but the emotional connection and development of the two characters was worth it! Also, the Bake-O-Rama competition was so fun and kept my mouth watering!

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.