I wanted to love this one, because the premise sounded so good, but I was disappointed in the execution. It was very insta-love, not so much a one-night stand as a whole-weekend stand, and then the MMC just disappears, which ok, sure, that can happen but the FMC pines for him for a year and a half after? You spent 2 days with the guy, calm down. He just shows back up out of nowhere and it's miscommunication after miscommunication, which I did not enjoy; just talk to each other and tell each other the truth instead of skirting around your issues!

I really liked the start of the book and the romance between Lexi and Jake. Right from the start there was chemistry between them and it was love at first sight. And after their incredible weekend together Jake leaves and then returns for their second chance. And as they come back together, that chemistry and love is still there even if they’re at different places in their lives now. I’m a fan of second chance with the chemistry and tension, which this book did have some of, but for me the first weekend of their relationship wasn’t long enough for me to put all my heart and hope into rooting for this second chance. But the relationship was still good and worked for me to keep reading and like it until the third act breakup. It felt like a lot of the arguing that led to this point was out of character and too forced, and ultimately made me not like the romance if this is what it led to. The first two thirds of the book were definitely better than the last third.

Overall, there are good and bad things about this romance and a neutral 3 stars.

Read if you like…
•second chance
•celebrity love
•insta love

This was a fine read. I don't know that I'd recommend it to anyone if you've ever read any celebrity dating trope books before. I wanted to love this book, truly. A young aspiring chef? Yes. Touches of jewish foods interspersed throughout the chapters? Yes.

One steamy weekend, the singer goes to record a demo, gets signed right away and forgets all about Lexi? Meh. Just wasn't in the right mood for this.

Was the book very readable? Yes. Will I read more from this author, for sure.

This was a fun read! A weekend together turns into more than either of them expected. A sweet romance with some cute and funny moments. There’s some heart touching scenes and you could help but root for the main characters even through their trials.

My only qualm was I wanted a more definite ending. It just seemed to stop.

4 stars/ 2 🌶️- for fade to black moments.

This one was cute with some funny moments. I am a big fan of second chance romances. I loved the chef/musician part of it. I really wanted to love it but it fell a little bit short. It dragged a little bit through the middle for me. I just didn't connect with the characters as much as I wanted to. I think this one just wasn't for me. Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

Till There Was You is a rock star + chef romcom with so much heart. Culinary student Lexi has a whirlwind weekend with musician Jake. She thinks they share a real connection, but he ends up ghosting her. When he shows up at her doorstep a year later, now a famous rock star, she has to decide whether their still-there connection is worth risking her heart again.

First of all, I think this is the author’s debut, which astounds me. This was a very easy book to read. The voice was clear and distinct, and the plot kept me flipping the page. The main conflict here is that Jake’s rock star job is at odds with Lexi’s fledgling chef career. They’re both figuring out what they want in life, and while they both know they want each other, Lexi has a hard time seeing how they can make it work.

This book is lighthearted while being deeply emotional. I found it very easy to relate to Lexi’s doubts and struggles. It’s told entirely from Lexi’s POV, and while I would have loved a peek inside Jake’s head, I never felt like I was missing anything. Overall, I would definitely recommend this swoony romance, and I can’t wait to see what comes next from this author!

An NYC chef and a rising musician risk their all to find love 💕

✨ Book Review: TILL THERE WAS YOU by Lindsay Hameroff

🥞 Book Synopsis: Culinary student Lexi Bergman has a plan to work her way through the New York restaurant ranks to someday be an executive chef and make her late mom proud. When she meets Jake Taylor, a musician in a dive bar poised for a bigger stage, they have a whirlwind weekend of romance. Jake goes off to LA to record a demo and chase his dreams. Lexi lands her first restaurant job. They lose touch until Jake shows up on Lexi’s doorstep looking to hide from the paparazzi who now know him well. They must decide if their second chance at love and friendship is worth the risk and determine how to balance romance and their career dreams.

🎸 My Take: This was a romance but it was mostly a book about the choices and sometimes sacrifices we make to both be with someone and to realize our succeed professionally. It’s a classic question, especially for young professionals looking to balance career aspirations and budding romance. How can you have both? Lexi and Jake want to be together, but feel pulled in different directions by their respective work commitments and paths. Their whirlwind and second-chance romance both feel right, but they struggle with the realities of their work demands. This question is the crux of the latter half of the book, which felt both real (maybe too real?) and a bit tedious to me.

Read TILL THERE WAS YOU for
👩🏻‍🍳 Restaurant kitchen chef insights
🎸 Rock star fame
🏆 Big career dreams
📈 20s coming of age
🔥 Steamy romance
❤️‍🩹 Second-chance romance

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5 stars)

😘 Thanks to @SMPRomance and #NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. TILL THERE WAS YOU publishes this Tuesday, Feb 20!

Till There Was You is a contemporary romance novel about a young woman who has a whirlwind weekend with a musician and inspires a hit song.

Lexi is a culinary school student in New York City when she meets Jake Taylor performing at a bar late one night. He’s leaving in a few days to record a demo but they spend an incredible weekend together and Jake’s song about her pancakes (“Blueberry”) becomes a huge hit. After never hearing from him again Lexi is shocked when he shows up on her doorstep a year later. The two try to juggle their respective careers, celebrity and their blossoming feelings as the world watches on.

Till There Was You is a sweet romance about two people trying to chase their dreams and the disappointment when it wasn’t exactly how they pictured. A lot of readers will relate to Lexi’s insecurity over her “normal person” status and long-held hurt over her father’s hasty marriage and retreat to Florida after her mother’s death. But, also Jake’s fear of being a “one hit wonder” and having his career taken away from him. Overall, this is a fun and romantic story with a lot of great food descriptions.

*I received a free ARC of this ebook from the publisher.*

3.5 stars.

My feelings about this book are mixed. On the one hand, it was a cute story with characters I care about and rooted for. On the other hand, it was very frustrating because they were sometimes idiots. I also would have liked it more if it had left out some content--it could have been 4 stars.

Lexi (23 at the start) and Jake (don’t recall an age given) were adorable with each other from the start. Overall, I liked both of them. Lexi was driven, supportive, and hardworking. I loved Jake’s happy nature and how he constantly drew her out of her comfort zone (in a good way) and persisted in his efforts to counteract all of Lexi’s self doubts. Despite how much she liked him, she was very hesitant to allow him any permanent space in her life because it didn’t fit in with her plan and because she was afraid. Their relationship was somewhat of a roller coaster mainly because of two things: Jake was naive, and Lexi lacked self confidence. Those two qualities were not a good mix, especially for a relationship between people in their fields.

Lexi was fortunate to have supportive friends. Ali's personality took me back to my youth, reminding me of Six from the TV show Blossom. I really loved Jake's mom, and I wish she'd had more presence in the book. Madison's character was a little over the top for me, and I struggled to believe people like her actually exist in the world. Maybe I'm wrong, though--I don't know everyone, after all.

At times, the writing was reminiscent of Emily Henry, but only here and there. Hameroff has her own style, and it flows well as a first-person fictional narrative. Characters were, for the most part, believable. The dialogue felt natural but contained far too much strong language. One thing that shook Lexi's credibility as a chef was her claim that a turkey takes all day to roast. Sure, you can do that, but only if you want a really dry turkey. A good-sized turkey can easily be done roasting in 2 to 2 1/2 hours (that's how I cooked them for years until my husband started smoking them instead, which takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours).

I would gladly recommend this book and read another book by this author if it weren't for the content I mention in my Notes section. It also could have used an epilogue.

Notes: Swearing, including at least 10 f words. A couple of moderate sex scenes, easy to skip. A couple of LGB side characters.

3.75 stars rounded up

After quite a stretch of not being too impressed with NetGalley ARCs, I was happy to have enjoyed this quick paced, second chance rockstar romance. While not usually my favorite tropes, the NYC and restaurant scene settings were familiar enough to me to keep my attention.

Lexi Berman is a culinary student, desperate to land a restaurant gig upon graduating to fulfill her late mother's wishes. She has a staunch no dating policy, not wanting anything to distract her from her goal. One night at a bar, she meets musician of the night Jake Taylor, and is captivated by his easy Southern charm and talent. They have a weekend fling together, and Lexi fully expects to never hear from him again, as he was about to leave for LA to record a demo. A few months later, she is shocked to hear him on the radio, singing a song that was certainly inspired by the blueberry pancakes she cooked him during their time together. When Jake unexpectedly shows up on her doorstep after a year of whirlwind fame and inserts himself back into her new life as a restaurant prep cook, she must decide if she can balance the demands of her career along with supporting Jake in his. This one was at times a little frustrating to read, because Jake did expect a lot from Lexi and almost trivialized the importance of her job, and I didn't really love how that when Lexi did finally suffer consequences in her career for supporting Jake, she went right back to him even though it was his fault. Overall though I did enjoy this one more than the other new to me authors I've been reading lately and would still recommend for a quick palate cleanser.

Contemporary romance with a definite meet cute. A one night stand that evolves between a musician(Jake) and a culinary student(Lexi). When Jake writes a song inspired by Lexi it explodes into the next new thing. Now famous he comes back for the girl he just can’t forget and his fame is a major disruption in her life. Both Lexi and Jake have to decide if they can combine their lives and if it’s worth the risk. Charming story from this debut author. Thanks to netgalley and St Martins Press

Lexi Berman is laser-focused on achieving the dream she and her dying mother had of her becoming an executive chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant. All her attention and focus is on that even though she hates the constraints culinary school puts on her cooking. To relieve some of the stress, she goes to a bar with her best friends and ends up meeting wonderful Jake, who serenades her and makes her feel like no one else has. They spend a wonderful weekend together that ends when he has to leave for LA in hopes of getting his break into the music business. The couple of weeks turn into years as Jake is discovered, his career explodes, and Lexi never hears from him again.
After graduating and getting a menial entry job at a restaurant, Lexi one day opens her door to superstar Jake standing at her door and asking if she's willing to give their romance a second chance. It won't be easy because their worlds are too far apart and their schedules nearly impossible to match up, but some deep thinking and lots of good food might lead to bigger things if both of them are willing to put in the effort.

I enjoyed that Lexi is focused on what she wants and does her best not to let things with Jake distract her from that. I liked it even better when she allowed her feelings and experiences to guide her in figuring out that not everything has to be set in stone.

Jake is a little too good to be true, but the magic of romance makes it totally believable that a guy like him can survive in the music business. His earnestness and directness with Lexi read honest and work perfectly to counterbalance her quirks. You're rooting for them to get and stay together from the moment he serenades her with a show tune they first time they meet.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the lovely romance read!

A fun, lighthearted & witty story! The characters of Lexi & Jake are perfectly matched despite such differences. Absolutely could not wait to see if these two characters could make it work. Overall, this was simply a fun read!

Thank you to SMP Romance and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

Lexi's preference is to stay home on a Friday evening. But her friends drag her out for a drink, and she ends up staying at the bar after them. One thing leads to another, and she and Jake have a one night stand that lasts the whole weekend. After, Lexi and Jake both pursue their dreams separately. He becomes the next big rock star while she graduates from culinary school and gets hired in a restaurant kitchen.

This is a sweet second chance romance. Both characters have so much growing to do, and I always love character growth in a romance. I also appreciated both of their family interactions. There's fantastic food and music. But neither industry is glamorized. And the references to Broadway made me smile.

I would have liked a feeling that there was a bit more depth and emotion to their relationship. But I was fairly impressed with this debut romance and look forward to more from this new author.

3.5 stars rounded up

A novel about a culinary student and a musician has two of my favorite things: food and music.

Lexi wasn’t looking for love, she was only interested in staying on track and finishing culinary school with the dreams of becoming a chef. Well, when you’re not looking for something (or someone), that is when you are going to find it (them). Admittedly, Jake Taylor would have been pretty difficult to resist, so you can’t fault a girl for that.

An intimate weekend between Lexi and Jake was all that it was ever going to be, but they had a spark, a connection, they just seemed to fit together. Life and their ambitions had other ideas for them, and they were each on their own roads to success. It was never going to work out between an aspiring chef and a rock star, right? Well, that’s where it gets interesting.

Till There Was You was a good debut romance novel with characters that you couldn’t help but like. In fact, dare I say that Jake Taylor may have been one of the sweetest musician leads ever. With that being said, I like my love stories to have a bit more angst. Yes, of course their romance wasn’t easy or smooth, but I never really felt like their road was too rocky to overcome all of the obstacles. That may just be a me thing, though. I tend to gravitate to the stories that may or may not always work out. I want to feel the emotion in the pit of my stomach, feel the nervous tension.

All in all, Till There Was You was an entertaining novel. I did enjoy my time with the characters and their story. I appreciated that there was more to their story than their obvious attraction and romance, each of the main characters had their own issues that they had to deal with. It was a romance story that had layers. I would definitely read another book by Lindsay Hameroff in the future.

*4 Stars

Lexi and Jake meet a dive bar in NY one night; she is an aspiring chef out with friends and he is a musician. They have an instant connection that leads them to spending the weekend together. When Monday comes he is off to LA to record a demo and they plan to stay in touch. While he is out there, Jake gets discovered and becomes the next big thing with two of his hit songs are about Lexi. The instant fame leads to Lexi and him drifting apart. They reconnect in NY about a year later when Jake is back to record his second album and Leix is now working in a restaurant.

This was a fast and cute read. Once Jake and Lexi got back together, you could see that they loved each other but both have demanding careers that they are passionate about. As with all rom-coms, things always work out in the end and we have our HEA.

Read this if you enjoy:
🫐 Insta-love
🫐 Second chance romance
🫐 Closed door romance

While I enjoyed this book, there were parts of it that left me wanting more. I felt like the character development was there, I just unfortunately didn't love the characters that much. I found a lot of the same themes to be brought up repeatedly (restaurant work is difficult and it is hard to maintain relationships, is Jake going to leave again and never come back, etc.), and I felt like Lexi never really resolved a lot of the conflicts before the end of the book. I just left wishing that we had more of a wrap up at the end and less of the same repetitiveness in the middle of the book. Overall, I give this book a rating of 3.5 stars rounded down. I do think I will read more of this author in the future, especially because I enjoyed the beginning of the book so much!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this!

I really enjoyed this novel. It was a cute and fun rom com. I feel like Lexie and Jakes chemistry was well written. Though I do think his reasoning for ghosting her could have been better. It kind of just made want to kick him just a bit. But I still liked him.

I completely understand why Lexie didn’t want to talk to her dad. It’s always been a strong opinion of mine that if you’ve spent your life with someone you wouldn’t just replace them in five seconds. Of course they had to make up but I hated her dad. Months after her mom passed?? Yeah no I would haunt my husband lol.

But I still enjoyed Lexie and Jakes relationship and the side characters.

I do kinda want some blueberry pancakes now. Would have been amazing to add the recipe. Its 4am and I’m hungry 😂

Lexi Berman is a student hoping to eventually become an executive chef in a Michelin-star restaurant. Jake Taylor is the dive bar musician whom she meets and has a steamy weekend with. Jake leaves to record a demo in LA, and Lexi never expects to see him again. He's an overnight success, and she is doing well at her new job. When Jake turns up at her home, it derails her plans. The two can't seem to remain just friends, but a relationship with Jake means being in the tabloids as the subject of rumors and cruel comments that could potentially ruin her career. Is it worth keeping hold of?

This romcom stars a chef and a pop star, and both have incredibly busy careers. The two have chemistry and get along well. The demands of their jobs are hectic, as working in a restaurant requires many erratic hours just like recording an album and promoting it. While neither asked the other to drop their career, Jake asking Lexi to accompany him everywhere meant she was requesting time off a lot. She was also subject to paparazzi and staff that didn't want her involved with Jake. It preys on Lexi's self-doubts and fears of being abandoned again, leading to the low point in the relationship. We get our happily ever after on New Year's Eve, in the most dramatic fashion possible. It was such a fun finale, with real emotional stakes for both of them, but especially Lexi.

Thanks to netgalley or providing me with this ARC!

Did the author add in her own political commentary in a romance story? Yes. Was it unnecessary and did it take away from the story and make the author look childish? Yes.

I enjoyed the book more than I expected (I much prefer romances to be dual POV). The beginning felt somewhat slow and awkward, but the story hit its stride by the middle and was a low-angst, delightful read.