This was the perfect light romance read with the celebrity x normal person and second chance romance tropes. I was hooked into this one from the jump and felt like it was a very easy and quick read. There were moments when I felt like it wasn’t believable, especially the way that Lexi was able to leave work so much for Jake’s events after just starting the job, but that’s the fun part of books like these that let you escape reality. I could honestly see this book be turned into a Hallmark movie.

*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you so much to NetGalley and [publisher] for this ARC!*

This was such a sweet little romance, both literally and figuratively! I love books about music, and books about food, so this was a lovely little merging of the two. Second chance romance is not one of the tropes that I am generally drawn to, but this one was precious and I highly recommend it!

I loved the main character, Lexi. Her character growth throughout the novel was so much fun to see. She starts off incredibly closed off, highly meticulous and afraid of taking chances. Then, she meets Jake. Of course, what happens with Jake kind of closes her off again, but when he comes waltzing back into her life, she begins to unfurl like a flower. I loved getting to see her become more confident, both as a chef and as a person.

Speaking of her being a chef, this book made me so hungry. And it made me crave blueberry pancakes 😏 I also loved the fact that said blueberry pancakes helped Jake become famous. That was amazing and kind of hilarious. This book dove into the ill effects of fame, which was an unexpected turn that I really enjoyed. Jake was such a lovable love interest, and I enjoyed seeing him navigate this new and scary world of insta-fame.

The friend group in this book was fun, and I wish we could have seen more of them. I also wish that we had seen more with Lexi and her dad. The main romance was incredibly flushed out, but the supporting characters could have seen some more time on the page. Honestly, that is my main complaint.

This was a really sweet second chance romance. I loved the characters and their romantic journey. I loved getting to see the things that they love, music and food. If you are looking for a lovely, fairly fluffy romance this season, look no further!

My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I gave Till There Was You 4 Stars!

I simply love the cover of this one! Super-cute!

I also enjoyed the story. While I will admit that this is not the type of novel I typically read but I did enjoy the second change trope and the famous person with an "ordinary" person trope as well.

We've got a chef and an aspiring musician that meet by chance and spend a wonderful weekend together. He is off to LA and becomes an overnight sensation with a song he wrote about her. They don't talk or see each other for a while but then he shows up on her doorstep and the romance ensues.

if you like a good rom-com, this is for you!

Overall, an enjoyable read. But one of my biggest issues was continuity in timing issues. One chapter, Lexi was 16 when her mom died, the next she was 15. They arrived back from the red-eye at 2 am, which means they would have needed to have left at like 6 pm. They’re small things, but they took me out of the story. Additionally, I didn’t feel any chemistry between Jake & Lexi - I wasn’t really rooting for them to get together because I didn’t find them to be believable.

I just really wanted to like this one but couldn’t connect with either main character. Lexi forgave Jake so quick and she is very mean about her dad. He’s not a mind reader… I can’t force myself to finish. DNF at 54% without feeling bad, others may enjoy but it’s not for me.

This was a very cute, light rom-com. Story overall was good and kept me interested. The only element that didn’t fully mesh with me were our two leads (yes I realize that’s a major thing to not mesh with). I felt like Lexi’s personality was the most confusing - very, very insecure for a majority of the book and quick to make assumptions that she wasn’t enough for Jake. Took every bite of bait thrown at her. I would have loved to read her with a little more backbone and sass. Then there’s Jake - the southern gentleman rockstar who reads like a teenager who is completely oblivious of the nefarious intentions from the people surrounding him. I just wanted to shake them so much of the time. And some do the drama felt pointless as it didn’t change the trajectory of the story in any meaningful way. It was cute, but for me, I wish the characters were stronger.

Thank you so much to St Martin's Press for the advance copy!

I was in between books so I started this book on a whim before going to bed around 10 pm thinking I would just get a chapter or two in before falling asleep. NOPE! I ended up completing almost 50% of the book in a matter of hours because I was so wrapped up into the story. And as soon as I woke up the following morning, I went right back to reading. They were all on my mind all night.

"The rest of the room fades to blur, and when I open my eyes again, all I can see is him."

I absolutely loved everything about this book! I loved how they met at a bar and Lexi watched Jake rise from a bar performer to a superstar sensation. I love that we got to see them before, during and after the fame. My heart broke for Lexi after Jake suddenly went MIA as his career took off. Lexi was so determine to make it as a chef and it really gave me the feel of what it was like to be in the kitchen (I know I couldn't hack it).

I really love Jake and how much he was invested in making this work. I know insta love can be a hit or miss but in this one I really felt like it worked and I just love their connection. He loved Lexi and nothing but the best for her and whatever dream she wanted. I did not like how Lexi's friend inserted herself and made decisions for Lexi (also you should never delete anything without having some sort of back up in place). I get where her friend was coming from but still!!!!

Being in Jake & Lexi's bubble just made me do the giddy kick in the air. Jake was just so in love with Lexi and I felt bad that Lexi had that doubt in the back of her head. I totally understand her doubt and it was even more escalated when another female threatened her and made Lexi feel like she wasn't good enough for Jake. Even though Jake never gave that impression.

"Lexi Berman, the whole world is about to know your name."

I honestly thought Lexi was going to start a food blog or become a private chef so she could have that flexibility to be with Jake but still be able to make the meals she wanted. But what she ended up doing made perfect sense and I am glad she was able to bring her friend from the restaurant in to help her!

I can suspend belief while reading and even though the big grand gesture likely would not happen in real life but in the book - I loved it! I love how her friends banned together and knew that they were meant to be for one another and made the reunion happen.

I love Lexi throughout this book. She challenged herself as a chef and was trying to balance between doing what felt right for her and honoring her mother's legacy. I also am glad she went to visit her dad and got some closure that she so desperately needed.

I am definitely not doing this review justice but I just really loved it!! I am looking forward to seeing what Lindsay has in store for the future and I am an instant fan!

If you are looking for a quick, cute, he falls first, chef & musician romance - check this out!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️/5

I’ll admit, I picked this book for its cover! It has the cutest, eye catching cover. 😍

Till There Was You is a super cute second chance romance. It was a fast paced, fun read.

Lexi is getting close to graduating culinary school, when she meets Jake, a singer trying to get noticed. It was Insta-love! They spend an entire weekend together, leaving Lexi with a balloon of hope. Then Jake completely ghosts her once he becomes a star. A year later Jake returns and well you’ll have to read the rest.

Thank you for this advanced reader copy ♥️

Lexi and Jake meet by chance at a bar when both of their lives are on the brink of change. Lexi is finishing up culinary school and looking for a job, while Jake is on the verge of starting his music career. After spending a whirlwind weekend together Jake promises to stay in touch as he heads out to California to work on his first album...only he doesn't. Cut to six months later when she hears the song he wrote about her on the radio for the first time, only to then show up at her apartment a few days later wanting a second chance. This story was so fun to read. All the delicious food descriptions, the female friendships, and the yearning and will they won't they between Lexi and Jake.

Single POV, Spicy, Chef FMC x Musician MMC, Second Chance, Roommates, Grand Gestures

As tasty and sweet as a blueberry pancake! I could not stop smiling reading this romance between a young chef trying to find her way in the harsh restaurant kitchens of NYC and a singer who became a pop star overnight. The characters are so well drawn and relatable, the friendships that Lexi has feel so real and the descriptions of food will have you running to order takeout while reading. And Jake? All the swoons. For anyone who loves NYC as a setting, celebrity romance, grand gestures, second chance and Broadway musicals, this is the book for you!

I thought this book was adorable. Right off the bat we jump into Lexi’s life as a culinary student with set goals and determination to make her mom proud. She meets Jake at a bar and feels the instant connection and familiarity with him she can’t explain. Jake’s trying to make it big as a musician and quickly learns isn’t not all it’s meant to be. You have heartache, past trauma, emotional roller coaster, Golden Girls marathon and blueberry pancakes.

I’m not sure how to describe this book! I’ve read a few books with the “celebrity dates a normal person” trope, but something about this one felt more… authentic. I think the struggle to find a way to make the relationship work and the dedication both characters had to the dreams they’d worked really hard to make a reality! I love Lexi and Jake and have my fingers crossed that maybe one day we’ll get more of their story (maybe via a book about Lexi’s friends?!?!)! 🤞

4 🌶️

This story begins with Lexi Berman hanging out at a bar after a particularly rough day at culinary school. While out trying to drink her trouble away, she meets aspiring musician Jake Taylor. What follows is a magical weekend between two young people on the cusp of chasing their dreams. As their career aspirations pull them away from each other, there is always this hint of what might have been. This was a sweet rom com, a second chance romance which also explored grief. I took one star off because the relationship being based off a strong one weekend connection was a little weak. I wanted a bit more development and nurturing of their relationship and connection. I received an ARC, and this is my honest review.

The story is about Lexi who meets Jake Taylor on a random night out in town. They hit it off and spend an amazing weekend together. But Jake is off to LA to make it big in the music industry. Once he leaves Lexi doesn’t hear back from him and finds out he is an overnight sensation based on a song that he wrote about her. After ghosting Lexi for a while, Jake shows up at her door step few months later. 
It is an interesting story about a chef, Lexi, dating a national heartthrob. This was a fun read, the characters didn’t have much depth in them, but I found that it didn’t bother me.

This was fun. It was way more typical rockstar romance than I was expecting. That didn’t affect my rating or anything cause I love rockstar romance but I thought based on the cover it was going to be more about the FMC and her culinary career.

Overall this has a really great amount of angst. These characters have a whirlwind connection before they embark on either of their true careers and then are split apart. When they come back together again they need to reconcile the past with how they live in their present. I loved the MMC, this definitely has some romantic moments.

Some things that bothered me about this- one of the reasons they split up initially is due to shenanigans done by FMC’s friend and honestly it was super rude and she never got called out or had to apologize for it. It was hard to get over the immediate ick I got when I started this and the FMC was giving “not like other girls “vibes with her inner monologue ruminating about how she likes things clean and orderly and not everyone is like that. I feel that a lot of people who are in the culinary industry ARE like that. Also, no professional chef is going to own in use a Keurig. I’m sorry I know that’s super specific, but it bothered me.

I did really like how the side storyline of dealing with historical parental grief and abandonment by the remaining parent was covered. I did find the whole world becoming a chef really interesting from the FMC’s perspective and besides that bir of weirdness with her best friend, I loved particularly Chloe as a side character and some of their funny conversations as a group were entertaining

I received this eARC from SMP. Will not be posting on social due to the boycott.

Oh Lexi and Jake!!!! UGH!!! These two are the most freaking adorable. She is about to graduation from Culinary art school, and she has no time for romance, she just lost her mom, and her moms dream has always been to see her become a chef and here she is. She goes out with her funny AF friends to a bar where a band frequently plays and she meets Jake. When they met it was just so damn smooth, they had so much in common in that little time and when he surprises her as being the leader in said band, and the weekend they had after? PERFECTION! But of course, all of that changes when he goes off to LA to record some demos, and BOOM he gets discovered, time flies, he’s getting more and more famous and she has realized that his hit songs are about her.

When he pops up on her months later!!! This is where the fun begins, where Lexi starts to realize that everything she thought she wanted wasn’t what she really wanted, this is where her and Jake get a second chance on their romance. They are perfection together, and we get the harsh truth of what happens in Hollywood, and what they do to good people. We get Hollywood, dating a celebrity and its hardships, dealing with your career and love, closure. This book is so heartwarming and so damn sweet, I zoomed through this book. I know I mentioned this but Lexi’s friends are HILARIOUS….

Lexi is just starting out at a restaurant following culinary school, working her way up the ladder to become an executive chef. In joining her coworkers for after shift drinks, she meets Jake and they immediately hit it off. Jake isn't quite an upcoming musician (still hot on the dive bar scene) but is soon to be off to LA to record a demo. They unexpectedly spend the weekend together and while slightly insta-love, the view we get into the weekend was so much more intentional and I think that just made it so much sweeter. Jake gets caught up in the LA music scene and they unfortunately lose touch. Six months later, he has a hit song hit the charts, about her blueberry pancakes no less (not that anyone but the two of them know that). She's settled into her work, a possible new relationship in the horizon, but then Jake turns up on her doorstep. It's been about a year since they've talked and he was back in NY for work for a couple months and couldn't imagine not going to her. Unofficially he's staying with her during his time there and it's almost like no time has past because really, those feelings never went away (as much as she tried to say they did). With both of them breaking in to difficult industries, trying to climb and also intentionally be present in their relationship (plus his growing stardom), this was such a fun second chance lovers story where you were rooting for the MCs right from the very beginning! (Also, for all the cinnamon roll hero fans out there, Jake definitely makes the cut!)

The ending felt a little rushed and I wish there had been an epilogue but beyond that, I loved all the musical references (edelweiss made me melllltt! And also as a huge les mis fan, I could not even 🥰), and the number of dishes that were described that I want to try! Overall I positively loved this and cannot wait to see what this author writes next 😊

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my review!

This was a quick and easy read.
Jake is a southern gentleman trying to make it in New York City as a musician. Lexi is a culinary student who’s dreamed of being a Michelin Star Chef since she can remember. One night in a bar Lexi meets Jake and they spend the whole weekend together. When Jake head to L.A. and get a major record deal Lexi doesn’t hear from Jake anymore. She does however have to listen to his hit song “Blueberry” that is clearly written about her and here her best friend Ali gawk over Jake Taylor. As the story goes on and things unfold it has Lexi questioning herself and the life she thought she wanted.
Jake seemed more mature than Lexi and usually it’s the other way around. I did find myself not loving Lexi’s character. You want her to champion on and emotionally become mature enough for a romance but that wasn’t the case for me. There are times during the book when I laughed out loud ( Ali and Chloe both were funny) and times when I thought it dragged on. I think the idea and the story like are good but just needed a little extra WOW factor for me. I did however, love all the showtune references and how Jake and Lexi ended up together.
I would read another book by Lindsey Hameroff again.

3.5⭐️ rounded up.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin for the eARC of Till There Was You in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a little all over the place for me. It started off strong, with the introduction of the main characters and some very well-done spice. However, the story fell victim to my least favorite trope - miscommunication / misunderstanding. I understand conflict is needed for a story to be interesting, but going this route almost feels lazy.

The story floundered a bit in the middle for me, but I was happy to see it circled back with a very satisfying ending.

3.5 stars rounded to 4

A celebrity and chef romance based in New York. Lexi and Jake meet one night and end up spending a whirlwind weekend together. Jake is hoping to become an up and coming musician while Lexi is finishing culinary school with dreams to become a chef. After their weekend Lexi doesn’t hear from Jake until he shows up at her door nearly a year later. They attempt friendship but quickly realize there’s too much there to only be friends.

This was one I was loving at the beginning and then kinda fell flat as I got further. Jake was adorable - a man who wears a backwards hat will get me every time. Lexi was a very relatable character with trying to figure out if she was really happy in her career and life or if she was doing what she felt she was supposed to do. As I got to know the characters more I kinda lost interest. Not that it was bad in away way, maybe it just felt too surface level for me.

Each time there was a bit of conflict and I would get worried there would be some larger conflict, they chatted through it which was refreshing to read. These two had a bunch of ups and downs which felt very real given their situation. There’s still a dreaded third act breakup and then a pretty public gesture at the end. Plus no epilogue when I really felt there needed to be one! I needed just a bit more closure for them. Regardless, I do plan to read more from the author in the future.

“When I’m with you, I feel like who I am is enough.”

🎤 he’s a rockstar
👩🏼‍🍳 she’s a chef
🤭 one weekend stand turned more
💕 second chance

single POV
3.5/5 stars ⭐️
1/5 spice level 🌶️