This was a fine book. It was not my favorite read but I finished it. An overall fine second chance romance.

Saint and Lola's story is second love trope with the continued series ideas of mix of community activism, gentrification, and family meddling. It was cute and okay.

*A Dish Best Served Hot* by Natalie Cana is a spicy, fun-filled romance that sizzles with tension, humor, and just the right amount of heat. Set against the vibrant backdrop of a bustling restaurant scene, this novel delivers a delicious mix of enemies-to-lovers dynamics, mouth-watering descriptions of food, and a plot that keeps you hooked from start to finish.

The story revolves around two rival chefs, both fiercely talented and equally stubborn, who find themselves forced to work together in a high-stakes culinary competition. The sparks fly immediately—both in the kitchen and in their interactions—as they battle it out for professional glory while trying to resist the undeniable attraction simmering between them. Cana expertly plays with the enemies-to-lovers trope, delivering sharp, witty banter that perfectly captures the tension and chemistry between the leads.

One of the highlights of *A Dish Best Served Hot* is how well it integrates the world of cooking into the narrative. The kitchen scenes are vividly described, with the sights, smells, and tastes of the culinary creations practically leaping off the page. This adds a sensory depth to the story, making the reader feel fully immersed in the high-pressure environment of professional cooking.

The characters are well-developed and relatable, each bringing their own baggage and motivations to the table. Their journey from rivalry to romance is believable and engaging, with plenty of humorous moments to balance the more intense ones. While their conflict is central to the plot, it’s their individual growth and the way they challenge each other to become better—both personally and professionally—that gives the story its heart.

However, there are moments where the pacing feels a bit uneven, particularly in the middle sections where the push-and-pull between the characters can start to feel repetitive. Despite this minor flaw, the strong writing and the satisfying, slow-burn romance make up for it, leading to a finale that’s as satisfying as a well-cooked meal.

Overall, *A Dish Best Served Hot* is a delectable read that’s sure to satisfy fans of contemporary romance, especially those who enjoy a good enemies-to-lovers story with plenty of heat and heart. With its lively characters, culinary backdrop, and a romance that’s both fiery and tender, this book earns a solid four stars. Natalie Cana has crafted a story that’s as satisfying as a favorite dish, leaving you eager for seconds.

I've tried to finish this book but I wasn't able to connect with the characters so when I lost the position where I last read due to an app glitch, I realized this book wasn't meant to be for me to finish. I didn't connect with the characters and I didn't feel the chemistry. I also felt there was too much discord between the couple that I didn't care if they found a way out of their issues to find a happily ever after. I still give this a three because the writer has a wonderful way of forming her characters and crafting story.

I love this author and her writing, and the characters in this book, the series is also excellent. She always has great characterization of all her characters

Torn. I loved so much of the book but by midway I also thought there were too many plot points going on to truly satisfy any single thread. Great social and political issues, balanced with friends, family, and romance, but yeah, I wanted a little less so that I could get more attention and focus on just a couple of those themes and the people. Definitely got to a point where I went, “okay, this is one thing too many,” and took me out of it all.

It’s a much more serious style book, though there are also humorous antics and great banter, so the romance felt like the secondary thread throughout. Loved revisiting the Vega family (though I did miss the amazing food from book one) and having them pop into the story. As for our main characters, it was a good build but…I didn’t love their character actions at the end. It just wasn’t what I hoped for and definitely thought they needed way more personal growth before a lasting relationship could be achieved.

Overall I was up and then down about it all. Liked it, mostly, and definitely want to carry on with the series, but wasn’t entirely enamored of this particular pairing.

I absolutely loved everything about this. I'm going to have to go back and read the first book in the series.

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK!!! Natalia Caña has become one of my favorite authors! the audiobook was chef's kiss!!! I was pinning for the two main characters.

I loved Natalie Cana's first books and this one was just as quality . A second chance romance with Latinx representation,a strong fat bisexual FMC , a single father , an fantastic 4 year old , meddling grandparents , family , and chemistry . With dual point of views and quality banter I really did enjoyed this one.

This was cute! Second chance will always be my favorite! My favorite scene how hot and bothered Lola got when Saint was doing Rosie’s hair 😍

Lola had flaws but that’s why I liked her, she felt real! The abuelos were funny and the narrator for the audio was especially great for them! Lastly, I loved the use of Spanish in this book. As a Spanish learner, it made me work my brain a little to translate, and didn’t let me cop out with directly translated English.

This was supposed to be a buddy read with @delightfullychaotickay but it became more of a I’ll-catch-up-with-you -in- a-week read. Thanks for being a flexible friend lol

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC copy!

Wow! Natalie did it again. A Dish Best Served Hot was a lot more emotional and heavy than I expected. Saint and Lola? ♥️ The mental rep? ♥️ The grandpas? ♥️ Cameos of Liam & Kamilah? ♥️♥️

Last year I read and loved Natalie Caña's first novel in her Vega Family Love Story series A Proposal They Can't Refuse. I loved it so much, it earned a place on my Most Compelling Books of 2022. (see post here.) Two grandfathers scheme to get their grandchildren to fall in love, which of course they do after much ado. The characters and story drew me in right away, and it was steamy.

Her second book in the Vega family series is A Dish Best Served Hot. Saint Vega is single dad raising his young four year-old daughter after the death of his wife. He discovers that his daughter's new teacher is Lola Leon, who was his high school love.

Saint left to join the Marines and Lola moved away with her mother and the two never had closure to their budding relationship. Each believes the other was responsible for the ending of their relationship.

Saint's grandfather and Lola's grandfather (who raised her) are "mortal enemies" who live in the same assisted living facility. The pranks they pull on each other may amuse each other but as they escalate, Saint and Lola are being called constantly to come to the facility to deal with the men. If they don't behave, they will be forced to move out.

Now Saint and Lola are being thrown together, sparks begin to fly again. Can they reignite what they had years ago? Lola's family is very different from Saint's- her father and brother are in prison, and Saint's family are very close, upstanding members of the Puertominican community of Humboldt Park outside Chicago.

Lola volunteers for the community center that not only houses a school but also a shelter for LGBTQ+ youth, a cause close to Lola's heart. When Saint's family gets a construction contract from the company that bought the center's building and plans to kick the shelter out, Lola and her friends mobilize to stop the demolition. This puts Lola and Saint on opposite sides, until Saint offers to help the shelter find a new home.

A Dish Best Served Hot takes on some timely social justice issues which elevates the book from the usual romance novel fare. Of course, Natalie Caña's steamy scene (or two) heats up enough to fog up your glasses as you read them. Characters from the previous Vega novel make some cameo appearances, but this book belongs to Saint and Lola, and once again Caña mixes the right blend of heart and heat to the delight of readers. I recommend it.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Fall 2023 Blog Tours.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Being a Latina woman, I've always felt as if I'm too much. This book touches on the sentiments of that and the way that Saint accepts her for her warms my heart and brings me peace.

The push and pull that we get between our main characters keeps you on the edge of your seat and wanting more. You see glimpses of their previous relationship and how it affects them now and guides them through the turbulence in there adult life.

This is the second book in the Vega Family series and again, Natalie has given life to two characters who's love story is deep and complex while sweet and spicy. The diversity and representation in her books gives them depth and heart, and while she incorporates some more serious topics, she balances it really well with humour and banter.

Lola is a social justice activist, back in her Chicago hometown after years away. She's passionate about supporting the youth in the community, opposing gentrification and advocating for marginalized people. Saint is an army vet and single dad who is fiercely protective of his family and will do anything for the ones he loves. Lola and Saint were high school sweethearts and are reunited when Lola comes back to town and ends up as his daughters teacher.

I really enjoyed this. I love the dynamics in the Vega Family and between all the side characters. Saint was dreamy and Lola was ballsy - a great combo! I can't wait for the next book in the series. Thank you to netgalley for the chance to read an advance copy of this!

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

Thank god for Natalie Caña breaking me out of my reading slumps.

Of course I knew I would love A Dish Best Served Hot after reading her debut and first in the Vega Family Love Stories, but I had no idea how much. Normally the second book in a series isn’t my favourite. This one was just as amazing as the first.

I loved the book. I thought it was hilarious, heartwarming, real, and so romantic. 10/10 will recommend to everyone, I’m dying for the next instalment in the series.

As a mixed Latina, I have never seen representation like this. The characters in this story are so relatable and I am so, so grateful for Caña’s writing because I see representation I have never before.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One of my pet peeves is running into people from high school. I’d actively go in the opposite direction anytime I saw them before they saw me. Unfortunately for Lola León, being back in her hometown means seeing her ex-boyfriend Santiago “Saint” Vega when they’re at the retirement home trying to make peace between their abuelos: “There are approximately a hundred of you Vegas strutting around Humboldt Park. Why did it have to be you?” Ha!

In Natalie Caña’s A Dish Best Served Hot, some forced proximity between Lola and Saint- she’s his daughter’s new kindergarten teacher, their abuelos are in a prank war, he’s the contractor in charge of tearing down her LGBTQ+ shelter - means they’ll have to resolve their feelings if they want to work together.

Lola is one of the most fierce heroines and I loved it! She’s outspoken, fights for social justice and her community. She’s the daughter of a notorious gang leader and when her life is threatened she’s willing to protect everyone even if it’s from herself. She and Saint share the burden of responsibility in their families. As the eldest in my own Mexican-American family, I can relate to putting everyone before yourself and wanting to break the cycle but not knowing how. While Lola and Saint are stubborn, they both realize allowing people to help them isn’t weakness, it’s strength for the people they trust and themselves.

I can’t wait for Sleeping With the Frenemy about between Leo and Sofi, Kamilah’s friend from the first book. Papo Vega will be at it again!

Thank you to @netgalley and MIRA Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

There were parts of this that I really enjoyed, for instance the shenanigans with the grandparents. I liked the second chances romance aspect a lot and I think it was really well done. I think at the end, I just wasn’t as interested in the story though.

It took me a minute to read this because I didn’t LOVE the first one. As a matter of fact I think the only thing I really liked was the abuelos so I was nervous to see if they were back or if they were there at all. But I needent have been worried. Not only were they there, but I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. I’m thinking it was the social justice component.

I can say with certainty that I liked these characters more than the first ones. Saint was most definitely someone I related to. I also have anxiety, so I felt literally everything that he did. I also really felt the way he went hard for Rosie. I’m not a single parent, but I am a parent and he felt so authentic and real. Especially in the one scene at the end where everything else didn’t matter. I quite literally said the same words along with him. But I guess because I related to him so well its no surprise that I thought the same thing he did about Lola. I understood why she was the way she was, but I also didn’t agree at all about her not saying anything knowing that those people might be visiting her. Especially with Rosie around. I just thought she should have been more careful. And before y’all attack me, she thought the same too, she even mentioned it. I just think that’s something you don’t play with.

The plot was just ok for me tho. It dragged a little in the middle when the focus was still mainly on them fighting and the abuelos. But it wasn’t too bad. Because once the romance started heating up, things got so much better. I did appreciate that Caña made her a social justice advocate for her community. And even more than that, I loved that Caña didn’t shy away from talking about the work she was doing in it. That also felt real. Especially with the fight to Right all the wrongs that have come to light across the world. This was the perfect read to figure out how to be a better advocate. Now don’t think her way is the ONLY way to do it. I’m just saying she could be used as a good example. There was also a gentrification conversation happening. It was a pretty big part of the plot so I thought it would be more involved, but it only made appearances in spurts here and there.

The narrator was also really good. I’ve listened to two other books by them so it was easily recognizable, but it was still good. I don’t know how they managed to get the voice of Saint so well. It was so so good. I think if I had been reading this I would have given this a 3, but because I was listening and the performance was done so well, I changed it.

This book was fun. I had some doubts about it but I should have known not to worry. All this really did was set me up to get ready for the next book. And Idk if you heard about it, but man it sounds so messy. AND I’M HERE FOR IT lmao And we got a little sneak peek into who it is at the end. I really hope it is actually them!