FMC moves overseas ro escape from a family that doesn't understand her and a cheating fiance after her grandmother passed away and she wasn't able to make it in time to say goodbye due getting into a car accident. In her new city, she hopes to assist the staff in gaining the infamous star for their restaurant, and in comes a famous chef that already has a star under his belt. At first, the attraction wasn't there, but as they became friends, the attraction grew.

It was a great friend's to lover, finding love again when you least expect it. If he wanted to, he would love the story. Easy read grabs your attention from the start.

Yes, Chef was a fun romance between Claire and James. Claire has moved to Paris to work at a restaurant. When we pick up with the story, James has started as the restaurant’s head chef. Their meeting does not initially start off well with James giving off grump vibes (which you’ll enjoy if you love a grumpy sunshine premise!). Eventually Claire and James become friends in this slow burn friends to lovers story.

The piece that I loved so much about this story is how it sets up Claire and James to be so in sync with each other prior to their romance coming to fruition. It makes the romance feel so natural when we do get there.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Waitlyn Andrews for granting me access to an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

In "Yes, Chef" by Waitlyn Andrews, readers are treated to a delectable feast of storytelling that blends the tantalizing world of food with the rich tapestry of human experience. This memoir not only offers an intimate glimpse into the life of a talented chef but also serves up a generous helping of inspiration and resilience.

Andrews' narrative is as flavorful as the dishes she crafts, tracing her journey from humble beginnings to culinary success with honesty and grace. Through her vivid prose, readers are transported into the chaotic yet captivating world of professional kitchens, where passion, dedication, and a relentless pursuit of excellence reign supreme.

What sets "Yes, Chef" apart is Andrews' unwavering determination to overcome the obstacles in her path. From the challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated industry to the relentless pressure of running a successful restaurant, Andrews faces each hurdle with courage and perseverance, turning setbacks into opportunities for growth.

At its heart, "Yes, Chef" is a story about the transformative power of food. Andrews' love for cooking shines through in every page, as she shares her favorite recipes, culinary techniques, and the stories behind each dish. From comforting classics to innovative creations, her recipes are a celebration of flavor and creativity that will leave readers eager to roll up their sleeves and head to the kitchen.

But "Yes, Chef" is more than just a cookbook – it's a testament to the importance of following your dreams, no matter how daunting the journey may seem. Andrews' passion for her craft is infectious, inspiring readers to pursue their own passions with the same fervor and dedication.

Whether you're a seasoned chef or a novice cook, "Yes, Chef" is sure to whet your appetite for both delicious food and inspiring stories. Waitlyn Andrews has crafted a memoir that is as satisfying as a perfectly cooked meal – one that nourishes the body, delights the senses, and leaves a lasting impression on the soul. Highly recommended for anyone in search of a culinary adventure that will leave them hungry for more.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Yes, Chef follows Claire and James. I love a workplace romance, but add in cooking? I'm a goner. I have a love affair with all kinds of food and this book combined two of my favorite things: workplace romance and cooking. This is a slowburn romance FOR SURE. Claire and James slowly become friends from coworkers and lovers from friends. It was as sweet as a French dessert and although it wasn't super spicy, it was worth the read!

" Yes, Chef " by Waitlyn Andrews is a good fit for people who are in the mood for a lighthearted, hopeful, and romantic story about self-discovery and following one's passion, set in the charming atmosphere of Paris.
I don't believe this is the author's debut novel it was so well written and charming. Every chapter starts with a recipe or a food information. There are french words to establish that Parisian world. It gives me " Emily in Paris " vibes and I love that.😂💙 also, James Sullivan! Whaaaat😭 that's hilarious I can't imagine him other than that .😭
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Imagine your grumpy boss was your neighbour and in a very slowwww torturing burn you turn from enemies to friends to best friends and finally to lovers. That was very cute indeed.🥹🫶🏻

Thank you Netgalley and the author for providing me with this ARC.

Reading this you will feel like you too are a chef living in Paris and drinking in all that life has to offer.

Claire was relatable in that she is just trying to figure out her life. And James being a secret cinnamon roll was just too precious. I wanted to walk along in the market with them each day.

This was a SLOW burn with a delectable payoff and overall a delicious treat of a book.

Content note: This book is closed door but does contain language and innuendo

Thanks to Waitlyn Andrews and Netgalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Loved this heartwarming and cozy romance and enjoyed the overall plot and storyline. The characters were adorably likable. I loved that there wasn't some overarching conflict that had me frustrated and yelling at my book, but instead, was a slow-burn romance that kept me turning the page!

I genuinely though this book was great and enjoyed it a lot. Loved the dynamics between the characters in the book and found myself genuinely laughing out loud to the characters and swooning over the love interest (and admittedly, some of the side characters).

My critiques of the book are really minimal and i'm just a picky reader, so take this with a grain of salt. I just wish we saw more of a friendship develop between Claire and Gabe. Like I genuinely loved when they would interact with each other but I found those interactions became so minimal after they started to get close as friends. Also, I just felt like the ending was a little rushed and not fully planned out. Idk I don't want to go into too many details and spoil anything for anyone, but I just felt the last 5ish chapters sped up wayyyy too much and I feel like we didn't fully get time to settle in with the characters.

Anyways this book was 4.5 stars for me originally but after thinking about it a little more i'm settling with a 4 star rating. Highly recommend if you want to see a story about co-workers falling for each other, romantic adventures in paris, found family, and a grumpy love interest.

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for an advanced copy for review.

I picked up this book as an e-arc from NetGalley about a few weeks ago. I had just finished reading Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter and I was so badly looking for something that was similar yet really simple. Yes, Chef was at first a bit tough for me to get into because I was in a bit of a reading slump and I am also a mood reader so it added a bit more challenge. However, after just finishing 5 chapters of this book, I was confident that I was going to love this book and it did not disappoint. Waitlyn Andrews does such a stellar job with writing prose that fits the story perfectly and gives the perfect balance of emotions and the scenes happening without getting carried away with small details.

One thing that convinced me to request this book was my love for cooking and baking. I've always loved cooking and baking since I was a child and reading a book about a girl working as a chef in a fancy Paris restaurant was one hell of an experience. The characters were extremely likeable, especially James Sullivan whom I despised for his rude nature at first but found myself falling in love with the blonde handsome head chef later on as the novel progressed. The character felt three dimensional enough for me to care about them and overall, this was a pretty simple read.

I gave this book a 4/5 stars mainly because at certain parts of the story, I felt myself slipping away and feeling a tiny bit bored when nothing was really happening and the plot wasn't advancing much but when it did, I was having an extremely fun time. For being probably my 5th rom-com novel in my entire life, this was a wonderful experience and I would totally recommend!

i was going to give this 3 stars but then writing this review made me change my mind lol idk... this was fun and cute (sometimes) but there were a lot of things that just irked me.

most were small, like cringe comments or sayings by the characters and things like that. but the biggest thing that bothered me was how the main character talked about other women? like she would try to convince herself she "doesn't like James" and she's "not jealous" but then when he is talking to other women we see her inner monologue calling them slutty because of what they're wearing or how they look. like can we not have women put other women down please?

another thing is that the main character would pretend to be all high and mighty "i don't need no man" and "getting over my trauma, claiming my independence back" etc but then constantly feeling protected by James? or jesus christ, the amount of small comments of how petite and small she is next to him drove me crazy

these two aspects really stood out to me and hindered my enjoyment of the book to the point i strongly considered DNFing it several times. but in the end i pushed through, and i still don't know if i really enjoyed this or not.

Honestly, this book made me so hungry I had to stop reading to make myself something, lol. On a serious note, this was a pretty sweet book set in a foodie world, which was so good. The relationship and the jealousy scenes were just hitting but the one thing that I personally didn't enjoy about this book was the pacing. The pacing was a little slow and a little awkward but the rest was amazing.

This was such a cute story and the perfect read if you like women's fiction with romance. The dynamic between Claire and James was funny yet antagonizing. And I really loved all of the background in the kitchen! Watching Claire learn to trust and let go while also doing what is best for her was inspiring, and the eventual relationship between Claire and James was **chef's kiss!** I adored this book!

4.5 rounding up to 5
This book sat in my to-read pile waaay too long. What a lovely read. Yes, Chef is the story of Claire and James who work together in a Paris Kitchen as they pursue a Michelin star. Claire has a more complex back story that becomes evident over time as she and James go from coworkers to friends to......

I especially enjoyed the family dynamics and felt the author's storytelling came alive as they visited James' family. I liked that the story was a bit more complex than your typical romance and the kitchen background was a fun one. I recommend this story and will look forward to future books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for an advance copy of Yes,Chef. This book is available now.

4.5 stars — A hilariously addicting, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, slow burn workplace rom-com that will make your soul and your stomach growl.

Equally talented and competitive, Claire and James, go toe-to-toe behind the scenes in a trendy Parisian restaurant vying for a sought after Michelin star rating. Claire is a passionate and uniquely gifted sous chef with big aspirations in life that don’t have anything to do with her family’s famous Napa Valley vineyard or toxic ex. James is a young, hot, renowned New York chef with a Michelin star already attached to his name, who was brought in to ensure Teak’s success. Even with the same goal in mind they still find it annoyingly impossible to avoid each other since they work in the same kitchen, frequent the same (and only) café, and share adjoining apartment balconies.

Perfectly cliché and appropriately repetitive, allowing their friendship to bake and love simmer as we walk through their daily routine of coffee and croissants, menu planning, ingredient shopping, and cooking up a storm. I loved how they bonded over books. It was fun to follow Claire through her creative process and interactions with local vendors. As well as watching James’ hard exterior melt like butter with Claire, patiently giving her space as he acknowledged her talent and encouraged her to explore her culinary intuition. I enjoyed their exchanges while visiting each other’s families, which couldn’t possibly be a more different experience. And really appreciated that the story effectively built to the very end without a third act conflict!

❝...if you need time, then you need time. Just know that I don't need time, but I'm willing to wait.❞

This is for all the hopelessly romantic foodies out there. A true laugh-out-loud, clean, feel good rom-com. I devoured this book! I don’t even mind that any steam or spice was solely dedicated to kitchen creations (read: zero smut). Oh, but the effect of that first 'baby' was evidence of the slow burn that had been climaxing. Still plenty of sizzle that left me feeling giddy and marking it as one of my most memorable reads of the year. I am eager to read more from this debut author.

I hate to rag on a book, but this book was kind of a struggle. The overall plot was full of potential, but there were some things I found annoying and a few that I found slightly problematic, making it pretty impossible for me to rate this book any higher than two stars. Before getting into what I didn’t like, I’ll share the high points! The concept of this workplace romance was unique (at least to me). It gave me Iron Chef vibes and I found myself wanting to google things specific to the fine-dining restaurant experience to learn more. The head chef and a sous chef are working together in a restaurant trying to earn a Michelin star and they slowly (very slowly) fall for each other. I knew what Michelin stars were before reading but felt like I grew in my understanding throughout the book, which was cool! I also really liked both Claire’s and James’ sisters! They were much better characters than the leads, and I think I would rather read about how Claire’s sister met her fiancé/husband Caleb, because it seems like it could make a good story. Unfortunately, these parts I enjoyed weren’t enough to counteract what I found annoying. First being, the MMC’s name is James Sullivan. Like… he may as well be a large, furry, blue monster with purple spots, because that’s all I could picture every time his first and last name were on the page together (if you don’t know the reference… idk how bc Pixar feels popular enough to me). Another thing that annoyed me was the FMC’s internal dialogue. She was very repetitive and there would be full paragraphs where the beginning or ending of each sentence was identical. And she said the word “dadgum” literally 5 times. It’s a word best not used at all, so maybe drop it to once. Not five times. It got to a point where I was wondering if the editor was trying to be nice and wasn’t willing to give constructive criticism. And last, for what I view as problematic (there are a few things so hold steady)… first of all, the emphasis on no sex was beyond cringey. I have no problem with waiting until you’re ready to have sex, but the connotations in this book were that you were “giving all of yourself” to someone when you have sex with them, and that line of thinking is why there are so many women and girls that grow up placing too much emphasis on a corrupt view of purity. I hate this line of thought. Sex isn’t “everything.” Treating it like it is, is part of why there’s such an emphasis on abstinence culture. But teaching abstinence in isolation doesn’t work and gives women and girls the idea that their body is their most prized possession, and that when you have sex once, you no longer have a gift to give. But that’s entirely FALSE. Physical intimacy doesn’t make someone impure. Along these lines, the FMC also took part in slut-shaming another character. While the character did do something inexcusable, it’s never okay to call names and use derogatory language about someone’s sexual practices. I’m shocked to see this in a book published in 2023. And last but not least, the MMC was extremely Type A (not at all a bad thing) and the FMC constantly made fun of him for it. Like, she would intentionally make something look less organized or would remove something from its spot in a pattern just to mess with him. I guess that’s not huge, but if this were someone with true OCD, that would be incredibly difficult for them to deal with, and I can’t imagine making a space less inviting for people with any form of neurodivergence. I really think this book could have used some beta readers that read for triggers. For me, these issues really detracted from what this book could be, because it really had potential. (Plus, there were a ridiculous amount of typos, like way more than I’ve ever seen in a book.) I think if this book had spent more time being edited, there’s a chance it could have been way better.

Sweet, slow burn! I loved our heroine and the way our hero loved her here. I love how much we got to see of them becoming friends and spending their time together.

3.5 stars, but closer to a 4 than a 3 so raised to refect!!!

I'm not much of a romance reader, but I am a chef in real life so I felt like I needed to give this a try. This book was so easy to read and I felt like I was flying through it, which is abnormal for me when I read a book with my eyes without an audiobook. I was very torn with what to rate this because I was having so much fun until the last portion of the book. It would be a spoiler to go into detail as to what bothered me enough to lower the rating but the ending just felt rushed to me. I tend to find most romance books to be in the middle ground for me, but this book was an exception. I liked the slow burn, I liked the grumpy sunshine it was for majority of the book, and I liked the characters together. The characters did feel a bit flat for me but I can forgive it for a debut novel. Overall, I had a very fun time reading this and was giggling when cute things where happening between the two main characters, but by the last 80% I was groaning over their decisions and waiting for it all to be over.

Very awesome and adorable romance. Think celebrity chefs, closed door, squeel when they touch, enemies to lovers. It is the perfect vibe for a good, enjoyable romance, without extreme heartbreak. Recommend!

Thank you to netgalley and the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own opinions.

A fun, laid-back rom-com that is perfect to read after a long day. It will also make you hungry and give you the urge to bake and try some new cheese.

The concept for this book sounded amazing. I think I expected more out of it and it didn’t live up to that. The story was cute, but maybe it just wasn’t my style of book overall. Other readers out there will love this, but it just wasn’t something I liked.