As a person who loves movies as well as books, I adore this one. Formatting it like a script is genius! and something ive never seen before which is refreshing. I'm curious how that looks in print. The inception vibes...obsessed👌🏾. Sam is the cutest! 🥺 and finally, DEATH TO BARRY

Fairly predictable rom com but it was still a good read that I enjoyed it. It was also a quick read.

I found the story a bit slow at first, but after a couple of pages, it immediatley picked up pace. Enjoyable read.

Kitchen Heat had me from the moment I read it was set in the '90s. The book was fun, and I enjoyed the characters despite some plot points being a bit predictable.
3.5/5

I found this book hard to get into. Right from the beginning, the characters were not well developed and I wasn’t excited to read it. The ending was predictable. Isn’t a book I will recommend. I also found the style of writing hard to enjoy because of the perspectives of the characters. Loved the cover art though!

Kitchen Heat was a fun, swoon-worthy novel that completely embodied the found-family trope. Set in a face-paced restaurant with the fast-paced life of a single mom trying to find herself (and love), the novel completely captured my attention and heart.

I want to thank netgalley for an advanced copy of this book

Reading this I found a very sweet read and I liked the chatcter development as the book went on with the romance that toke place, this is definitely a book I would read again.

Having spent a lot of time working in the restaurant industry, I liked how this book reminded me of that space. The writing style was refreshing, each chapter was laid out like a screenplay, introducing the characters, time, and setting. That was something new that made this story unique to me! Helped me be grounded with the story’s plot.
As far as the plot, the story was well written and easy to follow along with. The romance was very realistic and believable. Overall, a good read!

Kassi and Clay's story was engaging from start to finish. I really liked the screenwriter style introducing chapters. It really helped build the style and genre of their story. I can already see the series potential of the restaurant characters and look forward to reading more from this author.

This was a NetGalley review.

Thank you, NetGalley, for giving me the chance with this ARC. I really loved this book. Workplace romance, single parent, messy past, heartache and second chances. This book was easy to get into and once I started I couldn’t stop. I fell in love with the characters and would love to watch this as a movie.

Kitchen Heat is a delightful and heartwarming story that will have readers hooked from the very beginning. Kathleen McFall and Clark Hays have crafted a charming tale of love, food, and the challenging world of the restaurant industry. The characters are well-developed and relatable, and the chemistry between the two main characters, chef Amanda and restaurant owner Tom, is palpable. The two authors' vivid descriptions of the dishes and the bustling kitchen make the reader feel like they are right there in the restaurant. Kitchen Heat is a delicious read that will leave you hungry for more. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a lighthearted and enjoyable romance novel.

3 stars

I’m not sure what it was about this book, but I ended up dnf’ing the book at 7%. I was really excited about reading it, but I just was not interested in the story when I picked it up. Maybe I’ll try reading it again another time!

Review on Kitchen Heat.

There is a warm comfort in the funky, almost deranged conversations and maddening pace of the kitchen at Rose and Thorn restaurant, a place of second chances. Peppered with references from food and films, Kitchen Heat is definitely for food and film lovers. A heartwarmingly supportive cast of side characters is the highlight of the book.
I enjoyed the overall feel of the book, the concept of the movie script format, and the execution of it on the detailed setting of a restaurant and movie set. It aced the descriptions, giving the reader a visual sense of place. However, the characters felt very caricaturish. We know they were good people, but their personalities had room for development. A room, I hope, will be used in the other books in the series.
The chemistry, however, felt lacking to me. It worked on paper, the handsome head chef and the single mother waitress, but it failed to translate into an emotion. They were together because this was a romance, but their intimacy felt engineered. Don't get me wrong, they did all the lover things, but it just fell fat for me. That is purely my personal opinion.
Wait, what was that episode with Nick? That felt so redundant.

Hurt people, hurt people. It justifies toxic behavior patterns in protagonists in most novels. It was commendable that the author called them out instead of rationalizing it against the trauma they received, thus prompting them to do better. For this reason alone, I would purchase a physical copy.
Overall, it is a feel-good romance novel. I look forward to the upcoming books in the series.

Vibes: Love at first sight, happily ever after, restaurant romance, film references, cozy cast, fun-real conversations, emotionally resilient protagonists, and second chances romance. If any of this interests you, the book is for you.

I thank NetGalley, Pumpjack Press, and the authors Kathleen McFall and Clark Hays for the e-ARC copy of this book. It was a breezy read.

Kitchen Heat is a delightful and heartwarming story that will have readers hooked from the very beginning. Kathleen McFall and Clark Hays have crafted a charming tale of love, food, and the challenging world of the restaurant industry. The characters are well-developed and relatable, and the chemistry between the two main characters, chef Amanda and restaurant owner Tom, is palpable. The two authors' vivid descriptions of the dishes and the bustling kitchen make the reader feel like they are right there in the restaurant. Kitchen Heat is a delicious read that will leave you hungry for more. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a lighthearted and enjoyable romance novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pumpjack Press for an e-arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book was so good. I was hooked from the START. I definitely enjoyed it. It was a quick read. Thankyou netgalley for sending me an. ARC of this book. 🤍✨

I enjoyed the overall premise and plot of Kitchen Heat (single mom going through a divorce works as a waitress while trying to make it as a screenwriter). That being said, something about this book really fell flat for me. I can’t pinpoint what it was about the writing exactly, but it just felt like there was a lot of distance between the reader and the main characters. I didn’t feel like I connected with either of them or got any sense of their personalities, or even really their relationship and why they liked each other (other than obvious physical attraction).

There was nothing that really made me invested in them or want to root for them. There were definitely bright spots in the book, like the banter of the restaurant staff, the little hints of information around the VERY white history of Portland, and the true portrayal of the restaurant business culture (especially substance use). But otherwise, I felt myself struggling to stay interested enough to finish the book, and honestly this probably would have gone on my list of DNF books if I hadn’t gotten an ARC and wanted to leave an honest review.

This was so great to read, and I love the cover and getting to know all of the characters. It was so so fun.

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

This was a really fun quick read. I really enjoyed the format being a script inside a book but without the dialogue. I found the character of Samantha adorable. I gave this story 5 stars as it was engaging and a quick enjoyable read.

Kassi and Clay heat up the pages in Kitchen Heat. It is a sweet story, and I enjoyed the dynamics of the characters. I had a few times where I felt a bit lost, but then I got pulled right back in.