I was grateful to read an ARC of Lizzy Dent's latest book. I recommend it and enjoyed the character development and was rooting for them!

A super cute romantic comedy filled with wine, pasta, and friendships. Deals with grief and death of a loved one. Enemies to lovers to friend trope. This book is perfect for lovers of Italian food and steamy romances.

3.5/5 ⭐️
Synopsis: Just One Taste by Lizzy Dent is an adventurous tale spanning from New York City to all over the Italian countryside in a beautiful summer setting. The novel follows FMC Olive, who is working on finishing her late father’s cookbook, while also deciding whether or not to follow through with his restaurant business. In order to finish the cookbook, she must backpack through Italy with Leo, her father’s cook. What begins as a wholesome trip to help Olive connect with her late father blooms a romance as well.

Review: Just One Taste was such a cute & fun story, I really enjoyed it. It’s a unique romance, where a couple comes together for their love of cooking and their familial backgrounds. The book has a heavy focus on family love, and overall was a very wholesome read. I went into the story thinking it would be like your typical romance, but honestly it felt like a fun, scenic adventure with a side of romance, and I honestly enjoyed that aspect. I loved the plot of Leo & Olive traveling through Italy to find the perfect ingredients, it felt like I was there with them, and the descriptions were great. I immediately wanted to tour the Italian countryside after reading. I rated it at 3.5 because the romance was lacking a bit for me, it seemed more like a literary fiction with a subplot of romance, not a full on romance. The chemistry between the characters wasn’t as notable in my eyes. Nonetheless, the characters were all lovable and the story was light-hearted, fun, surprising and overall a very enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a light, quick & fun read! It’s definitely going to be a great summer time book!

*I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story follows Olive, whose dad recently passed away and has left his Italian restaurant, Nicky’s, to her. she is also met with the challenge of finishing his cookbook he had been working on before he passed. But she doesn’t have to do it alone. Her father’s trusted (and cute) sous chef, Leo, joins her on a journey to Italy to help finish the cookbook and tries to convince her to keep the restaurant instead of selling. As they spend more time together, it is obvious they have an undeniable connection.
Overall, I thought this was a really cute read. I’m a huge foodie myself so I loved reading about two people who were super passionate about food. I love how descriptive they were with the food. I also enjoyed the look into Olive’s past relationship with her father. I feel that a lot of people can relate to her feelings towards him. I think the book was cute, funny and it really made me feel at times that I was experiencing Italy with them.
I did end it giving this book a 3/5 stars. It’s a cute summery romance, but for me personally nothing stuck out to me that made me connect to the book on a deeper level and I wasn’t fully invested in the characters relationship at some points.
Overall, it was a good read and perfect for a quick summery romance read!
Thank you to the publishers for my ARC copy of this book!

Okay, this was the cutest slow burn culinary romance! The way Lizzy described Italy and the food really enhanced the journey and the chemistry and romance between Olive and Leo was believable and absolutely there.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this eARC!

🇮🇹 summer in italy
👨‍🍳 workplace
💗 enemies to lovers
🔥 slow burn
🛏️ just one bed

As with many books about grieving characters, I had a bit of a hard time understanding and appreciating the actions of our two main characters at the beginning of this story. Olive has just lost her father, Nicky, who she has been estranged from for half her life. Leo has just lost his mentor and father figure, who has left his restaurant to his estranged daughter Olive instead of his sous chef Leo.
Forced to travel through Italy together to finish the last three sections of Nicky's cookbook, the two of them find common ground and experience a budding attraction to each other. Dent writes them emerging from their grief through incredible food and cathartic memories. These two grow softer and braver together and I have to admit, I was crying by the end!

If you’ve ever daydreamed of traveling through Italy with a beautiful man while eating your weight in delicious fresh food, this book is for you.

Olive, a food critic, sets off on a trip through Italy to complete her dead father’s cookbook manuscript. Her travel companion is Leo, her father’s sous chef and honorary son.

Their relationship is strained at first, since Olive hadn’t spoken to her father in a decade and felt as though Leo has replaced her in her father’s life. She is also conflicted because she inherited her father’s restaurant, which she plans to sell. Throughout their travels they connect with family members and friends, getting to know Olive’s father’s history better and each other.

Since they are working on a cookbook together, food is at the center of the story. I spent a lot of the book making mental notes about new foods to try and places I want to visit on my next trip to Italy.

This book is a very sweet story of coming to terms with the loss of a parent while still getting to know them and falling in love while processing grief.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for providing an advance copy to review.

A delicious book!!!! Just reading this made me hungry ...lol. A wonderful story full of love, laughter and grief as our main female character travels through the Italian countryside on a quest to finish a cookbook started by her father and remember the man behind it. Accompanied by his Sous-chef and after a rocky start the sparks start to fly!!!!

NetGalley Arc: Just One Taste was a great emotional read it focused on the main characters trip through Italy to finish her father’s cook book. I thought Lizzy Dent did a great job of balancing feel-good moments and exploring Olive’s grief for her father.

Fun, easy read. Great for foodies who also love a good rom com. Feel like I traveled Italy alongside Olive and Leo!

Just one Taste by Lizzy Dent is a heartwarming rom-com about a woman grieving the loss of her estranged father while trying to figure out what she will do with the restaurant he gifted her through inheritance. She goes on a trip in his place to Italy with his sous chef Leo to finish the cookbook her dad was working on and ends up learning a lot more about her father and herself in the process.

This is the first book I have read by this author and it did not disappoint! I am a foodie so I loved the restaurant/cooking plot The MMC Leo was a sweetheart and I really enjoyed seeing their relationship develop. Also some really poignant points about healing from grief.

Just One Taste
Author: Lizzy Dent
Publisher: Putnam Books- Penguin House
Pub date: July 16, 2024
Genre: Contemporary romance
Recommend? Absolutely. For a mouthwatering culinary adventure turned romance throughout some of the most picturesque areas of Italy. This has all the right ingredients for a delicious summer/beach read.

Olive Stone a tough food critique has recently inherited her estranged father’s struggling Italian restaurant and the task of completing his cookbook. She embarks on this journey with her father’s sous chef Leo for the remaining three chapters covering Sicily, Tuscany, and Portofino, searching for the culturally significant ingredient and choosing three recipes for each region using this ingredient. Olive is intent on selling her father’s restaurant to let go of the past and the hurt she feels from a father that seemingly chose the restaurant over his family, but this Italian adventure uncovers desires she didn’t know existed- for Italian cooking, for Leo, and closure from the secret’s of her father’s life.
You’ll quickly fall for Olive and Leo, but I think the true romance in this novel is the food. I throughly enjoyed the cultural significance of each dish and the lush details of the travel. Ready to plan a trip to Italy ASAP.

Thank you NetGalley, Putnam Books and Lizzy Dent for my ARC in exchange for an honest review- I really enjoyed this one!

#arcreview #netgalley #lizzydent #justonetaste #summerread #beachread #arcreviewer #toberead

Just One Taste, by Lizzie Dent, is a delightful read! The story centers around Olive, who inherited her estranged father’s restaurant “Nicky’s”, and Leo the restaurant’s chef. Olive and Leo travel to Italy together to complete her dad’s cookbook. Not only do we get to come along with them as Olive and Leo’s relationship develops, but the book is also a testament to friendship and family and dealing with grief. And to top it in off, the story becomes a total love letter to Italy and to the country’s amazing and special food. Highly recommend!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

The cover of this and the premise made me interested in reading it. Olive’s estranged dad Nicky has passed away and left her his restaurant and the manuscript of his unfinished cookbook. Olive just wants to be done with it all. Enter Leo, Nicky’s sous chef and surrogate son.

I wanted to like this more than I did. The pairing did have good chemistry, but a big chunk of the book was just them going around and eating. It felt a bit repetitive at points.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

If you love a European romance filled with forced proximity, one bed tropes, and modern references, this book is for you! This was a very light-hearted read and I enjoyed many aspects of it. While reading this book I felt like I was transported to Italy and I was viewing the sights and eating the foods of the regions. Do not read this book hungry!! The descriptions of the food alone are enough to make your mouth water. The characters are loveable and the relationship between the FMC and her father is perplexing but also heartwarming, Watching her discover things about him through her grief and adventures was definitely my favorite part of the book! I will note that there was a lot of Italian thrown into this book. At times there were not enough context clues for me to fully glean what they were saying and I do not know a lick of Italian. I made extensive use of the translate feature on my Kindle but I do not know what I would have done if reading the physical book. The major downfall of this book for me personally was the chemistry between Olive and Leo, While it was made clear that they were physically attracted to each other, I had a hard time finding where they emotionally connected prior to them hooking up, It fell a little flat for me and the pacing of the romance threw my off as well. Some parts were moving faster than others. Overall this was an enjoyable read!

❤️Slowburn
❤️Enemies to lovers
❤️Forced proximity
❤️Food Critic and Chef

I really liked this book! The romance was very cute, but the story had so much more to it than a typical romance book.

It starts out with Olive, our FMC, inheriting her fathers restaurant. She was not close to him due to many family issues and the story focuses on her healing and overcoming these issues.

I was expecting a much “lighter read”, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed all the extra stuff thrown in!

Olive wants to sell the restaurant, which causes tension with Leo - the chef who was also close with her dad. They not only have to figure out the restaurant situation, but they also have to complete her fathers cookbook.

Leo and Olive had CHEMISTRY and a sloooow burn relationship and I really enjoyed them (especially with the backdrop of Italy!!)

This author did a great job with the world building and the amount of effort put into this book. You could picture the meals and the setting while reading!

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was very enjoyable, like a mix of the seven year slip meets a much less dramatic version of the bear, and all in ITALY.

The setting goes crazy in this book!!
Food and the various travel in Italy made me want to hop on a plane immediately! Like on SAY LESS.

•Forced Proximity
•One Bed
•Italian vibes!!

When our main character loses her father she goes on the final leg of his Italian tour to finish his cookbook, but she goes with her father’s sous chef Leo, who turns out is a sexy Italian. YES CHEF!! I wish I was olive fr.

I wish there was even more of Leo I feel like he was so sweet and I would have loved to have seen even more of his personality and the building dynamic between him and Olive, it felt more plot heavy than character driven.

Thank you Netgalley and G.P. Putnam’s for the Arc.

I am ALWAYS excited when I get to read a book by Lizzy Dent! I have read her other books and instantly fell in love with each of their stories.

I heard about Just One Taste about a month ago and was really excited to get the advanced copy and I gobbled it up in one day! Leo and Olive completely had my heart from the first chapter.

If you love an enemies to lovers, forced proximity romance, look no further because our girl Lizzy has given it to us!

I want to start off by saying a huge thank you to Lizzy Dent, the publishers, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

This book has everything you could want: enemies to lovers, forced proximity, one bed, heartbreak, love, food talk. I thought that Olive was a complex character that I could easily relate to and Leo was just the absolute sweetest. My favorite part, however, was the plot twist that even I did not see coming (and I'm pretty good at predicting things in books).

I found that the writing in this book had a similar feel to Emily Henry's, no doubt explaining why she loves Lizzy's writing so much. I definitely hope to check out other books of Lizzy's because this one was five forks out of five.

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.

When Olive’s estranged father dies, he leaves her not just his restaurant but the responsibility of completing his cookbook. The catch? In order to complete the book, she must travel to Italy and work alongside her father's longtime sous chef and surrogate son, Leo - a man who Olive may very well be putting out of job.

Where to start? I genuinely enjoyed this book – one of my favorites so far this year. There’s so much to love here – gorgeous locations, dreamy food, and a swoony male lead, all in wrapped up in what is primarily a story about Olive reconciling with her past and the tumultuous relationship she had with her dad.

Lizzy Dent does a fantastic job of creating believable conflict, writing grief, and describing some delicious food. Every character, location, and dish feels well thought out.
 
I’ve waffled back and forth on my rating because, while I did feel Leo and Olive had chemistry, there was nothing memorable about it. When I think back on this book, I’ll probably think more about Olive’s personal journey vs. her relationship with Leo. That’s not a bad thing at all – it’s still a very good book. But, as a romance novel, I feel like the chemistry between the two protagonists could have been amped up a bit. (And no – I don’t mean spice, necessarily. Just a little more spark.)
 
Everything else though – so well done, and the twist was truly unexpected but put things into perspective.
 
Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Forced Proximity, Shared Bed
 
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book.