Just One Taste by Lizzy Dent is the perfect read for your upcoming getaway!

After losing her restaurateur father, food critic Olive must take a month-long trip to Italy with “Hot Chef” Leo. She is also grappling with a major decision: what to do with her father’s restaurant, which he left to her.

Dent is a strong writer, and I loved her descriptions of Italy and food. My only gripe is I wanted more of Olive and Leo. This book is a bit of a slow burn, and I’m not always a patient reader!

Read if you like:
🩵 Forced proximity
🩵 Enemies to lovers
🩵 Just one bed

Thanks to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for an eARC of Just One Taste. Be sure to read this book when it’s released on 7/16/24!

A gorgeous and overwhelming food romance tale beautiful scenery, gorgeous descriptions and gorgeous characters. Thanks for the arc

A romance involving a hot chef is very quickly becoming my favorite type of book! AND it’s set in Italy?!
This book has it all: romance, loss, adventure, family, delicious food,
passion, and trusting the unknown.
Olive is such a real character and one that has so many relatable qualities. She is messy, but honest in the best way that makes you as a reader really root for her. It is so important to me that the romances I read have real substance to them, and this undoubtedly does.
I feel so honored to have gotten the opportunity to read this early & I cannot wait to purchase a physical copy for my bookshelf.
A perfect read for anyone who wants to be whisked away on a beautiful, Italian adventure.

Lizzy Dent's latest is a food-filled Italian adventure, throwing together Olive, the daughter of an Italian chef, and his sous chef Leo, as they travel through Italy trying to finish the chef's cookbook after his death. The romance is lovely, but the setting and the menus sing particularly in this book, making it a delightful getaway I was happy to enjoy, if only vicariously. Many thanks to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for an Advanced Readers' Copy of this title!

This book was a lot of fun but also dealt with heavy topics such as grief. We are introduced to Olive, a food critic, dealing with the complexities of grief. We are also introduced to Leo, the sous chef of Olive’s deceased father. We follow their journey to finish the cookbook of Olive’s father with the backdrop of Italy and delicious descriptions of food (many a craving was inspired by reading this). This is a slow burn romance which while not usually a favorite of mine makes sense for the characters as they are working through their own grief journeys. Overall, would recommend for a fun summer or travel read.

I love it! The funny dialogue the family lore. And a guy who cooks! I wish I could live in that town in Italy. It seemed so nice!

This book.. I laughed, I cried. I loved it.
This book stars Olive, after her father dies she inherits his restaurant and finish his cookbook. Unfortunately she has to travel with Leo, her father’s sous chef, who she does not like. The book features such incredible descriptions of the food. If you love romance novels with a culinary element, similar to The Seven Year Slip, you will LOVE this.
This book had such incredible writing. The descriptions of the place made me feel like I was visiting Italy. I just absolutely am obsessed. My new favorite culinary romance.

🇮🇹A summer in Italy
💞Enemies to Lovers
⭐️Forced Proximity
🛌Only One Bed

Also: do yourself a favor and read this book while listening to the “Italian Summer Romance” playlist on Spotify🎶

TW: death of a father. If you are dealing with early stages of grief of losing a father, maybe steer clear of this book. It has beautiful descriptions of struggling with grief, but maybe triggering for you.

This book was delicious!
In addition to the delicious food descriptions (recipes please !) and Italian locations highlighted, Olive and Leo fall in love in an unexpected way! Loved this book, location, and ending!

Just One Taste is messy, delicious, transformational, and dreamy. Olive reluctantly embarks on her deceased father’s cookbook research tour in his Italian homeland. But she’s not alone - her dad’s sous chef, Leo, must come along as he works to help Olive finish the manuscript. The first third is more of a slow burn, but then get ready for swoony, sneaky little adoring quips from Leo and a lot of oogling of “hot chef” by Olive. I normally love dual POV, but in this case not seeing Leo’s thoughts really illuminated their relationship. The Italian scenery made me completely lovesick to travel back there and felt totally authentic to my Italian experiences! The character arcs were engaging and loveable. Absolutely recommend.

Perfect summer time/ beach read 🏖️☀️

-Slow Burn
-Italy Setting
-Navigating grief/death
-Single POV
-No third act breakup 🙌🏼

I felt like I was with the characters as they journeyed through Italy to finish Olives Dads cookbook. Leo was so sweet, I really enjoyed both him and Olives characters and felt they communicated really well which is rare for romances. The writing was incredibly well done and I will definitely be picking up anything Lizzy Dent writes in the future. My only complaint the romance aspect of the book did take a bit of a backseat to the cooking/ recipe making parts of the book and I wish we got to see more moments between Olive and Leo.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Just One Taste is a book about grief, reconnection, and finding oneself.

Olive Stone is a food critic who discovers she inherited her late father's restaurant. After her parents divorced many years prior, her relationship with him was strained and remained as such up until he passed. Her goal with the restaurant is to sell, and she intends to do so until she meets Leo, her father's sous chef. Tasked with the job of finishing her late father's cookbook, she and Leo take off to Italy.

I think the grief in this book was done perfectly. Olive Stone is dealing with grief, confused as to why she got the restaurant and not Leo, regret in their estrangement, and figuring out what she wants for herself, not what she could do as a rebellion. Leo, like a son to Nicky, is grieving because Nicky was like a father to him and spent years by his side and traveling to Italy. All of this and now dealing with finishing his cookbook filled with his memories and his words and what to do with his restaurant.

I think this book was heartbreaking in the sense that her father has passed and she’s going through all these revelations and I would just wish she could pause and pick up the phone and tell her himself. We were feeling her grief with everyone one of Nicky’s friends she would encounter with their stories and prodding questions, The little twist near the ends was perfect and made sense to her story line to help her begin the healing process.

The only negative of this book were the characters and how long it took me to connect with them. I did not like Leo until about midway through the book. The beginning and progression of their relationship, or those scenes before they become a couple, felt a bit one sided and didn’t feel at all palpable until they hook up and then it’s, “there it is!” Some of the side characters were not my favorite and or were even used for comedic relief.


Thank you again NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam Group for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book was such a great read that I finished in one sitting! I absolutely loved the writing and the way the author incorporated grief into romance.

As someone who has a similarly complex relationship with my dad this book made me cry (which is a good thing). The setting being places in Italy was also super close to my heart and background.

3.5/5 — Who doesn’t dream of the Tuscan hills and golden sun of Italy? For those who love a light summery read and also love all things food, this is the book for you. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC as my introduction to Lizzie Dent, I definitely will be exploring the rest of her works.

This is a fun read. The characters had a good weight to them. Their emotions and thoughts were just the right mix of realistic and idealistic the way you would want your main characters to be. The development of Olive’s understanding of herself and her relationship with her father were well paced and it was clear the warming was not just based on infatuation with Leo. The different regions of the Italian journey all glowed on their individuality where you could feel the change of culture and importance of the food with each region.

My only real critique were the few pop culture references that sometimes took me out of that book binging fog. The references are just a little too new to feel natural in the course of the story, it takes the timelessness of a book away and placed it within a too narrow margin in the course of my own reading.

Overall, this is going to be a perfect book for summer 2024 for anyone who loves a light heartfelt sun-drenched romance!

JUST ONE TASTE is a wonderful book about a woman who inherits an Italian restaurant from her estranged father and is tasked with finishing a cookbook with his hot sous chef. This book has such vivid scenes, amazing characters and an emotional story that is the perfect fun read!
I actually swooned and Leo was so kind (I am a little in love with him)!

I am not sure I would've loved this one as much had I not just spent 10 days in Italy, but nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed it! Loved the slow burn, tension-filled romance and it felt authentic and sweet with a satisfying ending. Now, give me all the pasta and wine and let me dream I'm back hiking the hills of Tuscany or swimming in the Ligurian sea!

Fairly predictable rom com but it was still a good read that I enjoyed. I'm a sucker for rom coms involving food.

I am a big fan of Lizzy Dent books and was thrilled to be approved for this ARC! I think Dent’s writing has gotten better and better with every book I’ve read.

I loved this story and following along in Olive’s journey - there was definitely romance, but there was also more than that and a lot of character building throughout. The humor and wit kept me interested. I will definitely be recommending this to others!

Olive and her late father’s sous chef were challenged with finishing a book all while traveling through Italy. While Olive and Leo taste their way through Italy, developing recipes and stories, they both find that life brings unexpected twists and turns. The plan you start the journey with isn’t always the one you end up with!

I adored this book and the character development, especially Olive. She was so relatable and flawed in all the best ways. This is a feel-good, well-written work of fiction. I cannot wait to read more by Lizzy Dent.

My only negative is that the proposed cover art work does not match the story. I believe the cartoonish depiction of Olive and Leo under represent the loveliness of this story.

This book was a fun read! I enjoyed how it took place primarily in Italy and I could almost envision the scenery. It was a nice unique setting! Definitely made me want to visit Italy and eat so much food. I wish there would have been some recipes at the end.

I didn’t really like the somewhat estranged dad plot. I think the chemistry between the two characters Olive and Leo could have been better as well. I think going deeper into both plot lines would have really made this a 5 star read.

Overall I enjoyed the book and would definitely read the others from the author. The writing really transported me to a different country!

Thank you Lizzy Dent - I am ready to eat my way through Italy! 🇮🇹 Just One Taste is a romantic drama featuring Olive Stone, a food critic, and Leo, her recently deceased father’s sous chef, as they spend several weeks together in Italy sampling various foods in order to finish her father’s regional Italian cookbook. The novel begins as a sweet romance and love letter to Italy, then becomes more dramatic as Olive works through her grief and choices about her future with her father’s restaurant and a relationship with Leo. The descriptions of food are incredible! 🍝 And I loved Olive’s relationship with her 2 best friends. This is going to be a great summer read! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam books for this E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Pub date: 7/15/2024