I LOVE Lizzy Dent so much--The Setup was one of my favorite reads from last year (or the year before?), full of heart and yearning and all good things. Unfortunately, this one fell slightly flatter to me...but I think that's a me-problem: I'm drawn to more character-driven romances (I will excuse a lot of bad plot decisions if I love the characters), and this one leaned more plot- and setting-driven. Not bad in any sense of the word. I just felt as if I was lacking more interiority from the main character, Olive, and especially her love interest, Leo. Nonetheless, I'll be (im)patiently waiting to see what Lizzy Dent does next!

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After chapter two I was hooked, and also knew I needed snacks on deck before reading more. This book had me craving some amazing food that I couldn't even tell you how to cook. Side note- Lizzy, did you taste all these things too? Because they were described perfectly.

Talk about eating your way through Italy (in more ways than one).

Cute, fun romance that was a delicious read, much like the food that Olive and Leo enjoyed all around Italy (needed this pun because wine not, okay I'm done). This book was honestly a love letter to Italian food (and no, not OG, real legit Italian food), and it was kind of an Eat, Pray, Love story for Olive, just in her own way.

Just One Taste is the perfect summer read.

Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the E-ARC!

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I requested a bunch of romance on here because I wanted to try it out. However, romance is just not working for me at the moment. I think its more me than the books themselves so I will be giving this one a neutral rating.

I love the cover and the food in this one. However. I just wasn't feeling the connection between the characters and I didn't care for the relationship.

This was not a bad book, it just wasn't for me. I hope others love it!

As someone who loves food and dreams of going to Italy, this was a fantastic summer read for me. Olive's estranged father passed away and left her his restaurant, but she has to take a trip to Italy to finish the last three chapters of his cookbook, and she has to work with his sous chef (Leo, who her friends refer to as "Hot Chef").
A couple of wéeks in Italy, sightseeing, drinking, eating, remembering the trips she took with her parents when she was a girl and they were still together. Olive starts out fully intending to sell the restaurant, but as she remembers more of the good times, she starts to question her initial reaction. Plus, she's sick of being a food critic.
I loved reading this. All the travel, the beauty of Italy, the slow burn between Olive and Leo. Olive is working through grief, but the book overall was lighthearted.

The second half of this book really took off -- much more so than the first half. So if it's a slow start for you like it was for me, just know that. If you like Emily Henry and past Lizzy Dent books, you will like this. It was just ok for me even with all the food and traveling through Italy ... I just didn't love Olive and found her self-sabotaging annoying. Still a good beach read!

Just One Taste comes out next week on July 16, 2024 and you can purchase HERE.

"One day, Olive, you'll fall in love, and there will be no more running," says Kate, who thinks I reject men because I don't wish to be rejected. Whereas I think the problem is simply that most men eventually have an insurmountable fault. Like clapping when a plane lands, or pronouncing David Bowie's name wrong, or over- using exclamation marks.

Ginny thinks I could find fault in a sunset.

"Just One Taste" was a lovely romance that was just as delicious as the food described throughout (sorry, I had to). But seriously, this book was a love letter to Italian food as much as it was a love letter to love and now I'm craving really good pasta.

I loved both Leo and Olive and how they both grew and developed throughout their journey together. I liked that they both were able to process their relationship with Olive's father through the trip, and work out their differences and tension without them having full animosity towards each other. As I say about many books, I think that this book could have benefited from being dual POV. However, I understand that at the end of the day it was more about Olive than Leo and I appreciate that.

With beautiful and evocative descriptions of Italy and Italian food and culture, "Just One Taste" was the perfect summer read. I really appreciated how Olive and Leo got to connect over their heritage. I enjoyed hearing about their travels and the food they were eating just as much as I enjoyed reading about the romance.

This one was fun. 4 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Having enjoyed Lizzy Dent's 'The Summer Job,' I eagerly picked up 'Just One Taste.' While it was enjoyable, it didn't quite reach the depth of its predecessor. Unlike 'The Summer Job,' 'Just One Taste' felt lighter in character development and chemistry.

The surprise conflict towards the end was a bit out of pocket. But it added depth without resorting to complicated drama between Olive and Leo. It shed light on Olive's estranged relationship with her father and possible reasons why they never really reconnected after the initial estrangement.

There was a lot of focus on Italian food and recipes throughout the story. The story really takes us through the process of them completing the recipe book. At times it felt a bit overwhelming, but Dent's culinary expertise and knowledge remains impressive.

One thing about Lizzy Dent is that she knows how to really immerse readers in her settings. While 'Just One Taste' isn't my favorite of Dent's works, her descriptions brought Italy to life, making it a worthwhile, quick, and engaging read that transports you to the heart of the country, exploring themes of food, family, and love.

If a book makes me cry, it’s pretty much a guaranteed 5-star rating from me. Something about this book just really drew me in and allowed me to feel fully absorbed in the entire atmosphere of it.

For starters, foodies will certainly be enthralled by the descriptive passages around the cuisine and ingredients throughout the book. I loved that as Olive and Leo traveled, each region truly did have a specific ingredient they stood out above the rest, much like their mission for the cookbook they were working to complete. It all sounded amazing and added another sense to the scenery of the region being portrayed in the setting.

I loved the gentle progression of Olive and Leo’s relationship. It felt authentic and natural that it would take them some time to figure out how to truly work together. From there, they had a shared passion around the culinary world and combined with the complicated history they both had with Olive’s father, it made sense that a deeper connection would eventually form. Leo was a stand up guy who wasn’t afraid to voice his ideas and opinions while also respecting, understanding, supporting, and conceding when necessary to Olive’s feelings and ideas. They also both communicated so well. It felt like a very solid, mature, true partnership.

I also loved Olive’s friends, Kate and Ginny. I love displays of great female friendship and they provided that in spades. The three of them balanced each other so well, and there was never a question of if they’d be there for each other. The family dynamics with Olive, her mother, and her late father were complicated but rounded out the whole story being told. All of these secondary characters contributed solidly to Olive’s overall character.

This book was a wonderful read for me. Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This may be my favorite book by Lizzy Dent yet! Leo is a phenomenal book boyfriend and I loved seeing Olive and him fall for each other. Also the descriptions of food and Italy are so amazing- I want to go now!

If you’re looking for an atmospheric read you can travel vicariously through to Italy this summer, then Just One Taste might be for you! Lizzy Dent’s descriptive imagery will fully immerse you in the story. I absolutely loved the setting.

I wish I had loved the romance and the story more, though. I liked both Olive and Leo separately, but I didn’t love them together. Other than their physical attraction to one another and their love of food, I’m not sure what else they had going for them.

And while I enjoyed the story a lot in the first half, it ended up becoming very repetitive in the second half.

Still, if you’re looking for a quick beach read, or a book you can travel vicariously through, you may want to give this one a try.

Just One Taste comes out 07/16/24.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an early copy. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved the concept of this book!! I am a huge fan of Italy and I felt like I was really immersed into the setting of this book. The author did a great job providing just the right amount of details without making it drag on. I really liked the story line too and felt like it was unique but also felt like it could be a hallmark movie! (which is a good thing!) the characters had amazing chemistry & i am a sucker for a slow burn and this was well done!!

This felt...very fictional.
Don't get me wrong. Romance is fictional, books are fictional, but it shouldn't be so obvious. It felt like a dream of a story with random details strewn together that could have been from any story.
The characters often felt disjointed. Olive felt like a caricature half the time and like a self-insert the other half. She was funny and depressed about her dad. And frankly, she was barely those two things. And Leo? I know he likes to cook and he's hot. Their dialogue was messy too. Sometimes they'd say a line and I'd think that this could not be the same character.
While the novel was humorous at times, it felt too orchestrated at others. I love a tropey novel, but maybe make sure it fits the novel and the characters and doesn't feel thrown in for the sake of it.
Roger's character was so stupid. I have no other words for it, it was just stupid. Why was he so obviously unlikable from the beginning? Do something interesting here, don't make characters plot devices. Olive's best friends had the same problem - one was the angel on her shoulder, the other the devil.
Olive's distrust of Leo nearing the end didn't make sense. Did she have trust issues? I did not see them. You can't just say Olive's mother felt betrayed because of her father and think that's enough. You have to implement these things into the characters. And then it didn't even matter because it was yet another thing casually thrown into the book that amounted to absolutely nothing.
There were so many times where it seemed like a line connecting one paragraph to the next had been deleted. I don't know what that was about, but it made this book messy to read.
The romance was fine, but, unfortunately, sexual tension does not last a whole novel just by saying two characters want to fuck if the author isn't going to add anything else to it. Staring at each other's mouths and bodies isn't good enough. I want fiery chemistry and longing, not the intro to a bad porn.
The plot twist with Nicky was not great. There was no set-up for it and it felt like a reason to forgive him for being a shitty person? I also did not have a grasp on who he was other than stubborn, refuses to listen to ANYONE, and likes to cook. I wanted more than a vague memory or anecdote every few chapters.
Lastly, why did Olive even want to run the restaurant? Because she loves food? So do I, that's not enough reason. Because she had fun in it growing up? Okay, then SHOW more of that other than just in the opening characters. As a whole, this novel said a lot without proving it.
I know Olive said the worst review is a 3 star because of mediocrity, but this book wasn't mediocre; it was bad. It started off great and it had potential, but it just kept faltering and then eventually just felt lazy.

I really enjoyed this one! The love story was sweet, but the best part was the place making. I truly felt like I was along on the trip with Leo and Olive in Italy. I definitely recommend.

Ok, I was expecting a light summer read and as usual, Dent wacks me in the head with my feels. If I knew this book was about a main character dealing with the death of estranged father, I honestly would not have picked it up. I went through the same thing this year and avoid my feelings about it with complete dilligence. And I’m so happy I read this when I did, I found it very healing and relatable. Easily my favorite aspect of the book.

Something else I enjoyed was how this was a love letter to food and Italy. The food descriptions literally had me salivating. However, I do think this was missing Dent’s usual sparkling wit and charm. The Summer Job still reigns supreme but I’ll continue to read everything Dent writes.

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. i thought the vivid descriptions of all the food and drinks were so well done. what i loved more was the banter when leo may present food and olive's suggestions on how to change or improve the food. i hated the plain fact of the contention between olive and leo on selling/keeping the restaurant, how many times can you try and change someone's mind? olive and leo had no chemistry and it was more like an arguing brother and sister.

note to publisher, i know it's a copy of a proof but the editing, line breaks and dashes separating words was so hard to want to keep reading.

a believably complicated parent-child relationship that is left unresolved by the former's death, plus discovering a latent attraction to the essentially adopted son, plus plenty of good food and gorgeous scenery... perfectly delicious

Just One Taste is my new favorite Lizzy Dent book! Her best yet! It’s enemies/strangers/rivals-to-lovers set in Italy. Olive Stone has recently lost her father with a larger-than-life personality, from whom she was estranged from after her parents divorce, and is left settling his estate. That includes selling off his restaurant - the one that cost him his family - and finishing his yet-to-be-published cookbook. In addition to dealing with all this alongside her grief, she’s forced to work along Leo, her father’s former sous chef and protégé, who he treated more like family than he did his employee. Olive and Leo get along like oil and vinegar to start, with Olive resentful of the close relationship Leo had with her father, and Leo frustrated by Olive’s intent to sell the restaurant without even hearing him out. But as the pair travel from Sicily to Tuscany to Liguria, revisiting her past trips with her father to familiar places with familiar faces, they find it harder and harder to resist their attraction to one another. But the fate of the restaurant and cookbook still hang over them, and Olive is still working to come to terms with who her father really was and how both he and her parent’s divorce influenced her life. The book is tender and heartwarming - both in the way it handled Olive’s family dynamics and her growing relationship with Leo, as well as the way she allowed herself to look at her past and feelings from both sides, opening herself up to accepting that she didn’t always have it right. This is just one more must-read standout book by Lizzy Dent!

Eeek! I wanted to love this. Maybe the setting wasn't for me? It felt like an average romance book, whereas I was looking for something with a bit more umph, a bit more creative, with higher level writing. I give this a solid 3/5.

I really loved this book -- it felt as close to traveling to Italy as I have experienced while reading. I loved Lizzy Dent's descriptions of all the places they visited and I loved the food descriptions -- all so vivid!

Olive has just found out that her recently deceased father, whom she has not had a close relationship in over a decade, has left her his restaurant. Along with this, he also wants her to travel to Italy with one of the people from the restaurant, whom her dad was writing a book with. Olive is reluctant about all of this and does not want to go on this trip with Leo.

As I said, I loved all the descriptions in this book -- I could picture it all so well. Italy is one of my favorite places and I will take every opportunity to be transported there!

I loved Olive -- she was so sweet and well meaning, and showed a lot of growth throughout the book as she's thrown in to situations she does not want to be in. I loved her friends too, it was a nice counterbalance. And everything about Leo was swoony -- he was so steady, supportive, and sweet. I loved their banter and interactions -- made me want to keep reading and seeing them together more.

This is the second book I've read by Lizzy Dent and I plan to read her backlist soon, and eagerly await what she writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

**Thank you for the ARC!! All opinions are completely my own.**

4.5 stars. Magical, flavorful, and sizzling. What a thrilling and enjoyable read! Foodies - this book was made for you, and I know this because I am one of you. The food descriptions are impeccable and the scenery is just gorgeous.

Not to mention - the romance is slow-burn and spicy! I need to book a trip to Italy ASAP!