⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This was a good, cozy romance palate cleanser. It had some heavier topics interwoven throughout the book, but for the most part, it was an easy and enjoyable read. It felt like I was reading a Hallmark movie.

Ellie was extremely relatable. She falls into a common trap that a lot of women do: she cares deeply for other people and asserts herself into such a caretaking role that she never allows anyone to take care of her, and everyone in her life expects her to do everything for them. Her growth in this novel was beautiful; Kerian was right, she is tough and demanding, yet passionate and warm, a true Queen.

I had weird vibes from Kerian in the beginning, but he grew on me, and I really loved him by the end. I know this story is kind of about him finding his own way a bit, but the scene in the restaurant had me screaming for him to do better. Which he did eventually, I just wish we didn’t have to wait so long for him to get there.

Diane was going through something, but wow, did I absolutely despise her character. Everything that came out of her mouth was poison, and I know Ben had his faults, but he honestly deserved better.

The spice felt off to me. The tension building throughout the book was brilliant, but then when we finally got to the spicy scenes, I couldn’t really figure out what was happening. The scenes were open door, and while the dirty talk was mostly explicit, the actual actions being described were very vague. It just felt like a weird mix to me.

I feel like this book was trying to do too much with tropes. I absolutely love fake dating, but I hated it for this book. Both characters had started to grow on me by this point in time, and how their first kiss played out just irritated me. It felt a little cheesy at times with the mentions of “one bed,” and Kerian actually declaring that “he fell first.” It was just trying to do too much when it really didn’t need to.

I could not put this book down! Thanks to St. Martins Press for the advance reader copy. I have never read a Sarah Chamberlain book, and was pleasantly surprised. This book is written in both characters' viewpoints, and their story has a great element of enemies to lovers. Kieran, a local chef and reality cooking show champion, is paired with Ellie to write his first cookbook. Their opposite personalities clash at first, and his reluctance to write a book infuriates her. As they get to know each other, they discover they love cooking and working together, and the relationship takes off from there. Both characters have childhood trauma, that Chamberlain addresses in a sensitive way. Also, Ellie is a widow with close ties to her in-laws, which adds more drama and layers to the story. Their personal lives eventually blow up their professional lives, and they part ways. The ending wraps up the story beautifully, and you feel great about their futures, both career-wise and for their relationship. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will look for more Sarah Chamberlain novels to read in the future!

When it says slow burn it means it lol
Although , it does take a bit for the couple to get acquainted. it is very worth it. When a chef and writer get together sparks fly …but not in the best way lol opposites attract, slow-burn, and I felt one sided hate to love . I personally felt like he falls first ❤️ and definitely gives golden retriever/black cat vibes.
Overall a cute love story and I can’t wait to see what this writer has for the future.

Thank you NetGalley , the publishers and Sarah chamberlain for the amazing opportunity to read this ARC.

Inspirational, as in I want to savor the moments when my own love feels like Kieran and Ellie’s. This book is honestly everything! It starts as enemies to lovers, with luminous forced proximity in a California cottage as Kieran and Ellie attempt to figure out how to work together on his cookbook. Chamberlain’s characters feature genuine stories (she’s a young widow, he has ADHD and dyslexia) that shine with the MOST CLEVER banter. I’m a foodie and everything about the way their cooking is written sings. Their challenge and resolution reads authentic, yet loving. The spicy scenes feel realistic, and also aspirational. Honestly, I am left inspired, surprised, and swooning! I cannot wait to read more from this author, and it’s a book of the year for me!

I really enjoyed this book and appreciated that the main characters weren't the picture perfect standard of beauty like in most rom-coms, but they were real, unique, and beautiful nonetheless. To me, this book was all about character development, which I thought the author executed really well. I also enjoyed the cooking aspect and loved the imagery.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Thank you St. Martins press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The cover of this novel was gorgeous and that is what sucked me in big time.. butt I felt I didn’t really like the dialogue to much.. the characters had way to much going on with themselves.. it was veryyy slow for me to get into at times.. but I will definitely keep an eye out for more books from Sarah!

“Love could be a recipe for disaster, or the best thing they ever cooked up…”

Kieran O'Neill just won a cooking reality TV show, is on track to open his own restaurant and even has a high-paying cookbook deal. But his ghostwriter is the most uptight, humorless woman he's ever met. Unfortunately to be seen as a serious chef like he's always wanted, he needs to finish this book...

Instead of working on her own cookbook, Ellie is ghostwriting one for the chaotic, impulsive Kieran. Or would be, if he'd ever answer her emails. But to own her own home like she's always dreamed of, she needs to finish this book...

As their deadline gets closer and the heat between them builds, can these two people let go of their past hurts and make something truly sweet together? Or will their fragile new love go up in smoke?

I am a huge fan of cooking shows and finding new recipes to love, so this book was right up my alley since we were following a fancy chef and cookbook ghostwriter as they worked together on the writing of a new cookbook.  I loved all the details about the recipes they were cooking together and perfecting as part of the process of putting together this cookbook.  Reading it was like its own version of comfort food.  Both characters were realistic in their emotional growth as they tried to heal from their own past traumas, making it easy to root for them and their HEA.  I loved that Ellie helped to boost his confidence and Kieran ensured she felt appreciated through his little acts of kindness.

This book had all the right ingrediets for a great romcom: Opposites attract, Forced proximity, Steamy encounters, Sweet heartfelt moments, and so much more.

I am looking forward to seeing what is next from Sarah after this wonderful debut!

The Slowest Burn is out September 24th

Thank you to Sarah Chamberlain, St. Martin’s Publishing Group, and NetGalley for this early copy of The Slowest Burn in exchange for my honest review.

We are in San Francisco, Ellie a cookbook ghostwriter, recently widowed, starts working for the grumpy Kieran. The story between the two is, as the title says, slow burn, and we see their relationship go from enemies-to-lovers. The spicy is very spicy, pardon my word pun. We have double pov, a beautiful city, a cooking romance, what else? But what distinguishes this story, in my opinion, it's their diversity, they are not the "usual" handsome protagonists of romances, but normal people, with some flaws, which never hurts.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

I'm starting to, dangerously, obsess over books set in San Francisco. As soon as I saw this beautiful cover, I fell in love.
The protagonist is Ellie, a cookbook ghostwriter, who finds herself working with Kieran, a very famous TV chef. The chemistry between the two is very palpable, and by working together the sparks fly, but as the title already tells us, the story is slow-burn.
Ellie and Kieran are very different people, but what they have in common is their love of cooking. The story is told with two PoVs, so we get to see the growth of both characters, and I especially love it when we get to read the love story from his point of view too! There are also some time jumps, a bit random though, perhaps this slowed down the reading a bit, but it certainly didn't make me like the book any less.
However, there is also another mini trope within the story, and it is fake dating, I would have preferred this aspect to be explored a little more. Last but not least, I loved the diversity of the characters, we don't have the usual perfect handsome man, and Ellie is not the usual tall, beautiful girl who doesn't know she is, but a normal girl, with a slightly curvier body.
This is a pretty good debut, Sarah Chamberlain is one to keep an eye on.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

This was a really cute read! Kieran is a chef who won a cooking competition show and Ellie is a ghostwriter tasked with helping him write his first cookbook. What a fun idea!

The Slowest Burn was definitely a slow burn and when things took off there was some mild spice. I enjoyed how Ellie and Kieran’s relationship unfolded. They helped each other grow and move forward in their lives both together and separately.

There were times when the story felt a bit disjointed. Like maybe I had skipped a page accidentally. There were times when it felt choppy.

Overall this was a cute and fluffy romance with sweet interactions between the main characters and a cool cat named Floyd.

what an enjoyable book that absolutely made me hungry lol i thought this was a fun, trope-filled book that hit every cliche perfectly. it had a little bit of everything and chamberlain spun her own unique twist on it that was super enjoyable. there were some parts that i found to be a bit slow, but it picked up and the characters were relatable, wholesome, and made my heart squeeze. a wonderful debut with such a sweet and steamy romance and the best message. excited for its release!

So relatable. I really enjoyed this story and felt a kinship with the lead character. Highly recommend this story.

The gorgeous cover of this book drew me in, but the slow burn style of this particular piece made it hard to get hooked on the storyline. The plot premise is good and sets the story up well, but I found the characters to be a little too caught up in their own minds and the inner dialogue didn’t translate to intrigue for me. Thanks to NetGalley and St, Martin’s Griffins for the ARC.

When Ellie (book ghostwriter) and Kieren (celebrity chef) are put together to co-write a cookbook, it's like oil and water. As you get to know their backstories and they spend time together in the kitchen collaborating, the kitchen gets a bit steamy. I found myself rooting for them both and thoroughly enjoying the cooking aspect of the book. It's a perfect romance read - I laughed, I cried and I enjoyed the steamy scenes.

The Slowest Burn is definitely a sweet and fluffy slow burn romance. I loved that they both had issues to work through and found each other throughout it all. It is a feel good romance and will give you the perfect escape.

First off thank you NetGalley for the arc of this!

The slowest burn was the cutest sweetest romance I’ve read in a long time!

This book follows dual POV Ellie (cookbook ghost writer) and Kieran (tv famous chef) in a opposites attract slow burn fluffy romance and even with this being a sweet fluffy romance breaks some of the “romance norms”! I’ll elaborate below.

A few of the things I absolutely loved about this book is that broke some of the romance stereotypes

-neurodiversity inclusive (ADHD specifically) as someone with ADHD I felt the author really captured one type of adhd and how the right support system vs the wrong support system can really effect this.

“I was getting annoyed with myself for being stuck, which made the paralysis worse.” <<very relatable!

-body inclusivity. Main character is mid size/plus size female but it’s not a focal point. It’s not about that it’s just how her body is she’s not self conscious! I love that so much that they both have a “non stereotypical romance book body”. The other main character is not a 6’4 dark haired male, he’s shorter with fire red hair love love love the inclusion of all different bodies and hair types.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Griffin, and Sarah Chamberlain for the early access copy of The Slowest Burn.

The Slowest Burn is a dual point-of-view story that follows Ellie and Kieran. Ellie is a celebrity ghostwriter, exceptionally organized, relatively recently widowed, and has no interest in deviating from the comfort of her routine of caring for those around her. That is until she meets her new client Kieran.

Kieran is far from a perfectionist, unless it is in the kitchen. After winning a reality tv cooking show, Kieran is asked to write a book with his creative recipes. He is known for his joking demeanor, but underneath it lies insecurities. When Ellie and Kieran are forced to work together, it starts out as a recipe for disaster.

This enemies-to-lovers story has neurodiverse representation, deals with finding yourself after loss, and finding your voice.

A cute debut rom com with a lot of depth. This one started off slow but then it picked up about half way through. I liked that they both had issues they had to work through. I liked how Kierens adhd was represented and his struggles with that. Overall it was a good read and I look forward to future works from this author.

Excellent romcom! Definitely a slow burn but such a sweet love. Ellie and Kieran are both lovable characters and them together is amazing!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

this is a sweet friends to lovers romance. It is a quick read, I read it in two afternoons. I really enjoyed the story.