I read this all in one day - it was sweet and special, with enough humor to keep me going. Nearly shed tears on the regular, and I'm a robot who doesn't cry for books. There were a couple 'over-explaining' bits toward the end, but didn't take away from the experience.

And now I have a book hangover. When I read romance, I feel like I’m eating dessert. It’s almost always my preference. There are sweet romances that satisfy my romance sweet tooth a lot like a fudgy brownie would. The Slowest Burn satisfied my romance sweet tooth like a double fudge brownie sundae with caramel drizzle on top. There was so much substance to this book that it wholly satisfied my brain and left me wanting to go back and start at page one again.

The story begins with our heroine, Ellie, and our hero Kieran. Ellie is a young widow, living in a casita behind her in-law’s home. She takes care of them and they lean on her heavily for companionship, especially her mother in law. I found this aspect of the story so well done and heartfelt. Ellie is a ghostwriter with an emphasis on cookbooks. Her boss assigns her to the latest “cooking show winner” hot chef named, Kieran. Kieran is just a love. He has ADHD and is dyslexic and has felt like a failure for his entire life, no thanks to his horrible parents. At first, Ellie and Kieran clash hard. Like hard hard. However, they get past the hate pretty quickly and become friends.

This book dealt with grief, mental health, neurodiversity, and body image in such a refreshing way. I was never once frustrated with either of the main characters and their thoughts and (re)actions because they were so believable and relatable. I loved that Ellie was short and curvy but it was never a “thing” and Kieran was short. So many touches like that created the layers to my double fudge brownie sundae which made this book an absolutely scrumptious treat for my reader brain. Will I reread this book? DEFINITELY! Will I purchase a paper copy of this book? YEP!!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
The first thing that comes to my mind after reading this book, is found family. Kieran and Ellie both struggled for any bit of attention and love from their families. Now they are grown, and while one of them doesn’t have relationships the other is a widow. This opposites attract duo both have a passion for food, and the way the author wrote about food and brainstorming of the cookbook is lovely. I was just as intrigued with the cookbook as I was with the main characters and their relationship.
I felt for both characters, but especially for Ellie. Like a lot of women, she gave and gave to others until she was exhausted. Whether in her personal or professional life she was the rock that everyone could count on. But she was unhappy and unfulfilled. Kieran found success in his career, but personally something was missing and he had overcome so many struggles with his ADHD, dyslexia, and alcoholism.
This is a modern-day romance with all the imperfections people bring to the table, and a beautiful second chance romance wrapped into one great debut novel. I look forward to reading more from Sarah Chamberlain.
**I will post a book review on Tuesday, May 13.

I really enjoyed Ellie and Kieran’s story. I liked that they both had flaws and worked through them together. I do think there were points where Ellie’s background felt repeated like we get it her parents sucked. It felt like she explained it one too many times. I like how Kieran became her champion it was very sweet. Also I wish Diane had a few more redeeming scenes than just the end. I felt that she was a very unlikeable character and it would have suited better for her to have some nicer moments with Ellie.

Thank you, NetGalley and Saint Martin’s Press for this ARC! First off I have to start by saying that I was very impressed that this was a debut novel. The author did a wonderful job of creating a beautiful romantic, slow burn story. The main characters were very relatable and well written. I really enjoyed how they were so different in their personalities, but yet they come together in such a unique way. I really loved the book cover and all the food references were great! My favorite part of the book was the banner between the main characters and the dual POV really worked well with this book. I highly recommend it, and I will definitely be reading more books from this author!

DNF @ 20% - The beautiful cover of this pulled me in, as did the premise but neither could carry the story. While this is alternating POVs, i didn't feel like Kiernan or Ellie had distinct voices, and the story was all about the characters telling one another (and the reader) what was going on, instead of showing. There was a lot of inner-monologing as well. I think this debut will have success, but the telling rather than showing might put readers off the book too soon before they can get into the plot.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

This debut novel pulled me right in. The characters were very well written and realistic, and the story engaging.

While I did enjoy this, I didn’t love it - the chemistry between Ellie and Kieran didn’t ever really come across for me and it fell more than a little flat for me. I also found the ending unsatisfying (but no spoilers).

Despite my issues, I will definitely check out the author’s future work.



Thank you to St. Martins’ Griffin and NetGalley for the DRC

I can't believe this is a debut novel for this author! Fantastic! I love to see people doing what they are meant to do and Sarah Chamberlain, you are meant to write! I loved how this book started off. The enemies portion was spot on and made you think romance would never happen between these two. I'm a sucker for rom coms that feature food so I knew this was going to be a good one. I also enjoy a good duel POV and this one definitely delivered in that category. The banter was the chef's kiss though! SO GOOD! It also dealt with some heavy topics too like grief of a spouse, so trigger warnings on that. I highly recommend it. Can't wait for the next! Thanks for the advance copy.

"The Slowest Burn" was one of my favorite books that I read in 2024! I was really rooting for the two main characters, who were complete opposites, to finally fall for each other. Here's a quick summary: Kieran, an up-and-coming chef, is trying to extend his time in the spotlight by publishing his first cookbook. However, he is paired with Ellie, a ghostwriter who has a very Type A personality and sticks to her rules a little too closely. Despite their differences, they must work together to achieve their goals. Of course, things always have a way of heating up in the kitchen.

This book not only provided elite banter and romantic pining, it also covered sensitive topics and allowed the character to be fully realized people, not just fluffy characters who's only purpose is to hook up and live happily ever after (not that there's anything wrong with that!).

I loved the way that the theme of grief was portrayed in the story. It effectively depicted the struggle of moving on with Ellie's mother-in-law holding on too tightly to the past, and Ellie facing the challenge of allowing herself to be happy again.

The Slowest Burn lives up to it's name of really making you wait for that spice! It is so worth it!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to get a physical copy for my bookshelf.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sarah Chamberlain for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ☆☆☆

One thing that really stuck out to me about this book is how unique it was! I've never read or seen a book with this plot before and that made it even more fun!

The tropes in this book? Literally could not stop squealing :) Ellie and Kieran totally gave workplace enemies to lovers and I'm here for it! The way they worked together and slowly started opening up to each other made me swoon. Kieran is such an amazing mmc, he's so so sweet and made me literally laughed out loud so many times, i love him! I also really connected with Ellie and love how strong of an fmc she was. But them together? Unstoppable.

Another aspect of this book I adored was the realness & hard truth of battling mental health. I love when an author can bring real life struggles to a book and make you feel heard, Sarah did just that!

Such a cute story! I'm obsessed with the way these two are together, I could nottt get enough of the cooking scenes because them together is INSANE chemistry!

It was definitely the slowest burn (wink, wink), but so worth the wait!

This was a really sweet debut romance! I appreciated that their story was different than what we typically see and that Kieran wasn’t a towering 6’4 hulk man (this was truly refreshing)!

I know part of Ellie’s character was that she’d already grieved and was ready to move on but I would’ve loved to see her dig into the issues with Max more—we got a few cues but kind of just skated past them. Also would have loved more of her friendship with Nicole—did they go on the trip??

Very cute story overall!

✨MINI ARC REVIEW✨

Firstly I want to say thank you to @netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This book was such a palette cleanser and it’s a sweet and touching story. This romcom is filled with forced proximity, humor, tension and spice. A ghostwriter forced to work with a reality cooking show winner to write a cookbook, despite their differences. She is strict and likes order while he flies by the seat of his pants.

This story has depth as both sides of our couple have their own tragic backstories, one side filled with abandonment and the other with loss of a loved one. Watching the development of each of our characters and how they overcome their own hurdles separately and together was an amazing sight.

I will admit it was a bit slow to get into and our FMC does come off a bit … harsh at first, but as you get deeper into the book and start peeling back those layers, I didn’t want to put it down.

Neither of them wanted to be in a relationship, but as they were forced to get to know each other, they realized the other is exactly what they needed. Despite their rocky start, the couple brought out the best in each other.

A fun romantic comedy about a very type A ghostwriter and the rebel reality cooking show winner that she is paired with to write his cookbook. I appreciated that these two communicated - not always perfectly and not always directly but they usually got there in the end without annoying me too much (a long drawn-out misunderstanding is a pet peeve of mine in romances). I also appreciated these two helping each other discover their boundaries and how their dreams have changed over the course of the book. I felt it was a fun rom-com with some series side missions that made it a well-rounded novel.

This book was really sweet and touching. It’s a story about finding love after loss, grief, and food!
Kieran is so sweet and a major golden retriever which is my favorite! Ellie is navigating life after losing her husband. I loved these two characters together and reading their journey of falling in love.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this read. The main characters were lovable, relatable, and their chemistry was excellent. Sometimes, cuisine-focused novels feel excessively focused on the sensation of food, and this novel did a great job balancing the romanticism of cuisine with character development - it didn't rely on food descriptions to carry the sensuality and emotion of the story. Will be watching for more from this author!

4.5 stars

It took me a little bit to get into this book but it was so worth it! This was a really sweet book about love after loss, discovering yourself, and food.
Kieran is the sweetest golden retriever man. He’s still struggling to deal with some issues from his past and with his family but he is so positive and so sweet to Ellie.
Ellie is dealing with the loss of her husband and a very complicated relationship with her in laws.
I loved the dynamic between these two characters. Their initial dislike for each other that turned into a really great partnership and then a great relationship was so fun to watch develop. They were both struggling with a lot of things and neither of them felt like they were ready to be in a relationship which led to a lot of complicated feelings. Bit they so clearly cared for each other and I loved all their interactions.

This was a really great book and I highly recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the ARC!!

Mein Leseerlebnis

In dem Liebesroman verlaufen die ersten Treffen der beiden Hauptcharaktere alles andere als ideal. Gegensätze prallen aufeinander und zunächst finden Ellie und Kieran keine gemeinsame Ebene, auf der sie gut miteinander arbeiten können. Es war spannend zu sehen, wie sich die beiden zusammengerauft haben.

Die Szenen, in denen sie eine gegenseitige Wertschätzung füreinander entwickelt haben, fand ich zudem sehr berührend. Denn auch wenn beide aufgrund ihrer Geschichten und Persönlichkeiten das Leben ganz unterschiedlich angehen, so haben sie einander doch nach ein paar Startschwierigkeiten wunderbar unterstützen können. So was mag ich in Liebesromanen ja generell.

Die beiden Hauptcharkatere sind vielschichtig und faszinierend, zudem waren sie mir je sympathisch. Darauf aufbauend habe ich sehr gerne mit ihnen Zeit verbracht und ihnen alles Gute gewünscht.

Als Liebespaar haben die beiden für mich gut funktioniert, ich war beim Lesen emotional involviert und fand den Verlauf des Romans über Dreiviertel hinweg sehr ansprechend.

Gegen Ende des Romans kommt es zu einer für Liebesromane (leider!) so typischen kurzzeitigen Trennung der Hauptcharaktere, darauf hätte ich gut verzichten können. Besonders ein Streit zwischen beiden fühlte sich doch arg konstruiert an und sowohl Ellie als auch Kieran verhielten sich auf eine Art und Weise, die nicht so richtig zu ihnen passte.

Den Epilog fand ich nett, aber er hat mich nicht so tief ins Herz getroffen, wie erwartet. Einige große Entwicklungen werden in ihm kurz angesprochen, ich hätte sie teils gerne näher miterlebt.

Nehme ich das alles zusammen, dann ist mir der Liebesroman eine Buchempfehlung mit leichten Abstrichen wert.

🖤🖤🖤 3/4 - 🖤🖤🖤🖤

PS: Ich liebe das wunderschöne Cover des Liebesromans.

Für wen?

Wer romance Bücher mag, in denen das Paar erst nach einer gewissen Anlaufzeit zusammenkommt, für den könnte “The slowest burn” eine schöne Sache sein.

This title is so appropriate for this book. This is a DUAL POV and the representation in it includes grief, people pleasing, ADHD, and addiction. So much angst, snark, and sweetness. There are also nods to rom-coms. This was a fantastic read.

this was super cute! i really enjoyed this one and the ending was perfect. i did find myself not enjoying ellie’s in laws, well mainly mother in law! but other than that i truly loved all these characters. watching the main characters fall for each other and trying to adjust to the feelings just hit home to me.

This book was super cute. I love stories about food and books and this one definitely delivers on both. I liked that the characters seemed believable and relatable. My only critique is that I thought the pacing was a bit off. It was a little too slow for me, but overall it's a great pick!

Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest reviewl