This was such a cute and fluffy romance, enjoyed the enemies to liver vibe and that is about writing a cooking book, both characters feel real and authentic. Supper easy read for summer

This is a lovely story of two people bringing out the best in each other (after initially bringing out the worst in each other).

Ellie is a young widow and talented cookbook ghostwriter. Kieran is a chef with a boisterous personality and newfound fame from his recent win on a reality TV cooking competition. When Ellie is hired to help Kieran with his highly anticipated cookbook, she is quickly put off by his lack of seriousness and precision. Kieran is equally dismayed by Ellie’s personality. However, they have to figure out a way to work together - and when they do, they are surprised to find out how much they care for one another.

I enjoyed The Slowest Burn and loved Ellie’s determination not to eat “sad pastries” - I agree! At times, this was a difficult read as Ellie is a person who focuses more on others than herself and her wellbeing. It was great to see her grow and figure out her own needs and wants. At first I found Kieran as grating as Ellie did, but he matures a lot as the chapters go by and steps up. Overall, a sweet read about two people who have a little self-discovery to do before they can be with their well-matched opposite.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

When I picked this on up I assumed it was just going to be a lighthearted rom com and I couldn't have been more wrong. What I got was so much better and I really just loved it so much.
Ellie is a cookbook ghost writer aho gets assigned to help write a cook book for Kieran, the winner of a television cooking show and chef at a fancy restaurant in San Francisco. Their first impression of each other is undoubtedly negative but as they work together they realize the actually compliment each other well and begin to fall for one another. Ellie is still feeling from the suddenly death of her husband and Kieran has struggled with substance abuse and feeling unworthy. The story is a beautiful one and amidst the love story, there is a very real picture of grief tied in. Beautifully written and I am happy to have read it.

Ellie is a cookbook ghost writer, living in grief after the death of her first husband. She has been assigned to write a cookbook with Kiernan, who recently won a reality TV cooking show. The two are attracted to one another right away, but they decide their relationship will be work and friends only. Then Kiernan asks Ellie to pretend to be his girlfriend at his parents' party, and sparks fly. Can the two overcome their pasts, set aside their work, and find true love?

Spicy and sassy! I loved this piece and the main characters. The chef romance thrope worked well and fake dating is always a favorite!

i was so excited to receive this early that i dropped everything i was reading just so i could read this one! i loved everything about this book! the characters felt very genuine and were written really well! i will definitely be recommending this to my book club!

I received an advanced copy for my review, this is my honest review that I am leaving voluntarily. It's in the title guys! It is a slow burn, tropes are grumpy x sunshine, forced proximity and banter. It is an open door but it's perfect for the category it is in. It has great character development and of course you get your happy ending. I really enjoyed this.

One absolute *swoon-worthy* book at your service!! This was such a cute read, I loved every bit of it, I had the biggest smile on my face when reading it.Both characters feel relatable, and their story felt so sweet. I can’t wait to see more from this author!

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect for foodies and slow burn romance fans!

I was intrigued by the set up of the plot so I gave this a try. I ended up really liking it. It deals with deep topics like healing from trauma. I think the writer handled these topics well.

The romance is reverse grumpy x sunshine and a very slow burn. The build up to the romance was great. I mean I was swooning over this man and everything he said. He also kissed her hand! How sweet and charming is that?!

A great debut book !

this is really the slowest yet sweetest romance ive ever read
never wanted it to end cuz it feels so good
def recommended it

Strong story that pulls you in and holds on until the very end. Love lost, grief that won't let go, shadows of the past that taint the present - and ultimately rising above and finding yourself and discovering there is more, that you deserve more. Rollercoaster of emotions and strong characters make this a winner.

📖 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧

“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸.“

This book was quite literally the chef’s kiss! Start to finish I was drawn into the character’s stories and narratives. I have always been a fan of watching cooking shows and competitions, so it was really fun to read a book about two foodies, one a fancy chef and the other a ghost writer for cookbooks.

Both of our leads are overcoming trauma from their childhood along with Ellie still dealing with the loss of her husband. It was so nice to see how they both healed over the course of the book.

The tension and banter was great! I love the forced proximity aspect of the story along with Kieran being neurodivergent.

This is definitely a slowwww burn, but I don’t think it took away from the relationship at all. This man kisses her hand at one point and I seriously MELTED. 😮‍💨🔥 Kieran is a fantastic MMC and showed his love through little acts of kindness. Ellie prioritized everyone before herself, and Kieran prioritized just Ellie!

“𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳." 𝘈 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦. "𝘐'𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦."

I look forward to reading more books by 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 in the future! 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧 releases September 24. You are definitely going to want to check this one out!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my early copy of this story so that I could share this honest review! 💖

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴:
☀️ 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘺 𝘹 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦
💋 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺
🫶🏼 𝘋𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘖𝘝
🍷 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴
💖 𝘕𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘔𝘔𝘊
🥰 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴
🔥 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 (1.5 🌶️)

This is a terrific first novel from Sarah Chamberlain with strong, sympathetic main characters who have each overcome challenging childhoods. Ellie Wasserman is a ghostwriter working on a cookbook with Kieran O’Neill, a celebrity chef, courtesy of the reality cooking competition that he won.

Ellie is a young widow whose husband died suddenly three years ago due to a congenital heart defect. She lives in a cottage on her in-laws’ property; her parents were neglectful and are not meaningfully involved in her life. Her father was a musician who eventually abandoned Ellie, her younger brother, Hank, and her mother when Ellie was a young girl; and her mother is self-absorbed and has never really grown up. Ellie spent her childhood taking care of Hank and first got interested in cooking because she wanted to try and provide him some semblance of a stable family life.

Kieran’s family was better off financially than Ellie’s but his parents were no more supportive than hers. Kieran struggled in school due to ADHD and dyslexia and was constantly told that he was a disappointment and needed to try harder. His father is an alcoholic and Kieran also had a drinking problem but has been successfully in recovery for a number of years. Kieran got interested in cooking professionally because he felt competent and sure of himself when he was in the kitchen.

Ellie is a planner and organizer a people pleaser focused on giving the people she cares about what they need—especially her brother and her in-laws. The downside of this is that she doesn’t pay much attention to what she wants and needs. Kieran is more flexible and creative; his closest relationships are with his colleagues at the fine dining restaurant he works at.

Ellie and Kieran clash initially when they begin to work on Kieran’s cookbook together, but once Kieran opens up about his ADHD and dyslexia, Ellie realizes that her typical approach to ghostwriting won’t work. After she adjusts her style, they are able to work together better, causing both of them to reconsider their first impressions.

Together, they figure out what story Kieran wants to tell with his cookbook, and through the process of selecting and testing recipes for the book, they come to really understand and like each other, eventually giving into their strong attraction.

Their sweet, slow burn love story is filled with interesting details about recipes, cooking and the process of putting together a cookbook. It’s easy to root for Ellie and Kieran as they each work to surmount issues carried over from their painful pasts before they arrive at a HEA. Ellie boosts his confidence; Kieran ensures that Ellie is appreciated personally and professionally. Sarah Chamberlain shows plenty of promise in her wonderful first novel; look forward to seeing what she does in the future!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for the ARC.