What a swoony, emotional and Beautiful romance!! It’s full of humor and heart and a wonderful story of people you won’t want to let go of at the end of the book.

Farzan is all out of dreams. He doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life anymore. He feels like he is a loser compared to his settled and successful family and friends.
But he is the “caretaker”, always there to help and support others. He is afraid to want too much because he always seems to mess things up.

David is ALL hopes and dreams. He has always known what he wants and goes all out to accomplish his dream of becoming a master sommelier.

“He came alive when he met Farzan. Wasn’t there some way to have both—to chase his dreams and keep Farzan? For Farzan, he’d have to try.”

I did not want this story to ever end! I really want more Farzan, David and their circle!
-5 Stars-

With its sweet and spicy romance and tart and tangy but meaningful life lessons, I’ll Have What He’s Having by Adib Khorram has successfully crafted the recipe of a delicious read.

I have to start off by talking about my favorite part of the book, which was all the incredible descriptions of Persian food. There were so many times that I wished I was at the table with Farzan and David, getting to eat all the amazing dishes that were lovingly prepared and lovingly described. I’m glad I read this book just for the mouthwatering food scenes alone. I don’t know much about wine, but David’s explanations and comments about wine were equally as intriguing and lush. I was introduced to two different areas of cuisine I wasn’t familiar with and I’m grateful for it.

Continuing with food, this book focuses on something I have a soft spot for in stories, which is the importance of food and cooking in connecting with yourself and others and in building and preserving community. It was clear that Shiraz Bistro wasn’t just another place to eat, or just Farzan’s parents’ restaurant, but a cornerstone of the Iranian community in Kansas City that represented a home away from home. Because of Shiraz Bistro’s history and importance, the determination and doubt Farzan has about taking over the restaurant was easy to empathize with as a reader. His struggles with self-confidence and pressure felt relatable and relevant.

Farzan as a main character was a joy to read as he slowly but surely grew more comfortable with himself. His and David’s respective self-growth journeys felt satisfying, and felt comforting as a reminder that no matter your age there’s always time to take chances and be true to yourself. And the chemistry between Farzan and David was spectacular. Their physical intimacy was equal to their emotional intimacy, and seeing their relationship build and solidify was a treat. I really enjoyed reading from both of their perspectives. I also really enjoyed getting to know the rest of the characters, too, including Farzan’s friends and family and David’s friends and family. Every character felt fleshed out with their own unique issues and successes, and everyone’s sense of humor made it easy to be charmed by them.

I decided to read I’ll Have What He’s Having because I loved a different book by the same author. I’m glad that I did, and reading it made me glad that the author’s also delving into adult fiction alongside young adult fiction. I’m looking forward to more books in the adult genre.

Big thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. 4.25/5 stars.

This book was sweet. I haven't read this author, but apparently usually writes YA, which is a bit surprising as this is steamy!

I did enjoy the characters and liked that, while a romance, we got to see their lives in addition to that.

Nothing particularly blew me away with this one, but it was still a fun, sweet, yet steamy read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Pub for an ARC.

I did have what they were having and it was.... *chef's kiss*
I really enjoyed reading this and watching these two amazing characters come out of their shell and finally acknowledge their feelings.
My only complain here is that third-act breakup *shaking my tiny head*

Thanks to Forever and Netgalley for the ARC!

A very wholesome, fake identity romance that centers around the food industry, this book was sweet. I really enjoyed the sweet moments and also spicy times that occurred between the two main characters. I love all the queer stories I’ve read in a lot of books this year. It’s so wonderful.

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram is one of my favorite books, so I was super excited to read another one of Khorram’s books. Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me.

I had a hard time feeling connected to the characters and invested in the storyline. I also didn’t find myself rooting for Farzan and David. My favorite parts of the books were Farzan’s and David’s respective friendships with their friends. Otherwise, I just wasn’t interested through most of this sadly.

Thanks, Net Galley, for the copy!

After another disaster in love, Farzan commits to his go-to of great wine and fries to numb his heart at one of the newest wine bars in Kansas City. Unfortunately, the name he gave in the loud setting was also the name of the local food critic. Upon hearing this, the wine director, David, wines and dines Farzan to win over a good review. As the night wind downs, they end up together and the mix-up comes out. Not being in the same circles, they both thought that was it. However, as Farzan takes over his family’s bistro, he knew he needed help from an expert. David knew he needed a friend and certainly needed help studying for his upcoming master sommelier test. Agreeing to be just friends, they struck a deal to keep things business. When business starts mixing with pleasure, can Farzan and David keep things loose knowing David was soon leaving or do emotions begin to spell out disaster for their casual agreement?

One thing that made this one a bit fun for me was all of the reference to Kansas City, specifically everything mentioned about Country Club Plaza. I spent half a year there building a restaurant so it was a treat actually knowing what they were referencing each time. Farzan and David were great characters and thoroughly enjoyed their story from their initial meet cute to the grand gestures. This one had lots of steam and plenty of romance.

3.5 stars
This started off very strong. I was pretty much instantly charmed by the main characters (and the secondary characters.) There were so many things I really enjoyed about this book, especially the sense of place and being immersed in the restaurant and family settings and Persian culture and food. I also appreciated the care the author puts into being inclusive and thoughtful about how various people are represented and described.

I really wanted to love this book and I did enjoy it, but I found the pacing was off and there was a lot of repetition and I think those words could have been better served by better showing vs a lot of telling. Also the sex scenes seemed . . . educational? rather than emotional, which is a shame because I wanted to believe in the connection between the two main characters and that could have helped it level up and taken everything a bit deeper.

Again, I did enjoy this book and recommend it but I think some strong editing could have taken it up a notch. I'll also still go and check out the author's YA work, which I've heard such great things about.

3.5/5 stars

For Adib Khorram’s first foray into adult lit, this was pretty good!

David and Farzan were lovable characters with a dynamic chemistry. I particularly enjoyed that they were older MCs that were still trying to figure things out. Not everyone has their life figured in their 30s and people *do* still grapple with things such as relationship shifts, aging parents, living up to expectations, work-life balance, and chasing your passions.

However, I think my favorite part was the focus on community. Khorram did an excellent job at highlighting how friends, family, and others play an integral part in someone’s support system.

That being said, something about this book fell short for me. I think it might be the writing style. It could become too descriptive and repetitive at times. The third act breakup also didn’t quite work for me, as I felt like it could have been solved with a short conversation between the two parties.

Overall, I quite enjoyed Khorram’s first adult novel and I’m excited to see what he does next.

I liked this and I liked them together. My thing is for the first half of the book they were trying to be friends with benefits and they are both in their late 30's. It's time for a relationship, be serious. Other than that I liked it.

I received an arc through netgalley.

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and Grand Central Publishing for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this one. It took me longer than expected to really feel drawn into this book and the world it created. I almost DNF’ed it a few times but I’m glad I kept reading. I think this book was very sweet and easy to read but did have a few pacing issues.

Adib Khorram wrote about community in a way that I just wanted to keep having scenes with Farzan and his friends. And I think that’s where this book really shined.

This sommelier/chef romance was a delight to read! It's very sexy and full of good food and wine, complicated family, funny and supportive friends, joyful queerness, and a healthy appreciation for certain physique-flattering articles of clothing 😏

I hadn't read anything by Adib Khorram before this, although I knew he was best known for his YA novel, Darius The Great Is Not Okay, which I'd heard very positive things about. I'm definitely looking forward to digging into his previous books. (Update: I have now read Darius the Great Is Not Okay and it was excellent!)

* It's very sexy: I truly appreciated how realistic and authentic the sex scenes were, with plenty of humor and awkwardness and excellent communication.

* full of good food and wine: the flavors and sensory experiences of the restaurants were so evocative! I really wished I could be there, too!

✨ Review ✨ I'll Have What He's Having by Adib Khorram; Narrated by Shezi Sardar & Brent Billings

Thanks to Forever, Hachette Audio, and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

This book starts with a hillarious misunderstanding. Farzan, heartbroken, shows up at his favorite Kansas City wine bar to binge on wine and fries, his favorite grief food. There he meets David, a sommelier at the wine bar. However, Farzan gave the name Frank Allen at the door to simplify things, and David mistook him for famous food critic Frank Allen. They flirt, end up back at home together, and realize the mistake. They end up coming back together though and make a deal to help each other out -- Farzan helps David study for his master sommelier test and David helps Farzan figure out how to take over his family's restaurant.

I loved that both of the main characters were a little messy, full of just a little bit of chaos, and that made this story feel more authentic. Their continual attraction and grappling with their feelings and that attraction made this a lot of fun to read.

I enjoyed that it was set in Kansas City - somewhere different than the norm - and after a little bit of investigation, I'm excited to try out the wine and fries bar that inspired the author 🎉 .

The characters were in their 30s and grappling with all sorts of things like family, including aging parents, as well as changing friendships, chasing your dreams, and their own aging bodies. I really loved seeing these sorts of mid-life topics featured, but in a way that still felt so full of energy.

🎧 The audio narration for this was extraordinary. The narrators each provided such a great depiction of the whole vibe of their respective character and really brought the sultry energy of this book forward. Great audiobook!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)
Genre: contemporary m/m romance
Setting: Kansas City
Length: 10 hours 4 minutes
Pub Date: August 27, 2024

Read this if you like:
⭕️ wine & fries
⭕️ delicious food descriptions
⭕️ romances with characters in their 30s

I really enjoyed the story. I liked how the author centered the characters culture and cultural differences to the story. It made it richer. The book was well written and you couldn't help but love the character.

Are you looking for a new queer romance book to give you all the feels? I’ll Have What He’s Having, Adib Khorram’s first adult novel, is it. It made me laugh, swoon, fan myself, and tear up. It was great!

Here’s the book’s description:

When it comes to love, Farzan Alavi is a disaster. After his most recent heartbreak, he’s drowning his sorrows at Kansas City’s newest wine bar. Only instead of being crowded between strangers, he’s escorted to a VIP table for one. There, the hot sommelier does more than treat him to the meal of his life. The way he flirts with Farzan ignites instant sparks.

There’s just one problem: David Curtis thinks Farzan is Frank Allen, Kansas City’s most influential food critic. The truth only comes out after the two spend an unforgettably hot night together. Good news—both think the mix-up is hilarious. Bad news—David is studying to become a master sommelier and has no interest in a relationship.

Neither expects their paths to cross again . . . until Farzan inherits his family’s bistro and needs David’s restaurant knowledge. The two agree to an exchange: David will answer Farzan’s questions, and Farzan will help David study for his test. Only business turns to pleasure when neither can ignore the attraction still sizzling between them. But with David set on moving after his test, and Farzan committed to his family’s restaurant, how can their relationship last past the expiration date?

Khorram’s novel is the third I’ve read in the last few months that feature a character attempting to take a high level sommelier test. I talked about this with someone at work the other day who, surprise, was reading yet another novel featuring the same. And three of those four are queer romances. So, we figure the gays are having a wine moment and we are here for it! Coincidence aside, it’s really interesting to have something like the master sommelier test be the end goal of one of the characters. I’d never thought much about it (even though I live in a wine region and know how varied the job opportunities can be in the industry) and I appreciated getting a little insight into the process and why someone would go through such an incredibly hard test. I also really appreciated that Khorram made sure David wasn’t a wine snob. He’s a wine expert, to be sure, but he didn’t judge anyone’s tastes and wasn’t above having a glass of a cheap wine with friends.

I ended up rating this one higher on Goodreads because I was just so entertained and drawn into the story. But the writing almost had me dropping it to a 3 star. I know I was reading an egalley so there is a teeny chance some of the issues I had could be changed. There was a good deal of repetitiveness in a number of ways. Characters’ physical appearance were described (in detail) more than once, backstories were repeated, and if I had to hear about David’s “vetiver” scent one more time, I might have thrown my ereader across the room. (If you have no idea what vetiver is, which I didn’t, it’s a type of plant, “large tufted bunchgrass” that the internet tells me is similar to the scent of dried grass but more earthy.) I also feel like Farzan’s backstory and issues he had to overcome were more detailed than David’s which made the story ever so slightly off balance. There were just a few areas where I wanted more. None of these issues were deal breakers for me and I still found this book to be very enjoyable. But this is very much an instance where the vibes of the novel outweighed how technically “good” it was. I’ll still absolutely recommend it to romance readers.

This is a great example of not having to “relate” to a character to be able to enjoy the hell out of a book. It drives me a bit bananas when I hear a book influencer say that they didn’t like a book because they couldn’t “relate” to a character in a book. Like, what does that even mean? I’m a white, straight, female and I still had a great time reading this book (about two gay males of colour). I like novels because it helps me get a little insight into different lives and I don’t know why other voracious readers have such a struggle with that.

An extra little thing in this book that I liked? The characters were my age - 37. I’m so happy that we’re seeing more and more older main characters in romances. Twentysomethings aren’t the only ones looking for love and I’m glad publishers are putting money behind these stories.

This was a romance, first and foremost, but the friendship between Farzan and his two best friends? Oh, I wish those friendships on everyone in the world because it was so special. I loved it.

Make sure you have some good food and a glass of wine beside you while you’re reading I’ll Have What He’s Having by Adib Khorram. His first adult novel was a delight to read and I think other romance lovers will enjoy it as well!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

I had a smile on my face for so much of this book. I just loved watching David and Farzan and their love.

I do have to say that Farzan did frustrate me at times cause he found it so hard to receive all the love that he was given. He’s had some failures in his past and he’s really let that overtake him a little bit but I just adored his two best friends because they definitely let him know how loved and capable he was. He was deserving of good things and happiness, he just has to open himself to it.

I fell in love with this book from the meet cute. (It was a VERY good one!) Past that, I loved watching the growth in both David and Farzan. They’re both in transitional periods when they meet and while I’m obsessed with them finding love in each other, I also loved seeing them find love and fulfillment in their careers and their personal lives outside of each other. I just love them so much.

We love a sweet and spicy romance! this book was so cute. The banter was everything and the spice was JUST RIGHT (for me that is heheh). 10/10 recommended this book.
The self discovery of each character in the book is so good too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Adib Khorram for allowing me to review this book early as an Advanced Reader Copy.

I’ll Have What He’s Having is a sweet and spicy romance that I absolutely adored. The story follows two leads both over the age of 35 which I loved because I don’t feel like we get very many romance books with “older” protagonists. Both leads were extremely well written and felt very accurate to their ages. Farzan’s inner insecurities regarding his lack of career goals and his place within his family were extremely relatable. David’s character was also written extremely well and was a great representation of a black gay male that didn’t fall into stereotypes.

I love how diverse the story was and how much care it was built with. It had a wonderful portrayal of Irian culture, food and relationships. I love that the book was set in Kansas City. I haven’t read many if any romances set there, especially queer romances and I loved seeing a different setting. I also loved how even though there is a lot of wine talk throughout the book given David’s profession, it never felt forced in.

This was my first book by Adib but it definitely won’t be my last. I loved this and loved the audio! Both narrators were great! Overall, this was a 4.75 for me!

Ended up reading this almost all on audiobook thanks to my advanced audio copy! I really enjoyed this book, read it in just a few days!

This was a quick read romance that got me out of a slump. The main characters, David and Farzan, meet when David mistakes him for a food critic at the wine bar he works at. But the attraction is immediate. Once sorted, they begin a "friends with benefits" arrangement. Their support of each other's dreams make them endearing.
If anything, the book was TOO descriptive. I liked the food/wine descriptions, as it suited the vibe of the book, but every side character (including an incidental dog) didn't need a full paragraph describing their looks. I fought the urge to skim those parts.
Overall, it delivered on its promise of a cozy romance.