I couldn't stay interested in what was going on with the characters. It was a fine boom, but just not for me.

I loved Khorram's YA novels, so got really excited when I saw he was writing an adult romance!
After a mistaken identity leads to a one night stand, Farzan and David find their chemistry hard to ignore, and agree to a casual friends with benefits situation. David is too busy studying to be a master sommelier to commit to a relationship, but Farzan has a hard time doing casual. This was an incredibly charming read. I loved that both characters are in their upper 30s and finally on the path to finding the life they WANT to be living, as opposed to doing the things they think they SHOULD be doing. Both David and Farzan are well developed and their emotional arcs really connected for me. The chemistry between them was very steamy, and i loved that they were able to be silly and real together. All the discussion of food and wine in the book made me hungry and I want to eat all the food that Farzan makes, so i have to find a Persian restaurant near me now.

Khorram's adult debut, I'll Have What He's Having, is a wonderful pivot from his YA and children's work. Farzan and David's story was fun and refreshing and I really enjoyed it. The side characters were great as well. I look forward to more from Khorram!

Food porn and romancey smut are my two weaknesses in books, and this one is chock full of it. I'm honestly not sure if I've ever read a mlm romance with that much descriptive sex. I'm not mad about it, but it definitely took me by surprise after reading The Breakup Lists by Adib for my podcast. (The Breakup Lists is a YA by the way.)

I really enjoy Adib's narrative voice through Farzan and David's POVs, and I really love all the good food and wine and how central those aspects are to the characters and their stories. I'll Have What He's Having is a novel that expresses queer joy in different ways, and I think it's an important conversation to be had to say that my queerness isn't different from yours, but I prefer to celebrate it differently, and not have excess drama about it.

I’ll Have What He’s Having
Adib Khorram
Pub: 8/27
3.5☆


If you’re in the mood for a lighthearted, spicy MM romance packed full of wine and foodie aspects, I’ll Have What He’s Having just might hit the spot.

Khorram’s first venture into the adult romance world was a well written and realistic look at both the good and messy sides of dating in your 30’s.
Farzan and David were both interesting characters and their chemistry was undeniable. It was a fun story and although a tad too insta-lovey for me, I liked watching their friendship and relationship develop.

My favorite parts were definitely those of the vivid descriptions of the delicious food and wine.

What I enjoyed;
✨ Queer Romance
c
✨ Wine and French Fries
✨ Side Characters


Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Adib Khorram's debut adult romance, I'll Have What He's Having, is a slow and steamy romance boiling on the stove.

David, a wine sommelier and wine director at the best restaurant in Kansas City, MO, mistakenly dotes on Farzan thinking he's a famous restaurant critic. The two hit it off and a steamy romance quickly ensues though they both agree it will be short-lived: David has big plans to move to a big city after passing the next level of wine exams while Farzan is set on expanding and running his newly inherited family bistro and cornerstone of the local Iranian community.

I absolutely loved both David's job in wine and Farzan's passion for Iranian cooking. I am literally looking up the local Iranian restaurant to go this week because I'm craving the food after reading this book the past few days!! Khorram's passion for both wine and Iranian food is so clearly present in this book, and it makes it all the richer.

I am not quite sure what vetiver smells like but now I need to know. IYKYK.

Though I was a bit unsure at first, Farzan and David's chemistry did eventually shine through. I liked the way they balanced each other out and brought the best out of each other yet loved each other, flaws and all.

It felt like Khorram's comfort with writing adult romance developed as the book did. I realized when I was trying to describe this book that there were very few tropes!

Thanks, as always, to Forever Pub for the ARC! All thoughts my own.

When Adib Khorram said he was making his adult debut, he wasn’t kidding—this book is spicy right from the start! I’ll Have What He’s Having is a super fun read that really heats up. Farzan Alavi, our main character, is a substitute teacher who's nursing a broken heart. He ends up at this fancy wine bar where he’s mistaken for a big-time food critic. Cue the hot sommelier, David Curtis, who treats Farzan to an unforgettable night.

Farzan and David’s chemistry is off the charts, and I loved how their relationship unfolds. The book does a fantastic job of bringing the food and wine to life—Khorram really knows how to make you crave both. The friends-with-benefits setup adds a fun twist, and watching their connection grow was a treat.

That said, the third-act breakup and reunion felt a bit rushed to me. I can’t help but wonder how the story might have played out if they’d had more time to develop their relationship before things got serious. It might have made the reconciliation feel a bit more earned.

Still, I’ll Have What He’s Having is a spicy, sweet read that’s perfect if you’re in the mood for a romance with plenty of heat and heart. If you’re into contemporary romance with foodie twists, definitely give this one a try!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book, however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have absolutely adored pretty much everything that I have read by Adib Khorram and this really isn't any different. I really enjoyed watching Farzan and David come together, though the third act was a bit brutal. I also loved all of food descriptions. I'm a sucker for a book with a strong food theme throughout.

All this being said, I do wish there had been just a bit more of the Adib magic in terms of tackling difficult topics. This was a bit more, not fluffy persay, but it didn’t really tackle any of the themes I've come to associate with his books. However, if you're looking for a solid adult M/M open door romance with plenty of spice, this is probably an excellent pick for you.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Having enjoyed Adib Khorram’s YA books, I was excited to hear he was releasing an adult book. I’ll Have What He’s Having sounded great, especially with its food-filled premise, even if I wasn’t sure how to feel about it involving the friends-with-benefits trope. The results were a bit of a mixed bag, although it was not entirely unexpected.
The characters are well-drawn and easy to empathize with Farzan and his Iranian identity is a strong highlight of the book in particular. David is also fairly likable. And the supporting cast complements these two well, and I love that they’re both supported for the most part by loving family and friends, which is always nice, especially when things are looking so bleak for a lot of queer people at the moment.
But I had very mixed feelings about the romance. They have solid chemistry at the beginning, with their flirty banter winning me over. But the turn toward the friends-with-benefits relationship is where the story started to lose me, as I sometimes found the steamy bits a tad awkward, and it pivoted away from the emotional connection that had initially gripped me. I ended up not really feeling invested in the fate of their relationship, even though other aspects of the story were competently written.
While I was disappointed by this book, I am open to reading another adult romance by Adib Khorram with a different trope. But if you happen to enjoy the friends-with-benefits trope, and are looking for a queer romance that has it, I recommend checking this out, to see if it works out better for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts <3

When Adib Khorram finally writes an adult romance you've gotta read it. I don't make the rules, but I will enforce this one. I have loved every single book from Adib since Darius The Great destroyed me several years ago. It doesn't matter whether his characters are teenagers discovering their place in this messy world or adults doing the same, each and every one feels so real to me. I particularly enjoyed Farzan and David because even in their late thirties they are working toward their dreams and coming into themselves. Farzan is such a sweetie and honestly I just want to give him a big hug because the struggle is real and I get it.

The romance y'all!!! The romance!!! Farzan and David have a mistaken identity, one night stand to friends with benefits to lovers romance that is hot and full of swoon. I really enjoyed how it developed because it felt realistic to the character's arcs. Farzan is ready to dive into love and David is only looking for temporary fun, but the story keeps bringing them together as friends first (with some steamy hook ups along the way 🥵). They truly get to know each other so when their feelings become obvious it feels so right! Every smut scene is top notch and will leave you sweating!

Read this if you like MM romances, characters in their late 30s falling in love, friends with benefits, third act breakups that make sense (I'm a third act breakup apologist!!!!), reading with a glass of wine, and smut that gets the job done!!!

A good fun read! One of those romances where if they would just talk to each other the conflict would be much smaller/non existent, but still entertaining! I liked all the side character/stories as well, and was never bored with the storyline

Love. Love love love love love. I love this book. First and foremost - WE NEED MORE STORIES LIKE THIS. We need more brown, queer stories, certainly, but we also need them to be of this caliber. To be this good. So that others get their opportunities to have their stories told and published too. So that readers can see themselves in the books that they read. That’s what this author did; he made us seen. The story was great, an easy read with great quick pacing. Yet another great example of a dual POV done right. I’m obsessed with the characters, main and supporting, I adored them all. The oldest child of immigrants pressure was so poignant and spot on I almost had to put the book down. There was a third act break up, which I absolutely hate 98% of the time - this fell into the 2%. It fit with who the characters were and the way they found their way back to each other was perfect. As was the epilogue - short and sweet, tying it all together. But most of all, I cannot believe this is the authors first adult book. Simply cannot believe it. The level of writing? EXCELLENT. No traces of any YA or younger. The spice?? THE SPICE?? Top notch. TOP NOTCH. Solid chance I make this book my entire personality for a bit, sorry in advance to everyone who knows me.

3.5. This was so sweet! A very wholesome, lovely romance. I originally was going to rate this higher, but it lost some steam for me about halfway through and I found the third act breakup really unnecessary and frustrating. That said, I generally really enjoyed these characters. If you’re looking for something fairly low stakes with a lot of heart (and some spice), this is a good one!

Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for the ARC!

This was...okay? I think after reading Darius the Great earlier this year set me up with high expectations and this didn't deliver. But after reading the author's note, I think this was just meant to be fun. And in that context, I think this book really works. Sure, I found both leads frustrating at times, and I actually think I wish this was single POV of just Farzan? But it was a good time, and made me wish I was better at wine!!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book.

Oh wow!!!!! This was a first for me by this author but will not be my last! Such a good story! The characters worked so well together. Such great chemistry. Good love story!!

Thanks to Forever (Grand Central Publishing), Netgalley, and Adib Khorram for the chance to read and review this book, all opinions are my own.

I am a big fan of Adib Khorram's YA books and I am so pleased that his ability to write well-rounded, emotionally rich characters translates well to the Adult romance genre.

I'll Have What He's Having starts with a very fun meet cute and a case of mistaken identity. I loved that this was resolved very quickly (I hate books where characters are keeping secrets from each other or assume something about each other that is incorrect), and I loved that it wasn't a source of drama. The characters then begin the classic, let's just hook up - we definitely won't catch feelings for each other, arc and I really enjoyed getting to know the two men and their worlds and see all of their struggles and self-doubt. So often in books the characters all seem to have their lives together (especially older characters) and it was nice to see older 30 somethings still struggling to figure out what they want to be when they grow up.

Truly the best thing about this book is the description of food and wine. I don't even drink alcohol and I wanted to run out and buy a bottle of wine to drink while reading this! I was also craving Persian food the whole time as well. If food or wine porn is your thing you will definitely love this.

I'll admit that I wanted a bit more from the main drama/breakup (yes, there is a third act breakup in case you were wondering), that was truly the one formulaic piece of this book and I just wanted a bit more from that. I like when characters can solve their problems together instead of just breaking up over something stupid and then not even trying to fix it until their friends convince them how stupid they've been. That's honestly the only reason this isn't a full 5 stars from me and that is an entirely personal preference. I know that is the expected thing in adult romance so I shouldn't be surprised we got it here.

Overall it was a really enjoyable romance and you should really read while drinking a bottle of red wine and enjoying some delicious Persian food.

4.5 stars

This was very slice-of-life but it had enough conflict going for such a simple story that I was really invested. I was really rooting for the two main characters’ relationship to work by the end. And the conflict was such that never made the tension between the two main characters uncomfortable. Any time there’s a misunderstanding, they just laugh and move past it once they figure out what was going on.

Adib Khorram is all grown up. His first adult novel is a spicy, realistic portrait on the modern adult dating life and all the complications it entails.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

This book was a classic example of it’s not you, it’s me. The book itself was fine, I just struggled for a large part of of it to get into it. Usually I’m not a fan of third act breakup based on miscommunication, but here I weirdly liked it, because I found the main characters more interesting when they were figuring out who they were and what they wanted independently than when they were together.
I did really enjoy all the discussion of food and wine - a lot of research clearly went into this book! I wished I could actually go to both restaurants, because everything sounded delicious and I loved all the staff at both places.
The spice is hot and heavy in this book. I actually found it to be a little much at points, but I think that was intentional as the characters were using sex to avoid talking about their feelings.
Overall a fine romance but probably not one I’ll be revisiting.

I had several issues with this book between the flipping between c*ck/d*ck, the slight fat phobia, and I feel like the author centered American culture in a book that really could have thrived in seeing Iranian and African American culture more. The story within itself was not terrible but the aforementioned factors stopped me from fully enjoying. I actually found myself hate reading more than enjoying it.