I'LL HAVE WHAT HE'S HAVING is adib khorram's adult debut and one of my most anticipated reads for 2024 and let me just say, it did not disappoint. farzan is a substitute teacher drowning his sorrows at a kansas city wine bar when he's mistaken for a food reviewer and given the star treatment by david, the resident sommelier. they share an unforgettable night together but don't expect to cross paths again, until farzan inherits his family's restaurant and comes to david for help.

i'm a huge fan of khorram's YA books, so i was incredibly excited to read his adult debut and it was absolutely worth the wait!! farzan and david's chemistry is incredible and i loved their relationship, the way they helped and supported each other, and how their relationship developed. i also loved the insight to iranian culture from farzan's POV and the description of food made me so hungry and desperate to find a persian restaurant nearby.

read if you like:
- wine and french fries
- steamy but realistic spice
- muppets references

thanks to netgalley and forever for the advanced copy! I'LL HAVE WHAT HE'S HAVING comes out august 27.

I *loved* this book! I loved the initial mixed-up-identities thing, and then how it wasn't a big deal for either of them then this beautiful romance blossoms between them. I am also a sucker for the "this situationship has a specific end date....oh no what if I don't actually want it to end" as a trope. I love a story where the falling in love is maybe a little inconvenient, and the navigation of a relationship where it is two more established/older MCs who are driven and working towards different goals having to figure out how the other can/could fit into each other's lives was really sweet.

As someone who is/has switched careers/life trajectories a couple of times I so deeply connected to Farzan. I felt him on all of his anxieties about being the "fuckup" of the family, and it was beautiful to watch him grow over the course of the book. I loved the infusion of Iranian culture through food (this book made me perpetually hungry and had me opening google to find the nearest Iranian restaurant). Farzan is surrounded by such a loving community of both family and friends, and Khorram really makes all of the characters in this book full characters. Rather than just solely focusing on the couple, all of the side characters felt equally important on this journey. The community forged across David and Farzan's separate friends and family groups really helped to drive home the importance of that community.

The only reason it is not a 5 star (Netgalley won't let me do 4.5, but that is my actual rating) is because I don't like third act breakups, HOWEVER, this one I do think was so well done, and at no point was I like "well that was a dumb breakup," so if all third act breakups were like this one I might not hate them as much.

Good, not great. VERY steamy, to the point that I was skipping past those scenes, but I liked the mental health rep and the diversity.

One of my favorite MM romances I have read in a long time! This is my first foray into the work of Adib Khorram and this is his first adult book. There were definitely times where his young adult writing style peeked through, but they were not too distracting. I felt this was an excellent first adult novel and it makes me want more adult romance from him. He excelled in the writing of these characters. They all felt incredibly real. At times it felt like I was watching a documentary in my mind. It was that good!

It was also incredibly refreshing to have both love interests in a MM romance be men of color! Too often in the MM romance world, the characters are mostly white or one of the love interests is white. It was absolutely heartwarming to have these two men of color and their cultures be represented. I also love the choice of setting for the city. Too often settings like this get overlooked when they are just as grand as settings in the east or west. Arzan and David had a realistic romance and I enjoyed they were older and not the average "young bucks" like in most MM romance. I will say this novel made my stomach growl a lot just due to the sheer mentions of food and drink and the excellent descriptions of the food.

Add this to your list!

An incredibly satisfying and spicy romcom. Farzan is in the process of taking over his family's Iranian restaurant and David is studying for his master sommelier accreditation -- two hot guys who hook up during a case of mistaken identity. The hook up turns to friends with benefits turns into way more because they cannot stop kissing. I love a service industry story and this is a great one.

You know when you watch a Studio Ghibli movie and all you want to do is eat all the animated food, well reading this was exactly like that. Seriously, do not read this on an empty stomach.

I’ll Have What He’s Having follows a sort of friends with benefits situation between Farzan, a new restaurateur, and David, an aspiring sommelier, when a miscommunication results in them hitting it off.

Adib Khorram always knocks it out of the park in terms of diversity and representation. This book was filled with so many different identities, which I really appreciated and made it feel more authentic and realistic. I always walk away from his books learning so much about Persian culture.

Farzan and his friends were probably my favorite part of this book. I enjoyed the bond that all of them had and their overall dynamic (please give me spin offs with each of them as the lead). Farzan overall felt like the most developed character in the story. I liked exploring his relationship with his family and how important his culture is to him. David unfortunately fell a little flat for me, I didn’t feel as connected to him both in and out of his relationship with Farzan. I wish his personality would’ve been expanded on a bit more.

Unfortunately, while reading this I solidified my feelings in that I’m just not a massive fan of friends with benefits storylines. The relationships end up lacking chemistry resulting in me not really rooting for them. This book was also quite fast burn whereas I typically like a longer build up of feelings and a relationship, but alas these are just personal preferences.

This book was sweet and spicy but I just couldn’t help but feel it was missing a little bit of something. It didn’t seem to have the same charm and emotional punch that his YA works tend to have but I’m still excited to see what else the future holds for Adib Khorram. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for providing me with this ARC.

I adored this novel because it dealt with two of my favorite things: wine & romance. Both romantic leads were so well written and felt very accurate to what characters post age 35 in the LGBTQIA should sound and feel like. Farzan's inner insecurities regarding his place in his family and within his own lack of career goals was beyond relatable. David felt very real on paper as well and I'm glad that the author was able to write a great representation of a black gay male without falling into stereotypes. This book was sexy, sensual and sweet.

Adib Khorram…the RANGE this man has! From childrens picture books, to young adult, to this STUNNING adult romance, which is his first. Khorram is a fantastic story teller with such descriptive writing that immerses you deeply into his stories.

I’ll Have What He’s Having follows two men, Farzan and David, who are well into adulthood and living in Kansas City. They meet when Farzan offers a basic white name, Frank Allen, to a hostess instead of having to begrudgingly spell his Iranian name; however, David sees that the widely acclaimed restaurant critic, Frank Allen, is on his books, and he is determined to make an impression…and an IMPRESSION he makes! While a major misunderstanding leads to Farzan and David to each other, they find they genuinely like each other. Farzan, who is floating through life, struggling to find a career he is passionate about is inspired and motivated by David who is training to become a master sommelier. Alternatively, David is learning how to enjoy life outside of studying thanks to Farzan. Unfortunately, with Davids soon to be earned new title comes big changes, but are they changes that David and Farzan can endure together?

This was a overwhelmingly enjoyable read and there are so many contributing factors to that; the diversity of the characters, writing, descriptions of food and wine, realistic sex and the sometimes awkward moments that come with it, the family representation, memorable Kansas City specific locations, and so much more. One running theme that I really connected with was Farzan’s sense of drifting even as an established adult. Having yourself completely figured out by a certain age is not a common reality but is an extremely lacking character example in many books and stories. Among the outstanding storytelling, Khorram’s writing is just exceptional. I found myself hungry reading about the courses David presents to “Frank Allen” and the dishes Farzan and his employees bring to David, and his father and girlfriend. But it’s not just the food, the descriptions of the wines were written in a such an intricately simple way that I felt like a wine connoisseur with a very minimal knowledge of wine previously. On top of all of that, Khorram writes a beautiful love story that is relatable and complicated but infused with so much authenticity and pure connection that it’s impossible not to feel big feelings reading this book. This book solidified Adib Khorram as an auto-buy author for me!

This is sweet and (very) spicy, with two endearing leads who can test your patience and exasperation at times, and a wonderful cast of family and friends. In true Adib fashion, the story is effortlessly diverse, built with care, and features yet another layered portrayal of Iranian culture, food, relationships, and more. There's a lot of wine talk here too, given David's profession, but it never felt shoehorned in, and I also appreciated a story set in Kansas City (probably my first). I'm keen to see if there are more stories set in this world - I would definitely read them!

I haven’t read many queer romance stories featuring a Persian main characters and I was excited to jump into this one. I thought David and Farzan’s relationship was sweet. They supported each other and became each other’s person as they were going through pivotal times in their lives.

The story felt a tad bid insta-lovey to me. Perhaps if more time was spent on scenes between David and Farzan alone, building their chemistry and relationship, it wouldn’t have felt like that. I felt like a lot of pages were spent on scenes with their family and friends.

Overall, an enjoyable read with representation that I think is important in the romance genre.

Steam level: 🔥 🔥 🔥

I had high hopes for this new book by Adib Khorram because I LOVED his YA book Darius the Great Is Not Okay. Unfortunately, this book fell a little flat for me. It just didn't have the emotion I was looking for. It was a fairly basic romance novel. I liked it fine, but it wasn't anything special.

Adib Khorram Is well known in the YA space, and his first book for adults felt as full bodied as a glass of red wine.

From the start, this book had the vibes of a cute Hallmark rom-com, which is fitting as Hallmark is from Kansas City where this story is set! While I loved the mix up that set up the meeting of David and Farzan, I wish Farzan’s identity wouldn’t have been revealed to David so quickly. There was so much potential for hilarious scenes before David learned he was not a famous food critic.

Some of Farzan’s insecurities felt a bit immature. By the end of the book he found himself, but not after tearing himself down. I think as a 35 year old, he would be a little more confident.

The naughty scenes were epic! Each intimate interaction was hot and felt so real.

YA authors writing Adult books can always be a hit or miss for me. I feel like a lot gets left in the dust to focus on sex (which is totally fine and is a lot of people's cup of tea but that just isn't want I'm looking for in my books). I'd love more character depth and emotional connections and I was hoping to find it in this book. I'm interested in reading what else Abid Kohrram comes up with.

This is the third romance featuring a sommelier as a main character that I've read this month! This was a sweet story about two late 30's men still working on their lives and figuring themselves out. I appreciated the age and place in life that determined the story arc, and I really liked both of the MCs. I also thought the author did a beautiful job of building both families and friends of the MCs into a great ensemble cast. The cultural details of Irani culture and food were an added bonus. I definitely recommend this to readers of queer romance who love diverse representation.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

Farzan has come adrift—his love life is going nowhere, his work life is directionless, and compared to his highly ambitious siblings he feels like a failure. Taking over his parents' restaurant seems like a possible way forward...but although Farzan knows food, knows cooking, he doesn't know running a business. Enter David: training to be a master sommelier, he's too busy for a relationship; he'll have time for that when he's living it up in a major city somewhere. But when a miscommunication leads them to fall into bed together—and they're still laughing about it when they figure out the truth—it occurs to them that there might be a mutually beneficial path forward.

What decided me on reading this was this line in the description, about their early-book miscommunication: "Good news—both think the mix-up is hilarious." It's a small thing, but that line says a lot: that the book isn't going to be one that *is* all about miscommunications that could be cleared up with one conversation; that they're going to be able to laugh at the little things; that there's going to be chemistry beyond banging. And: win! All of that is true in the book. There's lots of communication, even when Farzan and David don't think things will work for them in the long term, and they just genuinely...like each other.

Farzan's family is Iranian, and that's a big part of the book, which is nice—both Farzan and David are well aware of being POC in a city that doesn't always feel very diverse. Food and wine, more generally, are also big themes—Farzan loves to cook Persian food, and David is steadily (but not drunkenly) ensuring that he can recognize any wine placed in front of him. There's quite a lot of sex, and to be perfectly honest I skimmed a fair amount of it (I'm more for f/f romance than for m/m romance), but if you like the heat turned up high, this is a kitchen you'll want to be in.

I read an ARC, and there were still some consistency details to iron out, but the general vibe needs no edits.

Thanks to the author and publisher for inviting me to read a review copy through NetGalley.

3.5 stars.

A beautiful queer story about two men in their late 30s, navigating life's complexities and discovering love along the way. The relationship between Farzan and David is quite steamy, starting as a friends-with-benefits situation and evolving into a committed relationship. However, as someone who doesn't particularly enjoy FWB plots, the romance didn't resonate deeply with me, partly because the development of their feelings for each other wasn't fully explored. Additionally, the characters, especially Farzan, often felt more like people in their 20s. I expected more emotional maturity from individuals pushing 40, particularly in their communication about their relationship, which ultimately led to the third-act breakup. While it is wonderful to read a romance between two people in their late 30s, some character choices and dialogues would have made more sense if the characters had been in their mid to late 20s.

What stood out to me in this book and ultimately saved it for me (I was on the verge of DNFing it) was the beautiful community that surrounded our two leads. Their queer friends and their lovely families added so much depth and warmth to the story. Farzan's family, despite their flaws, were incredibly endearing. Seeing how they recreated a little piece of Iran through their restaurant and food in a foreign land felt truly cozy to my Iranian heart and soul. I also loved David's family and friends and how they genuinely wanted the best for him.

There is no doubt that Adib Khorram is a talented writer. His descriptions of the food were so vivid that they made me hungry! I'm looking forward to reading his YA novels and hopefully more adult romances if he decides to write them.

Thank you Forever Publishing and Netgalley for this eARC

Thank you Forever Publishing and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. Oh my this book is incredible!! Farzan is his family’s screw up, the one they don’t expect much of. He works as a substitute teacher and has no prospects of a long term relationship. He can’t decide what he’d like to do moving forward. And then he finally gets the opportunity to go to a new restaurant, Aspire, in Kansas City. David has been working at Aspire, but it’s just a stepping stone while he gets his Master Sommelier. Then the whole country will be open to him as to where he goes next. He’s been so focused on studying that he’s neglected every other aspect of his life. When the two meet, a mistaken identity, will drive them together. The only problem is they’re both looking for different things. But with sex that explosive that can’t seem to get each other out of their minds. Not to mention that they both genuinely enjoy each other’s company. Can they make friends with benefits work? Especially with Farzan taking over his family restaurant and David’s out of state job offer? Can they keep things casual? Or are they just headed for disaster? With two of my favorite releases this year Adib Khorram has become a must read for me! I can’t wait to see what happens in the next two books of the series! Farzan and David are so sweet and cute and honestly just goals!! Romantic, sweet, warm and fuzzy, and so very sexy!! Adib’s debut Adult Romance is not to be missed!

dnf @ 43%

i’m gonna be honest. the only parts of this book i really enjoyed were the ones where the main characters were not with each other.

i loved the bits with farzan at the restaurant with his family, and his interactions with his friends, but i’m not into the romance at all and some bits felt quite immature for an adult book - or at least for me personally (see the multiple the farting and burping moments/jokes).

i am still interested in reading some of adib khorram’s y/a stuff as i’ve heard amazing things - especially about darius the great is not ok, and it’s been on my tbr for literally years, but i’ll have what he’s having just wasn’t for me.

ok i wrote the above at 35% and i will say that i actually continued after and enjoyed the kickball but then this has been a really bad week and don’t wanna pick this up so here i am again, done at 43%

This book was so fun! It was incredibly steamy without letting the emotions fall by the wayside which can happen sometimes with books that have a lot of sex. I really appreciated that this was a book about characters pushing 40 who were still trying to figure things out. I loved that David and Farzan were allowed to have lives that were a little bit messy as they determine what they want to do with their careers. My favorite part of the book was how real it felt. Many romances feel like a fantasy and that's lovely but sometimes I want sex scenes where everything doesn’t go perfectly and the characters laugh about it and work through it and this book had that in spades. The characters felt authentic and therefore all their interactions pulled me in. I adored how queer this book felt. Casually meeting characters with neo pronouns was delightful. The 3rd act conflict did irk me a little because I wished that Farzan was better at communicating his needs but it got resolved fairly quickly so it wasn't too much of a hurdle. Overall I had a great time with this book and I can't wait to read more from this author.

I loved the “Darius the Great” books, and I normally look forward to reading anything by this author. So I was unusually disappointed with this novel. Maybe it’s because this is an adult m/m romance with plenty of sex, unlike his other work to date. I’m afraid I gave up having read 25% of the book, and did not finish the rest. Sorry Adib!