3.5 rounded up. This grumpy vs. grumpier romance follows Calla, who returns to her hometown after her father’s death and unexpectedly works for her former fling, Row, a now-famous chef who holds a grudge against her. The story features classic tropes, such as an anonymous online relationship that predictably involves Row. Still, it drags as both characters dwell too long on their inability to be together. While the plot had potential, it felt slow at times. Narration-wise, I wasn't a fan of Teddy Hamilton's performance, which lacked the depth needed for Row (It should've been Sebastian York). Still, I adore Lila Winters, one of my favorites, and she is fantastic at delivering an emotional and engaging portrayal of Calla, even when the character leans toward being a bit dreary.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ALC for an honest review.

i was excited for this one, but it fell flat for me. i really didn’t particularly like either of the main characters which made this one hard for me to get through. it was also a bit longer and dragged out more than it needed to be.

L.J. has become one of my favorites with this book. The banter is amazing. It had me giggling and twirling my hair around my fingers. Ambrose Rhett is definitely swoon worthy. The LITERAL MOUTH on that man, my lawwwdddds! 🤤🔥

"Truly, Madly, Deeply" by L.J. Shen kicks off the Forbidden Love series with a bang. When Cal returns to her hometown after the loss of her father, she's got a lot to deal with—her mom, her old best friend Dylan, and Row, her ex-best friend's older brother, who’s now a Michelin-starred chef. Cal's got her reasons for avoiding men, but Row was the only one who ever made her feel safe, even though now he can't stand her.

Cal ends up working for Row at his pop-up restaurant, and let’s just say, things get real complicated, real fast. Cal’s character development is spot-on. She’s shy, quirky, and dealing with major trust issues stemming from a rough high school experience. But she grows so much throughout the book, and it’s awesome to watch. As for Row? He’s always been stuck on Cal, even though he tries hard to forget her. He’s got that whole alpha-hole vibe going, pushing her away while still protecting her and being unable to shake her from his thoughts. And that kitchen scene? Yeah, that one’s staying with me forever.

If you're into romance with serious spice, drama, and some intense tension, "Truly, Madly, Deeply" is a must-read. Add it to your list ASAP!

The “Truly, Madly, Deeply” audiobook was brought to life by Lila Winters and Teddy Hamilton, and they crushed it! Lila nailed it as Cal—I could totally feel her past trauma and the emotional journey of her relationship with Row. Teddy Hamilton as Row? All the grumpiness, all the spice, and everything he went through came through perfectly. But honestly, the banter was the best part! It had me cracking up and was the perfect balance to the more emotional moments. Such a fun listen!

Thank you to @authorljshen and @dreamscape_media for the #gifted audiobook for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book was cooking something hot! The narrators did an excellent job and it was a really good book to listen to! The story itself is really cute and I love how the male main character has been pining for the female main character! I will say the major conflict in this was a little cheesy for my taste but still a great book!

This book might work better for me in print than it did in audio. I enjoyed the storyline—enemies to lovers is one of my favorite romance genres—and it was easy to stay engaged because everything felt well-developed without being overly detailed. I absolutely loved Row (big thanks to the author for shortening his name—I’m not a fan of the full version, haha). On the other hand, I didn’t connect as much with Cal, but that could be due to my age. She’s really into the ‘90s, which takes me back to when I graduated high school, so it felt a bit off for me. However, I’m sure other readers will appreciate that aspect. As for the narration, the male narrator was fantastic, but I wasn’t as fond of the female narrator. That’s why I think I might prefer reading the physical book instead of listening to the audiobook.

I’m going to be honest, I had such super high expectations for this book being my first by the author, that I probably hurt my own feelings. It was still a good romance! I just kind of wanted more.

Grumpy chef and his sunshine ex-love interest and new employee was such an amazing combination 😁 i enjoyed listening to each chapter of this book.
This is my first read from the author's work yet I absolutely loved and enjoyed reading this. Plus the voice of the voice actors added more charm to the plotline. Overall it was a brilliant grumpy sunshine lovestory.

Truly Madly Deeply delivers on the darker elements of romance, with trauma woven deeply into the plot and backstories. Before diving in, I’d recommend checking out the content warnings. While the exploration of Cal and Row’s trauma is central, I found the pacing a bit slow, and the backstory reveals didn’t add the depth I hoped for. The miscommunication between the characters felt drawn out, and I didn’t quite get the emotional resolution I was expecting.

On a lighter note, I loved the 90’s nostalgia with song titles kicking off each chapter and the added text threads.

Lila Winters’ narration was the highlight! She did an amazing job bringing these characters to life and really carried the book for me. Teddy sounded older than the character should have been. It kept throwing me out of the story.

Overall, Truly Madly Deeply offers a heavy, emotionally intense read that fans of dark romance may appreciate. While it wasn’t exactly what I hoped for, L.J. Shen’s exploration of deep themes and Winters’ stellar narration will resonate with readers who love this genre.

💖 Tropes:
Best Friend’s Brother

Only Eyes for You

Touch Her and 💀

Boss x Employee

Small Town

👟Best Friend's Brother
👟Enemies-to-Lovers
👟Grumpy/Sunshine
👟Second Chance
👟Boy Obsessed
👟Billionaire Romance
👟Touch her & 🔪
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“Heaven is not a place, it is a person, and it is you.”
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Review: First off, let me just say that LJ Shen is one of my favorite authors! I absolutely love her books. I was so excited when Truly Madly Deeply was announced! I absolutely love the Best Friend's Brother + Boy Obsessed tropes. Pretty much, my kryptonite! Absolute chef's kiss! This is book 1 in LJ's new Forbidden Love series, and it was such a perfect start!

Calla (Cal) Litvin is the quirky girl who loves the 90's and true crime. Ambrose (Row) Casablancas is a famous chef who hates everyone, but his sister, his mom and one other person. This broody chef only has eyes for one. The infuriating, best friend, of his little sister. The banter and tension between these two was 🔥! Row has it down BAD for Cal and I freaking LOVED IT! The way this man protects her, but also encourages her to spread her wings is truly beautiful! I could connect with Cal on a few different levels. I often just wanted to hug her and tell her it's ok, take the leap... it's worth the risk! I do have to say Row's chapters were my favorite. I love his internal dialog!🤣 Row is a grumpy, obsessed masterpiece, and I am soooo here for it!The mouth on this man is literal perfection. He would be the grumpy to my sunshine perfectly! 😂 I loved the character growth that Cal went through and when everything finally clicked for her. Row truly was the perfect man for her. These two complement each other so well.

“Am I your girl?”
“No.” He shook his head.
“You’re my everything.”

I absolutely loved the side characters and I REALLY hope they each get a story. Dylan needs to get an HEA, like now!🤭 Then there is Rhyland and Taylor! I NEED their stories too!😍🤞I listened to the audiobook by Teddy Hamilton and Lila Winters. Lila was new for me, but she did great as Cal. They both did a great job of bringing these two to life! I am so excited for more of this new world!

I love a good spicy romance where our characters argue or dislike each other to start. Though in this they actually both really like each other and are kind of just fighting with themselves and their own feelings of doubt which made for an even better story. You get see someone who feels powerless earn their power back all while finding their forever.

Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5)
Narration: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 (0-5)
Overall: 4.5/5
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (0-5) I bump up for public places/outdoor spaces.

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 Teddy Hamilton does the mean, rude, abrasive vibes of Ambrose (Row) Casablancas so well.
🤩 The feels are so strong, but weird, because the longing is deep but I also kind of dislike Row at times because of his strong personality.
🤩 Cal is laugh-out-loud hilarious—I just love her quirky, no-nonsense personality. And Lila Winters performs her so amazingly.
🤩 Such beautiful writing with gorgeous descriptions and details. I feel like I’m there, immersed in all the scenes and activities.
🤩 Best friend’s brother, then and now, her first time.
🤩 Great (and frustrating) small-town plot.
🤩 Boy obsessed—it’s always been you.
🤩 The actually horrible enemies-to-lovers banter
🤩 That need to know—what her trauma is, why they are enemies.
🤩 When I highlight full pages because it’s so hot and beautiful and amazing.
🤩 The online chats in Androphobes Anonymous forum, with secret identity, are fantastic and give some comedic and friendly relief to all the other negative vibes.
🤩 Slow burn to smokin’ hot, such great chemistry.

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 Waiting for a Row POV chapter, for Teddy to come in. And, kind of wanting more Row chapters because Teddy!!
💫 Some therapy would have made me better believe in their HEA.
💫 I like a little steamy goodness after the drama/time apart.
💫 Kieran—I love him and need more of him!

Caution—Trigger Warnings: child abuse, bullying, group assault (flashbacks on page).

This book hits a few of my favorite tropes: Grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers, second chance, and he falls first. I mean, Row is literally obsessed with Cal to the point that he's willing to risk her destroying him again just to get a little part of her. To me, despite her obvious ptsd and anxiety issues, Cal was so extremely oblivious of his feelings that I just wanted to shake her and send her to counseling lol. Anyway, there was great tension, fun banter, and lots of emotions in this book as the two learned to trust each other again. I will never look at candy canes and zucchini the same way again 😳 I'm excited to find out what happens with Dylan and Kieran next.
I listened to the audiobook version and the narrators were great. Their voices carried all the emotion and they were clear and easy to understand. They made the characters come alive.

This book was so dang good, I loved these two--their past and present are both just SO messy, it was such a journey to get these two flawed humans to the finish line. I ate up every single second. This book is funny, swoony, sexy everything in between. Their banter was just done SO WELL.

Narration: Teddy Hamilton & Lila Winters absolutely killed it. I believe this was my my first audiobook with Lila and I will absolutely be looking for more from her because she was excellent as Cal. I loved her cadence, and even at 2.5x speed it was so pleasant to listen to. And as for Teddy? Well it's not secret he is one of my top narrators but as a hot grumpy chef?! Holy...say less. He was so good. This is definitely an audiobook you don't want to miss.

I really enjoyed this audio! Teddy Hamilton is always a fav and adds so much umph to his character! Row is a michellan star chef who is broody, grumpy, intense, but oh so swoony. Cal is such a quirky and fun character who's a bit of a mess rebuilding her life. Such a great enemies to lovers romance!

I have to say that I first read the book in digital format and it was so captivating that I didn't think there was much difference with the audio but when listening to this version narrated by Lila Winters andTeddy Hamilton, I have to say that it really was another experience and the work they did is excellent. I could really feel the characters come to life and with the pen of L. J. Shen where no story follows a pattern or order and everything is a good surprise for the romance readers
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This book gave me so many Twilight vibes, especially the small town of Staindrop, its inhabitants. The way Row acted towards Cal...chills of perfection!. This is an Enemies to lovers, which from the beginning shows us how much attraction and chemistry there is between them.
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Calla Litvin is back in her hometown to say goodbye to her father after being sick for a while. And she hoped she could do it without having to see the people she left behind, her former best friend and her older brother.
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But to help her mother she decides to stay with her for a while and fulfill some last promises.
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Ambrose Casablancas is no longer the boy she left behind, he is now a renowned and successful chef with the most elegant restaurant for miles, with everything under control he only has to wait a few weeks before he can return to his glamorous life without a scratch
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But When Calla appears at his door, he ends up giving her a job,and he start to realise that is totally impossible and as they spend more time together their begins to reveal the secrets they kept from everyone else
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I loved Calla and her fascination with true crime podcasts and the nineties, she left a book full of beautiful scenes in my mind. The friendship between her and Dylan, how they complemented each other so well. and Row was perfect for her, I'll always love that he's the one who falls in love first, but I think his dark seriousness and grumpy style was the perfect amount to balance out Cal Sunshine's personality. And I can't imagine what the glimpses of both of them will be like in the next book in this series
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I really enjoyed reading and listening to this beautiful version of one of my last five stars.
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Thanks to L. J. Shen and DreamScape media for giving me a copy in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion

L.J. Shen is an author that is required for any romance lover's bookshelf and she hit it out of the park with this one. Shen has a way with writing that seperates her from other romance writers, in that she brings a bit more than what is expected, but all in a good way and in a way that I love and want more of. Another thing I loved about this one is the back and forth with the characters and the nostalgia of the 90's. This is a must read book, especially considering another one is coming! 4.5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced audiobook of Truly, Madly, Deeply by L.J. Shen in exchange for my honest oppinion.

Every now and then I like to read an angsty romance, with some drama, and banter, and an alpha hero who is stubborn to admit his feelings and would rather treat the woman he loves as the enemy … until he shows his soft side to her at the end.

𝐶𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑅𝑜𝑤’𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑒 …
it started since they were young: Cal had a crush on her best friend Dylan’s brother but Dylan found out and felt betrayed, so Cal decided to leave her hometown to study in NY, heartbroken without her bff.
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 5 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 for her father’s funeral and all her past resurfaces

Row is this grumpy Michelin star chef now, who’s bitter and angry at Cal because of the way she “left” him a long time ago, so he wants to avoid her.
And Cal thinks that he truly hates her, that her attraction to him was one-sided.

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 with him desperately needing someone to help at his famous restaurant and Cal needing a temporary job.

Was is dramatic and frustrating at times ? Yes, especially with the miscommunication trope or their behaving like teenagers sometimes more than grownups, BUT this didn’t stop me from enjoying their bumpy journey, how they both had their issues due to their traumatized past and how they worked through them together.
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔.

I appreciated the side topics like Cal and Dylan’s friendship, and how they both missed being close again. Also the fact of being bullied as an immigrant student and the scars this leaves behind.

Truly Madly Deeply by L. J. Shen is a grumpy sunshine enemies to lovers between a now famous chef & his sister’s once best friend. As a huge epistolary fan, I did enjoy the message snippets that are peppered throughout the book.

This is book #1 in the Forbidden Love series.

Truly Madly Deeply is great for fans of…
🖤 Second Chance Romance
🖤 Reunited at Their Small Town
🖤 Famous Chef
🖤 Best Friend’s Brother x Little Sister’s Best Friend
🖤 Close Proximity
🖤 Epistolary Snippets

This is like a small snowball rolling down a hill gradually getting bigger & gathering steam along the way. As the book went on, layers were peeled away & the emotional stories & histories were revealed & I did get more into the story, but this isn’t my favorite. It could be personal preference & others may love this one.

Massive thanks to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for the gifted copy, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

2.5 stars

The storyline here wasn’t bad. I liked the female main character and her depth and backstory. I at times also liked the male main character. I could understand their relationship, the conflicts seemed legitimate, and the bit of added suspense was great. What did not work for me was the spice. Not that I have a problem with spice, it was just that in this case it seemed outrageous that a woman who has been traumatized in the past would immediately be fine with the aggressiveness of some of the things that happened in this book. It was to the point it made the story completely unbelievable for me. If I could erase a few chapters, this would have a much higher rating from me. The audio narration was superb though!