Hi, hello. Read this right now! This is a first person, single POV story of a Jamaican-Canadian Toronto barista, Jordan (Jay for short) and a French-Canadian high-society food royalty, Noémie.

Noémie starts as the most annoying cafe patron, her coffee order looks like a CVR receipt, to the woman casually making gourmet meals for her new roommate on a Tuesday night. And Jay is afraid of love and is afraid of risking her art to critical eyes which is exactly why she falls victim to the classic “she can’t really be into me, even though everyone says she’s in to me” story.

The story is messy, it’s gossipy, it’s full of pining, and it’s so queer. Jay has a big (also messy) sapphic friend group. Wayne, a not efficient cafe employee, is described as “a person who will sell his soul for a designer bag“. Both Jay and Noémie have messy exes. And messy families, but they are the biggest, hottest messes of them all.

Such a fun read. 10/10, will recommend.

My first book by MC Hutson, was an agsty, slow-burn read.
This was well written, first person POV. The chemistry is good. I enjoyed the interactions between the MCs. There was some growth with the MCs, could have been more. The secondary characters were well done and added to the storyline.
The time between breakup and resolve is lengthy, but the way the book is written, doesn't seem like it. Time passing in the book was linear.
There was not a lot of the MCs being a couple, I would have enjoyed seeing them date. It would have been good to have some of the happy couple together after the resolution.

Not for me, I couldn’t get past the things in the end that Jordan overlooked. I also didn’t like Noemi or Claude. I don’t think I was able to connect with the characters so it made it hard. But overall, I feel as if their relationship is toxic af and built on lies.

French Pressed Love by M.C. Hutson was a thoroughly enjoyable book
A slow burn sapphic romance that was utterly enjoyable!
The story moved along at a nice pace and kept me so engaged.
I really enjoyed this author's writing. I haven't read anything by them before, but I really got into the story and the pacing of it. The characters were well developed and lovable.

Don't let the adorable cover and cutesy title fool you—they're messy! They're toxic! No, seriously.

This is billed as a messy, angsty romance "that rivals Tryst Six Venom" in the description, but it's easy to overlook that line amid the coffee puns and bright colors—and, judging from the other reviews, I think a lot of us did.

The problem? To make messy, toxic characters work, you have to commit, and, like its main character, it doesn't feel like "French Pressed Love" was really down for any sort of real commitment (OK, I'm sorry—I had to). Instead, we get half cutesy coffee shop romance, complete with adorable homemade dinners and characters finally seeing the kind of support they never knew they could ask for in life...and then half straight-up mean, unexplained nonsense that comes out of nowhere and never gets explained by the plot. This is the first time I haven't been delighted to see main characters in their thirties (Jordan is 32)—the drama felt very YA.

As another reviewer said, there's a difference between messy and just plain unlikable, and much of the book felt like it was building up to a simple story of two unlikable characters coming together. Because Jordan, at least, does seem to be written to be intentionally unlikable—we hear that she hates paper straws, we get a detailed description of how grossed out she is to be near a sick elderly person, we see her fire someone for calling out from work—but then beyond that, we see her complex, lovable personality and it's hard not to want the best for her. Ultimately, I really wish the book had stuck to that simpler plot, because the bones are there and it's when the plotting got more complicated that it really went off the rails.

Star rating breakdown: 5 stars for the adorable romance bits, 2 stars for the "wait, why on earth did [redacted] do [redacted]" bits, averaged to 3.5 stars rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are, of course, my own.

I don’t even know where to start with this book. Messy is an understatement. These are truly some toxic lesbians.
If you are over sweet and fluffy this one is for you. All the relationships are a mess in this book. Not a book I would typically read. The ending is a bit controversial in my opinion. The format I received the ebook made it more difficult to read. I feel that some scenes skipped forward too soon. That more could’ve been there. Personally I don’t relate to any of the characters, but that doesn’t mean others won’t.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the advanced copy.

There was so much unnecessary drama between the two main characters that I ended up not even rooting for them to get together in the end. Ultimately I thought this book was intriguing enough to want to keep reading but I was left unsatisfied in the end.

2.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for a free Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for a review.

This was really good debut book.
I genuinely was captivated by the setting and plot, but I do feel more romance elements were needed.
More stolen glances, more ways of feeling yearning from both characters.

But the writing style was so fresh and inviting, it became so easy to stay tuned for the rest of the book.

I think this book fell into wrong time to read. It was just difficult to get into and connect with. Overall I wanted to enjoy it more than I did. The concept is great but it felt hard to connect with the main characters.

I loved reading this book, it had me feeling so immersed in the relationship and I really enjoyed the characters.

The stuck-up hottie coming in for a specialized latte every morning stirs Jordan up in all of the wrong ways, but that doesn’t stop her from wanting Noémie. Then Noémie asks for a job and Jordan thought she was in trouble before (chuckle).

French Pressed Love is a cute romance. M.C. Hutson gives us complicated characters, but leaves most of the darkness off-page. I have to say that I had no clue about the language differences in Canada and the author gives us a quick heads up before delving into the story.

There is plenty of steam and after so many clean romances I welcomed the fun! I will give you a heads-up that Jordan does “date” other people which is something I’m usually not a fan of reading. But like I said this story hit right after so many slow-burns that leads to nowhere (chuckle).

I really like Jordan. We share many life experiences and even though I’m a femme (mainly), I really connected with her the most. She protects herself because she’s been hurt, discarded, and rejected. These walls make it hard for people to connect, but it also makes it hard for her to connect too. She recognizes this and lives with her choice. There are uncomfortable moments, but it reflects real-life. Plus, it doesn’t take away from the romance at all.

I really enjoyed this romance. I did have an idea about Noémie all along (chuckle). This did not take away from French Pressed Love at all. One look at Jordan and I would be a latte lover too.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

a slow build up but one that was worth it and those surprises at the end just kept on coming....

jordan is a barista at a successful coffee shop... it wasnt what she intended to do with her life but then life always has its own curve ball to deliver... and one of those was a customer... jordan always looked out for her.

Noémie St. Pierre liked her coffee how she liked her coffee and wow betide anyone that got it wrong......she had thousands of followers on her accounts so jordan couldnt get the coffee order wrong as she didnt want noemie to blacklist their coffee shop

so when noemie stops coming into the coffee shop jordan is surprised and concerned for her... maybe the only one as it seems noemies father is famous and very well known has cut off all financial support to her

but jordans personal life is also is disarray with her friend uhauling it she either needs a new housemate or a new place to live....

a culmination of events ends up with Noémie St. Pierre being a new employee of the coffee shop and also jordans new housemate when she moves into a room at noemies house...

thats when it all starts to get interesting.....

i thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the characters of this book, plenty of drama and intrigue didnt see the twist coming but will be keeping an eye out for more of this authors work

This was an overall miss for me; I wanted the two main characters - Jordan and Noemie to get together but I needed more. I felt that they had a lot of toxicity and things to communicate about before their happily ever after began and wanted more out of the ending and more epilogue to round out their story.

There were scenes and moments throughout the book that I absolutely loved. The characters themselves were developed well and their problems and struggles were real and heartbreaking. It just felt like the ending was rushed, especially for the level of drama and struggles that the main couple went through.

Thank you NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley & BooksGoSocial for this ARC!!

Disappointed to say the least 🫤

The lack of romance. The lack of communication. The basically unlikeable main character. I understand it was a slow burn but you're waiting basically 70% of the book for ANYTHING. The first time I was actually rooting for a HNA.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!


I hope the imaginary epilogue includes them all going to therapy. Every character.

Jay and Noémi have no business being together which honestly is the reality of most relationships.

Noémi had no redeeming qualities to me. In fact, she somehow became worse?

Jay also did not show very much character development. It was like alright we’ll both admit we’re not shit and try anyway.

I did find the story entertaining as I was dying to get to the bottom of why they were so fucked up and the background behind the poutine Princess. I definitely ate up the drama.

I felt like some things were left unanswered and the transitions were a little choppy but it was a fast read

DNF at about 30%. The writing was very surface level and I was really not vibing with main characters. I can absolutely see others loving this book unfortunately wasn’t for me.

Overall, I enjoyed this. I just wish things had been more fleshed out. It felt like everything was a bit rushed which is such a bummer because I wanted to see more of these two; and I really wanted to read more about being a "touch-me-not" lesbian. I know it's not the author's job to teach, but I've never read a book that featured a stone lesbian before, and I would have loved at least a short discussion about in the text about her experiences. That being said, I liked the glimpse we got of Jordan's Caribbean culture. I also liked the brief discourse on cost of living in Canada. I feel often here in America we think of Canada as having life so much easier than we do here, and that's simply not the case.

Characters: 7
Atmosphere: 9
Writing: 8
Plot: 9
Intrigue: 8
Logic:8
Enjoyment: 8

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. French Pressed Love was a 2.5 for me.

What worked:
- attractive MC
- ⁠chemistry between MC
- ⁠queer yearning

What I didn’t love:
- ~10 year gap between MC
- ⁠Emotionally immaturity (both MC)
- ⁠Lack of depth, why even bring up past trauma just for it to be glossed over.
- ⁠As a reader, I didn’t really get to know Noémie that well, despite her being a MC
- sudden use of c0ke at the 76% mark
- ⁠having Noémie identify as lesbian and not bi at the end (although I guess the “relationship” with Felix was fake and there was never mention of other bfs/ male exes)

I really wanted to like this book and read a cute little romance but this book didn’t work for me. The book lacked the depth I would want to see from characters. Although we’re told Jordan is smitten with Noemie it all just felt like lust. It didn’t really feel like they fell in love and that twist at the end made it all feel like this wasn’t a great match. I also wasn’t a big fan of the way Jordan’s family was portrayed in comparison to Noemie. Usually by the end of a story you want to see characters grow and change. Can’t say that’s the case in this book. Although the story had its moments that felt realistic I would say it was a miss. 2.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc

I don't know if this story just wasn't for me and if maybe I'm the problem here, but this felt like every negative stereotype and toxic trope about lesbians wrapped up into one succinct novel. Lesbian MC falls for straight girl and is type-cast as a 'predatory lesbian' by basically everyone around her. The straight-girl-maybe-closeted-lesbian MC is... a lot. These characters are fundamentally unlikeable and the 'romance' makes me cringe.

BUT if you enjoy high-tension, full of drama, absolutely dripping with angst queer stories, especially with characters who are real and raw and absolutely unredeemable (maybe in a sequel?), this might be the book for you. The hook was strong, the plot definitely drew me in, but the entire time I was going, "What am I reading right now?" I love a story with characters that have experienced and caused trauma as much as the next person, but at least one of those characters has to grow and develop and change to make the story feel worth it. I didn't feel like <b>anyone</b> made any positive change throughout this read.

Basically, for me, this book just lacked the deeper development I expect from a tale with fallible, real, raw characters. I was never immersed in it, but I felt I had to keep reading because inevitably there'll be growth, right? Wrong.