This is a delightful debut romance about a reality TV champion chef who is teamed up with a ghostwriter to write his cookbook. It utilizes favorite tropes like forced proximity, one bed, and grumpy sunshine with pretty good success. The first half of this book was a 5-star read for me. I immediately fell in love with Kieran, a short, ginger king, executive chef, and definite hero of the story. The FMC, Ellie, is less likable overall, but I think that is because she isn't as successfully developed as a character on page. Unfortunately, the story began to lost momentum at about 50% and I had to wade through the last half to get to what I felt was a rather anti-climatic ending. Taken together, I am rating this one a 3-3.5 stars.

What this book did right:
❤️Kieran is a cinnamon roll chef who isn't emasculated by his feelings and is openly vulnerable.
❤️Did I mention he is a CHEF? Such sexy knife skills.
❤️Neurodiversity representation (dyslexia and ADHD)
❤️Sobriety representation (One of my favorite quotes from the book is: "Every day you've had since you got sober has been an act of optimism.")
❤️Body size diversity (Kieran is only 5'7" "on a good day"); Ellie is described as "endlessly curvy")
❤️Mental health representation (depression, anxiety)
❤️Multi-cultural representation (Jewish, Filipino)
❤️Exploration of grief (Ellie is a 30-year old widow)
❤️THREE! grand gestures that don't feel forced or cheesy
❤️A good cast of minor characters (Ben, Jay, Nicole)

Why this book missed:
🌙Tried to be about too much and about too many people (see above) so some of the best aspects of the story were really abbreviated and felt thrown away by the end
🌙Word count crowded with detail that didn't have anything to do with the plot or explored by the characters (see above) to the point that it felt like the author was checking off a DEI list. (The author often gives just one piece of information about a character, and that piece of information is their minority group.)
🌙Plot was too shallow for the length of the book
🌙Nicole and Jay? What was the point of their subplot?
🌙Despite the time spent with them in the narrative, Kieran didn't get any closure with his family at all
🌙Third act break up that doesn't make as much sense as the author thinks it does
🌙The last chapter didn't feel true to the characters

The shining star of this book is Kieran. He isn't the traditional tall, dark, and handsome romance hero, and is secure in his ability to please women and take care of them. His vulnerabilities don't stop him from going after what he wants. He is just so good, and kind. One of the sweetest aspects of the story is his bond with Ben.

Overall, the positives outweigh the negatives, and I will be reading this author's next book.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel.