I received a copy of this book from Harlequin Publishing #partner for an honest review. I went into this book not reading the synopsis and having no clue what it was about. I struggled a bit in the beginning of the book but then it caught my interest and I was hooked. The story is told from Allie’s point of view so it’s easy to follow. Allie is a 25 year old social media coordinator for a company she enjoys working for. Benji, is her drug addict, unemployed famous chef boyfriend. Allie believes she can help Benji overcome his addictions just by being supportive and loving. She is unaware that it will take a lot more for Benji to get his life on the right path. The story of the drug addiction is not sugar coated and although I have no first hand knowledge of this it seems very authentic. To further Allies’s support of Benji she invests her savings in a high end restaurant where he will become the head chef. Benji’s addictions take over and he disappears leaving Allie to quit her job and work on starting the restaurant. This is the part of the book that will appeal to foodies. Not only are there mouth watering descriptions of food but we also gain an understanding of what it takes to start and get a restaurant up and running. We are taken through all the aspects of the process and what value each staff member’s job has in the restaurant for its success. Allie goes into this with much ambivalence since she has to leave her much loved job to pursue this when it was really the missing Benji’s supposed dream. Here is where Allie truly finds herself and learns about her strengths and priorities. It was great to see Allie assert herself and see where her life can go. I enjoyed the writing in this book and it covered a lot of interesting and important topics with a little bit of romance thrown it.

At 25, Allie Simon is on a hot track to a promotion. She has a chef boyfriend who is the talk of the town. Together, they're a power couple that's on the rise. When Benji talks her into fronting the money to helping him become part owner in a restaurant in Chicago's prime restaurant zone, she panics. After all, $30,000 is just about her life savings. She also knows he's a killer in the kitchen, so she agrees. Just in time for him to fall off the wagon and disappear.



Allie has about $1,000 to her name. The only way out of this is to have the new restaurant prove to be a success. It means quitting her job and diving into a world that she knows little about. With the help of the other partners, the goal is to make this restaurant work without Benji. Worse, they only have about a month to make this happen.



There's nothing messy or unfinished in Hot Mess. The story sucked me in and had me rooting for everyone other than the loathsome Benji. My heart broke for Allie as she learned that he was no good the hard way. I cheered them on as they struggled to get the restaurant open on time. My mouth watered as I read some of the food descriptions. This book held my attention and left me feeling very satisfied.



It's not quite a romance, but it's also not really women's fiction. It's simply a very good story at the power to overcome obstacles. I loved it.

This was an enjoyable read. Somewhat predictable, and the feeling I’ve read this storyline before. Still a fun and entertaining read.

A representative of the publisher recommended this read, so I stalked Netgalley until it was available. They were kind enough to let me read it way ahead of it’s March, 2018, release date.

The story opens with Allie Simon assisting her chef, boyfriend Benji Zane with one of several pop-up restaurant dinners he held while looking for a permanent place to land. Zane had a little trouble staying put due to his drug addiction, but he had assured Simon that he was clean and even going to NA meetings several times a week. She believed him because she so wanted their relationship to work out. Her day job was peppering social media with tweets and other content about her employer’s product.

When Zane disappears leaving Simon with a huge debt and a brand new restaurant to open, she embraces that job wholeheartedly. To find out what happens to her love life, you really should read “Hot Mess.” It gives the reader great insight into all the inner workings of the restaurant world, what not to do when you’re in love, and how to grab the reins of your job when you need to, but know nothing about the industry.

I fell in love with this book early on and didn’t want it to end. Belden has a two-book deal so “Husband Material” will come out in 2019. I can’t wait to read another of her novels. She has non-stop talent. You won’t be disappointed if you pre-order “Hot Mess.”

Unfortunately, I could not get into this story or relate to the characters.