I recently read All Stirred Up by Brianne Moore & liked the book. Set in Edinburgh & focused on the life of Susan & the question of whether she’ll get back together with her ex-boyfriend Chris. Food & chef themed, it made for a good reading escape. The book is a fun, quick, entertaining read & I enjoyed it.
Thank you to NetGalley for the complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This was definitely slow paced, as the others have mentioned. It was very hard to get into, but luckily, it practically takes an act of God to make me give up on a book, and once I got into it, I loved it. I honestly forgot that it was supposed to be a Persuasion retelling, but that would make sense as to why the family played such a large role. Not a favorite, but cute story!

All Stirred Up By Brianne Moore

Rating 3.5 / 5 Stars

Publication Date - 10/6/2020

** Thank you to Netgalley, Alcove Press, and of course, Brianne Moore, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Susan, our protagonist travels to Edinburgh hoping to save her family’s last restaurant and her grandfather’s legacy. After recently dealing with the closure of the London restaurant, it was time to start somewhere new, right? In the middle of the Scottish Capital is Chris, Susan’s ex-boyfriend, the one who got away. He has opened his own restaurant. Now that Chris is an accomplished chef, Susan finds him arrogant - as he cannot say a nice thing about her or her family’s restaurant. What follows is a great second chance romance. The fact that we had Edinburgh as the background setting is a plus as well - one of my favourite cities!

I truly loved that this book was a rom-com/chick-lit romance surrounding the theme of food. Why not, right? As someone who cannot cook, I am always trying to live behind those who can.

I also had no idea reading that this was a modern-day Persuasion retelling. After reading a few reviews I do have to agree that this was very well done in that respect! I am often not a huge fan of retellings, but this one did it right!

Tw - this book does include discussion of multiple deaths, former drug use, and other sensitive topics.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books, Alcove Press for my copy of All Stirred Up by Brianne Moore in exchange for an honest review. It published October 6, 2020.
This book gave me all the UK romance feels! You obviously know the destination, but there is so much joy in getting there! I loved the setting in Scotland and the descriptions of the location. The cooking, food and restaurant theme is very fun, and the food descriptions were mouth-watering!
I also enjoyed the sister relationships and the encouragement between them, and the advocacy of therapy.
I think anyone who enjoys closed-door romance, they would enjoy a trip to Scotland!

This was an enjoyable Women’s Fiction read. I liked the writing style which was atmospheric in places. The characters were likeable and realistic. I was rooting for their second chance romance.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this book! I had a hard time getting into the first chapter but once I got past that, it was a fun read with memorable characters.
Susan, the main character, has moved to Edinburgh to run her family‘s restaurant. She sees her old lover, Chris, who is a chef as well. They end up competing against one another in a cooking competition. I really liked all the descriptions of food and restaurants. I highly recommend this book, 4 stars.

Story is about the struggling restaurant business owned by Susan's family. Chris, her ex-bf, now a renowned chef opened up his own closeby. They keep meeting by again and they even competed against each other in a food festival. Chris dated Susan sister while Susan was dating a famous actor. Other hurdles, their relatives were oppose to the relationship.

This was a refreshing new take on JA's Persuasion. Love both characters. I recommend reading this.

I had received a copy of this from Netgalley and voluntarily leaving this review

This was just one delightful read, one that made me hungrier the more I read. I love anything Scottish, so this was definitely meant for me. I loved it!

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge Jane Austen fan and this book is a great retelling of Persuasion. My only issue with this was the pacing. It started off super slow and really drug through the first couple chapters and continued through the first half of the book. Then it really just sped through the end of it too fast. It just felt disconnected in a way.

I think it was a very interesting take on the Austen classic and I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys Austen’s stories.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

The book is a retelling of Persuasion by Jane Austen. This is a second chance romance that took a little too much time to get to the romance. I really did like Susan and Chris as a couple though. You can't help but root for a couple that was torn apart by tragedy and I thought they had good chemistry. The beginning of the book is mostly about Susan and her situation. Way to wordy for me in terms of descriptions of the city. It got a little exhausting. I did like reading about Susan and her struggles and how strong she was dealing with her family loses and her unhelpful family. Strong female characters are always great to read about. Overall a good read.

Jane Austen’s Persuasion gets a modern-day remake in All Stirred Up. As both a Janeite and a lover of foodie romances, I couldn’t wait to dive into a reimagining of Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth’s love story set in the culinary world. While the result may not be as stunning as its inspiration, I still found author Brianne Moore’s take interesting and engaging.

Susan Napier’s grandfather founded a chain of restaurants that were successful and world-renowned. In the wake of his death and the passing of Susan’s mother, the Napier family is nearly in ruins. All they have left is the flagship restaurant in Edinburgh. Susan is determined to revitalize the restaurant and save her grandfather’s legacy. I loved her quiet strength and her determination in the face of numerous, frustrating obstacles. Susan isn’t perfect but she’s a good, kind woman with good business sense, a talent for pastry and sweets, and a spine of steel most don’t see. She and Chris Baker have a history and their breakup was bad. They were both young and Susan was still grieving her mother’s death when she was persuaded to leave him. Chris is understandably bitter given how things turned out, but he can’t help but be drawn to Susan once they’re both in the same city. Chris has become a famous chef in the intervening years since their breakup. He isn’t perfect either; there’s a lot of him that’s still hurt and angry. But beneath it all is a good man who is helps others where he can and who has vision and determination of his own. He and Susan simply “click,” but don’t expect a grand romance in All Stirred Up. The love story is a bit understated and lacks the passionate undertones I would have liked. The romance doesn’t really get going until the end of the book and though the history between Susan and Chris is well-established enough for the ending to be believable, a bit more zing or simmering tension would have given the romance more life.

The Edinburgh restaurant scene is highlighted in All Stirred Up and it’s where the writing shines. Ms. Moore will make you salivate with all the divine dishes described in this story. Her culinary knowledge is apparent and the descriptions of both food and locations bring the book to life. She also rounds out the story with a host of engaging secondary characters. If you’re familiar with Persuasion you’ll recognize who their classic counterparts are and I loved the depth and character motivation Ms. Moore added to Susan’s sisters. So while the romance was a bit lacking for me, I still really enjoyed this book overall. I’m a sucker for Austen retellings and Ms. Moore does a great job of including classic elements and storylines while making this book stand on its own.

This was a lovely, solid 3.5 star read!

"All Stirred Up" is a modern retelling of Jane Austen's "Persuasion" with a restaurant world and a picturesque Edinburgh as its setting. I thought it was well-written and engaging, with some issues here and there. But all in all, I'd just like to make clear that my rating is definitely affected by my own personal tastes but this is a title that all romance lovers out there should check out.

So what brought it home for me and what put me off? Here's a list:

+ beautifully vivid descriptions of Edinburgh - it felt like I could really immerse myself in that city, with the unique blend of the magical and the mundane; sometimes the background of the story can be so lifeless and dull, it just doesn't seem real, but here the author painted a very alive and authentic picture that made me long to transport myself into the pages of this book so that I could take a walk along Edinburgh streets and eat some haggis

+ Susan's journey - I really loved that quite a lot of the story focused on Susan, her familial relationships, her professional challenges and her character's grow; to be honest, if this book wasn't marketed as romance and I didn't go into it fully expecting a second chance love story, I'd rate it way higher as I could read and read about Susan navigating her family troubles, working on relationship with her sisters and facing challenges with re-opening family restaurant while also learning that she doesn't have to be everything for everyone and that her happiness also matters

- pacing - this didn't fully work for me; the story starts off slow and it drags on a bit til around 1/3, then it picks up; I couldn't put it down from halfway to the very end but I feel like the story could've been "allocated" better because it surely felt like the ending itself was speedy and everything was just packed there all at once

- romance - like I mentioned before, had this not been marketed as romance, I would've ended up a much happier reader, I think; I DID enjoy Susan and Chris' interactions and the angst but - and please note that this is just a personal preference - I simply don't quite enjoy the love stories (at least contemporary ones) where the characters spend 90% of the book separate/with other people. Also, I missed some communication and problem-solving (sorry for sounding so corporate!) on Susan and Chris' part. Their interactions throughout most of the book consisted of misunderstandings and awkwardness, then in the last 5 minutes they finally both found out full story of what went wrong in their relationship 10 years prior, and managed to get their feelings out in the open. Fast forward to HEA epilogue. Which is fine, it's just not what I appreciate in romance because it feels like the hardest "let's figure out how to be together" part happened somewhere in between the ending and the epilogue and I missed it.

To sum up - this was an interesting take on "Persuasion" and yes, read it, for the mystical charm of Edinburgh and Susan's character alone. It's definitely worth it!

P.S. Also, this is so typical of me to get invested in secondary characters way more than I should but am I totally alone in craving Julia's book? Because I SO NEED her to have a story of her own, I just need it!

Narrative and Plot


All Stirred Up is the retelling of the Jane Austen novel, Persuasion. Now, I haven’t read Persuasion yet, but the book definitely had an unmistakable Jane Austen vibe to it. Be it the characters, the settings or the theme. All Stirred Up is entertaining even if you haven’t read the original. It might remind you of the Victorian era setting of a Jane Austen novel for sure. Susan and Chris and their predicaments are the same even in the modern era. Relationships are complicated no matter what the century is.

The plot is engaging and adequately paced. The whole Edinburgh setting gives it a character of its own and to someone cooped up at home during quarantine, it gives you the touristy experience which is something I love about books in general.


Characters and Conflicts


The characters are all well fleshed out and remarkable. This is expected since it is a retelling. But adding the modern conflicts makes them relatable to someone who is not familiar with the original story and still care about them. The weight of history and regrets and love is unmistakable from the start. And the characters are quite sensible and realistic in the way they deal with it. Add a gossip blogger to the mix and things get spiced up.

One of the things, I love about All Stirred Up is, it chose to stick to the original story. This I can tell, because even though in each other’s orbit the main characters don’t meet in person well into the book and that creates a kind of longing and rooting that only the Victorian novels can demand. The story definitely recreated that magic, especially with the first meeting of Susan and Chris.

The ensemble of characters only helped move the story forward. It would have been lovely to see more of the sisterly bond. Or maybe that’s just me who loves reading about siblings. And last but not the least, this is the perfect book for snacking and reading if that is your thing. The presence of good baking and rich Scottish cuisine is bound to raise your appetite.



Conclusion



All Stirred Up is your comfort reading. It is soothing, pleasant and romantic like a nicely baked bread. With the Edinburgh backdrop, good food and a heartwarming romance, you don’t need much persuasion to pick this up.

I truly enjoyed this book. What a light, weekend read! I would definitely read this book if you are into cooking reality shows and rom coms.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of All Stirred Up in exchange for my honest review. Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. I thought I was going to love it but I just couldn't connect to any of the characters causing me to DNF this one.

“We all just want to be memorable in a sea of other things clamoring for everyone’s attention”

Susan and Chris became connected over their shared grief, had a great few weeks together and went their separate ways. Now almost ten years later they are back in the same town, both still chasing their dream of running a restaurant. Chris is just starting his own after falling into fame, and Susan is trying to keep her grandfathers legacy from going under.

Ohh how I wanted to love All Stirred Up. There was so much potential ... the cover, the history between Susan and Chris and now their paths crossing all these years later. But to me it fell just a little short. It was good, I wanted to know how it ended, but I didn’t love it.

All Stirred Up was less about the relationship between Susan and Chris, and more about their relationships with family, their restaurant and themselves. There was so little of them together, and I just wanted more! Overall it wasn’t bad, just not what I was expecting given the genre and this super cute animated cover.

Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for the eARC to read and provide an honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading this one because I love second chance romance and rival stories but sadly, I didn't enjoy this one as much as I want to. There's just something lacking in this book, maybe the chemistry between Susan and Chris. I also think the angst is not enough or it sometimes feels like forced. The wrap-up is OK though so still not entirely a bad read.

Actual Rating 3.5 ⭐

I really enjoyed this, it was easy to read, light-hearted and comical at times. I found the characters to be well developed and each had their individual stories and backgrounds, everything seemed to come together in the end really nicely so nothing felt like it was unnecessary.
I did feel like the story was a little dragged out and getting to the ending took a little longer than I would have liked. I also would have liked more romance, I'm not a huge fan of romances happening at the end of books as I find myself a little disappointed.
But overall a really enjoyable read

*Quick Take*

Fun foodie fiction. Engaging characters, enchanting setting, entertaining storyline. The focus of the story is really on the restoration of this family restaurant as well as the family dynamics. The second chance romance between Susan and Chris was sweet, but definitely not at the center of the story. This is billed as a Persuasion retelling and having never read Jane Austen‘s Persuasion I did read the spark notes and I have to say it did follow the general outline as far as I can tell. Women’s fiction filled with food and family with a splash of romance.

*** Big thank you to Crooked Lane for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

I thought this was a rom-com and was surely disappointed that it was more of a contemporary fiction/family drama book.

Susan's grandfather Eliot ran a restaurant. Susan later tried to bring it back to the popular place it had been. There is one problem. She has to compete with an ex-lover, Chris (Susan's grandfather's protege), as he opens his own restaurant. Theirs was a brief fling but ended abruptly.

Susan has a mess of a family. Her mom died, her father only pays special attention to one sister, and sister Meg is a hypocondriac.

I actually liked the first half better when Sudan and Chris didn't even see each other again (after years) into around 43% of the book and then I just sruggled a bit to get through it.