This is an interesting modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. The book was written in third person, which isn’t my favorite for a love story like this, but it worked. I really enjoyed all the behind the scenes of watching a restaurant work to make a new name for itself. I liked both Susan and Chris, and some of the side characters are fun too.

Bottom Line: Cute read. There are no steamy scenes in the book if you are looking for a fun second chance romance.

**I received a copy of All Stirred Up from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

All Stirred Up by Brianne Moore is a fun read.
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Susan and Chris reignite their interest in each other after having to work together in order to make a restaraunt successful again in Edinburgh. Susan helps people find positions they fit in and Chris is a celebrity TV chef. It is the story for second chances.
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What I liked: I enjoyed the food world and the story line. I liked the fact that Moore didn't skimp around food descriptions or the processes of cooking.
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What I didn't like: I somehow felt a little detached from the read. I can't quite put my finger on why. I didn't like Susan's family, even thought everything was well-written. I think I found them a bit frustrating and I feel like they took away from Susan and Chris' story. I also was left searching for Susan and Chris throughout the book. Even until the last bits of the book I didn't get enough of them. But, I suppose that is more realistic. They ended their relationship badly the first time and I suppose it would take time for them to be in the same page again. It just wasn't what I was expected.
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All in all it was a good read but nothing exciting.
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I would recomend it if you're looking for a light read 😊 ⭐⭐⭐ 3 /5 Stars!
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Thank you to @netgalley, Alcove Press, and Brianne Moore for providing me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

All Stirred Up by Brianne Moore is a fun, easy read. A loose retelling of Persuasion by Jane Austen, this book is well written and is a nice escapist food-centered story. This book isn't as steamy as other romances I've read, and the plot is more centered on the main character, Susan, her restaurant journey, and her family. If you're into light romance with just PG-level kissing, this is for you. Susan's love interest, Chris, really doesn't come in hot as a pivotal character until maybe halfway through the story. I wish more time was spent having them reacquaint themselves. I did enjoy how much of the book was focused on food and Susan's development of her restaurant. I love a good food description, and this book is full of them. Yum.

I did have some misgivings about the plot and characters. First off, every single person in Susan's family is a horrible snob. Ugh. I wasn't sure if the multitude of classist remarks were supposed to be funny and endearing, but I was not a fan. If Julia was my sister I would continuously gag. Is an unlikeable family an element of Persuasion that I'm not remembering? Also, this book is rife with reinforcement of basic heteronormative stereotypes regarding relationships that just made me roll my eyes. There's also a moment of drama towards the end of the book that I think blames the victim, and then makes light of it by quickly "solving" the "problem."

All in all, All Stirred Up is a cute, quick read if you're looking for something escapist and low-stakes.

*I received a free digital ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

It was a fun read! I feel like it took a while for the main characters to get back together though and I wanted more contact between them. I also wanted to know what the gossip writer had on Philip but I don't think it was ever expressly stated.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Susan Napier is tasked by her incompetent father to take over the family restaurant empire. Unfortunately, this happens after closing all bit the original restaurant. Now, she needs to revamp it and make it successful or the family will lose it all. The story is an interesting look at family dynamics and the restaurant industry.

I really struggled with this book. Reading a book which so callously begins with people losing their jobs (given the current economic situation) did not feel good. It made it difficult to commit to the characters and the rest of the story when the beginning was so cruel.

A sweet story inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion. There are some adorable and believe characters that you’ll root for. I only wish some others were more developed like Lauren. A heartwarming read that will bring a smile.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced reading copy (ARC) of Brianna Moore's new novel, All Stirred Up, thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

With any ARC, I always go through three tests before fully going through the story itself:
1. Does the cover appeal? Fully yes. I'm really loving the new style of romance novel covers where you're not actually seeing a real person, but a caricature style (unfortunately as you can probably tell I'm not an art person, so excuse the ignorance for what the actual style is here). Either way, loved the cover!
2. Does the cover match up to the story? I'm a little mixed on this one. It did have key elements of the story, but I'll confess that the cover made me think of this story going in a different direction than it did.
3. Did the formatting work? Unfortunately there were some choppy errors here which made the book a little disjointed to read at times. Paragraphs were sometimes in the wrong place, words dropped down mid-sentence, words with no spaces. Having said that, once this is cleared up, the book flow will definitely improve.

Onto the story itself! Reading the description, I knew that we were heading into a romance story with a cooking element. But, I didn't find that this actually matched, and it actually felt more like a cooking/family-relationship story with a romance element. Don't get me wrong, this novel is very well-written, detailed, and intriguing. We're given a lot of information about the cooking scene in Edinburgh, the operation of a kitchen, and I'll admit it has given me an incentive to start cooking again.

We're given some insight into Susan's family and the legacy of her family's restaurant, combined with some of the disjointed family relationships. I found myself somewhat confused at times which character was actually which as there were so many different characters to keep track off. I would definitely say that Susan was our main character, but I wouldn't actually say the same of her love interest - Chris. We see a lot more of Susan's interactions with her family and her emotions than we see of Chris, and again, that's not a bad thing, it just doesn't fit the usual romance novel that I read.

I do feel that this was more of a general fiction novel with romance elements, which again, is well-written, just not fully falling into the romance genre. For most of the book, our lead characters are dating another person, leading to some confusion about who was actually going to end up together. The romance between Susan and Chris was discussed at various stages, but I didn't feel with enough conviction for me to want the two to end up together. Personally I wasn't that invested in Chris and hoping he'd get back together with Susan, but I was invested in Susan and getting her restaurant sorted!

Overall, I think this was a well-written novel, with many fascinating details about the cooking world and the Edinburgh scene, and one that I did thoroughly enjoy. I would say that this was more of a general fiction novel with a romance element, but nevertheless, a light-hearted, well written book.

This was my first time reading Brianna Moore.Overall,I thought it was an easy reading.Not challenging,which I loved because our heads are already so full of thoughts.I love watching cooking shows and all so I loved the food element in the book.It wasn't mind blowing but it was fun and light.

Okay this one was so cute! I actually read another YA that was very similar to this one :) Susan Napier's family lived on the success of the restaurants who were started by her grandfather. Her family inherited bad luck and worse management has brought the business to the edge of financial ruin. Susan is now confronted with her ex boyfriend who also wants to open his own restaurant,

I thought this was a really cute story, I liked the family dynamic and how it all came together in the end. I think this is kind of a second chance romance book, which I really enjoyed :)

I was so excited to receive this ARC from Alcove Press!
This modern retelling of Persuasion does a great job of staying close to the characters that we know and love while adding in some new twists. Rich girl whose family owns a famous restaurant scorns poor cook working there. Poor cook moves to America, becomes a famous chef, and moves back to open a restaurant right around the corner from her family's last chance to save their business. The main character Susan holds it together for her sister's who deal with the grief of their lives in very different ways. In a very Austen fashion the slow burn between Chris and Susan takes most of the novel but in a realistic way. She isn't pining over love lost, she accepted her fate and tries to do better by her family.
This book comes out September 6, 2020 and I would read it again!

Fun romance combining food and second chance at love with a Scottish setting and a nod to Jane Austen. Perfect light reading.

Scotland, cooking, and Jane Austen! This was a fun retelling of Persuasion set in the Edinburgh restaurant scene. Will appeal to readers looking for a light escape and second chance romance.

First off, I love a good romance set in the UK, and so I was instantly interested in this book with its Scottish setting. It features descriptive language that draws you as the reader in and it stars two equally intriguing perspectives of Susan and Chris. However, the exposition is super slow and takes nearly half the book for anything to actually happen. It almost feels like there's too much backstory, and you are just waiting and waiting for some action and intrigue. Then, some side characters aren't fully fleshed out and introduced, which is confusing at first to figure out who they are and how they relate to the main characters. I wanted to love this book, however, nothing truly excites me about this slow, slow, slow-burn romance. Susan and Chris have a smidge of chemistry but nothing goes further than that and I just wanted something more than just a family-friendly romance with no heat or sparks. There are some sweet or funny moments, but those are few in number.

Great summer read, Jane Austen feel to this page turner. Gives you a warm fuzzy feeling without the sickly sweetness of a typical romance novel. This one is truly a rose with thorns!

***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

I'm a sucker for anything Jane Austen inspired and this one did not disappoint!

"All Stirred Up" is set in modern day Edinburgh. As a lover of all things Scottish, I enjoyed the insights into Scottish culture. Descriptions of the setting were vivid, which made me as a reader feel connected to the setting. However, I was not able to form a connection to the characters or the story. Though I gave it the old college try, the story got off to a slow start and I lost interest when the main characters hadn't even interacted until Chapter 10. By then I was so disconnected that I ended up with a DNF at 37%.

It may have been a matter of personal taste as I gravitate toward meatier stories with witty dialogue that forges a connection with the characters. There are many supporting characters in this book, which confused me and likely contributed to my inability to connect with it. However, the only real qualm that I had with the book was the unique creative choice that the author made to write in the present tense, with the third person point of view. It was an interesting craft choice, however, writing present tense fiction can create a disconnect because the reader is asked to believe that something is happening right now, when it clearly isn't. I think that if "All Stirred Up" was written in the typical past tense, I would have been less confused and have been more likely to warm up to the story.

All in all, someone who enjoys a lighter read, enjoys foodie fiction, or Scotland may enjoy this. There are many promising elements that will intrigue readers with slightly different expectations than I. It is entirely possible that the story picks up later in the book and I missed out with my DNF. I'm not entirely put off by the book, and maybe I will give it another try one day when I am in the mood for a light read. I am open to trying one of the author's other books in the future.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, and left voluntarily with the intent of providing constructive feedback.

So apparently this is a retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion, but having never read it, I jumped into All Stirred Up without any knowledge of how things would go. Well, it's a contemporary romance, so there's obviously some knowledge of how things will turn out, but it's always the ride there that makes the ending worthwhile, and this book has a fun one. All Stirred Up is a story of family, forgiveness, and food that made me smile and made my stomach grumble!

Susan Napier is a wonderful leading lady. She's determined, caring, and talented, and what's more, she's not afraid to do what needs to be done in order to save her grandfather's restaurant business. I loved Susan's knack for getting the right people in the right positions to optimize the restaurant, even if that meant stepping on some toes. Of course, those toes deserved to be stepped on, and it was Susan's honesty that really made me like her. However, honesty wasn't always her strong suit, and that's part of what lead to her break-up with Chris Baker so many years before.

Chris himself has a complicated story, but he also had some issues with honesty before his determination and skills in the kitchen earned him celebrity status. When Chris and Susan end up back in the same city fighting for the futures of their respective restaurants, sparks fly once again, and the pair are forced to reevaluate what they think to be true and decide whether their busy schedules will ever give them a second chance.

Although the romance is probably meant to be the main aspect of this story, the main thing that stood out to me--and what made me interested in the story in the first place--was the food. I've been on a major kick with food fiction, and this book took a deep dive into the kitchen and all its related chaos. Susan is a pastry chef while Chris is a more general cook, and it was very interesting to read about the different techniques that go into the different types of food preparation. I especially liked the mentor-trainee relationship between Chris and Rab and later between Susan and Rab as a way to show that the world of the kitchen is a family unto itself and that talent can come from all sorts of unexpected places and people.

I will say that aside from Rab and a few others, the secondary characters really didn't do much for me. I found Susan's family in particular to be quite irritating most of the time, but I'm sure if I had read and loved Persuasion that I might have a different opinion of them. Then again, Lydia is annoying in every adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that I've read or watched, so maybe it's just that Austen liked to write annoying families to make the main character that much more likable. Nonetheless, they play an important role in the story, so I just rolled my eyes at their antics and moved on.

Overall, All Stirred Up is a fun read. It's not perfect, but I loved the food/restaurant aspect, and the second-chance romance made me smile.

A book especially for foodies! Enjoyed the fun in the novel too! A fun light hearted read for all to enjoy and lose themselves

Sweet, escapist, and fun. All Stirred Up is a great addition to collections where foodie romances are popular.