I've noticed that lgbt+ mangas are usually very hit or miss... this was definitely a miss. I had high hopes for this so this was so disappointing.

My main issue with this was the fact that the MC literally put achohol into some deserts to get the love interest drunk. He does this knowing that the love interest will end up wanting to have sex with him... and they do. After that I just couldn't continue because... what?

Before that, the story was fine, nothing special. There was almost no development and it was very insta love. I'm not a huge fan of that trope in general but this manga just didn't do a good job with it at all.

Overall, I definitely don't recommend. Please don't spend your time or money.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first BL manga and what I do appreciate and love is the beautiful art and drawings of the characters and food. The background setting doesn't play too much of a role, but you still get the overall vibe of being in a dessert store set in Japan.

The story revolves around two dessert chefs who have their sweet stores in the same neighborhood - Kaoru who makes Western-style sweets (French inspired) and Sojiro, who creates traditional Japanese sweets -- and I just loved how beautifully drawn the desserts were. Despite being in black and white, they looked darn good and made me wonder what they would be in real life; the colours, the textures, the taste. As someone with a sweet tooth, this was my jam!

The characters were also so beautifully drawn, and I think it would be almost impossible for anyone to not think they were attractive. Can I say that about drawn people? Heck, I thought Aladdin was cute when I was a kid.

For me, I thought the premise and idea was cute, and surprisingly more intense than what I had I realised I was getting myself into. I did find the pacing a little off (it was fast and hard to understand why for instance Kaori immediately turned to anger after finding out about another sweet store nearby) and after reading Okoge Mochino's notes at the end, I can understand there's a limit when it comes to the pages and physical space to tell the story, so I get it. I think if this were to be an ongoing series or at least more than 3 volumes, there could be more space and time to play with to flesh out a story, and develop personalities for the characters, and build some tension. These are some of the things that the story lacks - a downfall of this short format.

The story itself is very much of a young type love, where everything is just so intense and over-the-top. I could be wrong, but is this a general rule for BL manga? Again, the lack of character development and connection to understanding their actions might just be because of the lack of space to tell their backgrounds.

I did mention this was my first BL manga, so I'm not sure if this is the typical style of the genre -- but I have a sneaking sense that readers who regularly read BL stories, would be pleased with this one!

Cheri, My Destiny! is a comedic yet soft story about a French dessert chef, and a Japanese one. I absolutely adored the parallels between the two as they're not usually compared. Furthermore, Cheri, My Destiny! gives such cafe vibes, it's honestly the best thing ever! My only complaint is that it was a bit too insta love-y for my taste. Overall, if you want a rivals-to-lovers story about two chefs that'll make you laugh out loud, I highly recommend this book!

Unfortunately the way this book came through as a file did not work on the device I was using - it was sideways and it was broken up in strange ways. It's likely this is just a result of the device I was using though. I'm certainly curious enough about the story to investigate when it is out in physical form.