This book was everything! It was so soft and sweet, yet VERY steamy; funny with witty dialogue and deliciously awkward situations (usually involving Dahlia!), but also heartbreaking at times (Mr. Parker, I'm looking at you!) Full of supporting characters to love (Barb/Julie and both character's mothers) and to hate (Lizzie!) I loved London and Dahlia. They were such opposites who completed each other perfectly. This was my first book with a NB main character and it was amazing. I hope there will be many more to come. I love romance novels. Love is love and chemistry is chemistry and Dahlia and London had it for days. Anita Kelly is an author to watch. I can't wait for their next book.

I liked the premise of the book so much! A cooking reality show, with Non-binary and bi characters that fall in love against this backdrop. However and unfortunately, it took me so long to get through this book because it felt really slow for me. So even though I did push through, it felt really slow and boring in the middle. I liked the idea of this story and the rep a lot better than I liked how it was actually told.

This whole story is just yes. Yes to the cute MC’s, Dahlia and London. Yes to the interesting cooking show competition storyline. Yes to the gradual, slow burn relationship that crackles the entire story. So much yes for side characters with dimension that provide balance and realism to the story. This story was a great read and I recommend others check it out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

A queer love story set in the middle of a reality cooking show? What more could I ask for?

Dahlia is recently divorced and has followed her passion for cooking and ended up as a contestant on Chef's Special (Very similar to Master Chef) While she's competing she runs into London, a non-binary contestant with who she starts a friendship with but of course, they have major sexual tension.

I loved Dahlia and London's relationship and oh my goodness they're the absolute cutest. This was such a good read and thank the food gods it got me out of a huge reading slump. Although I do have to say I felt like the food competitions were written very fast-paced and honestly, I would have to re-read a couple of times to figure out who got eliminated but hey maybe that was just my own problem.

Overall this was a very cute read and if you're in the mood for a simple and adorable queer romance then I would definitely recommend for you to get this book once it's been published.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with this eArc in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first romance novel I’ve read with a non-binary leading character, and I’m so glad to see this title in what will hopefully soon be a tide of inclusive romantic fiction.

An engaging read, Love & Other Disasters is fun/serious (it’s a little insta-love-y to me, others may enjoy that aspect more than I did). Both London and Dahlia are beautifully real characters with foibles and failures, and non-”perfect” bodies and baggage. The realness alone made this a pleasure to read, but the story itself moved along nicely and was definitely fun (I love a kitchen romance).


Thanks to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for an eARC of this title. Opinions shared are influenced only by my reading experience.

i wasnt super sure how much id enjoy this one but thought it was worth reading and boy was i right! absolutely in love with this one.

*eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
firstly, i am so happy a book that represents the kind of relationship i want exists, i've never read f/nb before because i haven't heard of many f/nb romances out there but this exists!!
the nonbinary rep is so good!!!! and so accurate!!!!!! london is allowed to exist fully as they are, as attractive and not as educational for the cis characters (especially dahlia) or readers - it's much more about them existing and moving through the world as a nonbinary person, which was done so well. got a bit emotional seeing my pronouns on page for the first time i won't lie.
i will say that i thought, aside from their gender, they weren't as fully fleshed out as dahlia - the narrative felt 60/40 balanced in favour of her more than them, however i did really enjoy her character development. the relationship was a tad insta love-y, probably not the world's best execution of the grumpy/sunshine trope but still good! (spoiler for non-explicit discussion of sex) <spoiler>i did really enjoy the intimate scenes as well - anita kelly managed to be clear about what was happening without using gendered terms for london. a tiny thing but it was mentioned that london wore a binder, but them getting it off was brushed over kind of quickly which isn't super realistic those things tend to be pretty tight. still great though.</spoiler>
additionally the cooking show setting was really good and appropriately dramatic - i think the other contestants could have been more fleshed out.
overall i really like anita kelly's writing style and am looking forward to getting a copy of this and also reading her karaoke novellas and later books!

QUEER MASTERCHEF - NEED I SAY MORE??

Oh really? I do? Okay.

I honestly went into this book expecting a culinary romance, but was oh so pleased when it was also an LGBT romance. London and Dahlia have undeniable chemistry both in and out of the kitchen which leads to some very steamy scenes. But more than that, they delve into personal trauma over transitioning, divorce, and children that really humanizes the characters. Personally I wish there were some recipes at the back of the book because lord knows it left me hungry...

*Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review*

I loved this book so much. It was funny, entertaining, and at times, touching. I loved seeing how the reality show and cooking went and I also loved how it touched on serious issues like misgendering in a great way without being offensive. the characters were also loveable and worked well together. Overall, definitely a five star read that i’ll be recommending to my friends!

I, unfortunately, DNF'd this book at the 40% mark.

I did have high hopes for it. It's a queer romance with a non-binary main character and it's focused around a cooking competition. As a GBBO fan who loves queer romances, I was looking forward to this book. But this gradually lost my interest.

London and Dahlia were compelling characters and their little romance was sweet, but I felt there was too much telling in this book and not enough showing. I was told a story of Dahlia's, but I didn't get to hear it in her words. I was told so and so did this well or this badly on a competition, but I didn't get to see what went wrong or what went right. I felt like I was reading a summary of what was happening instead of actually seeing it unfold.

Also, the cooking competition isn't a prominent feature and that was disappointing.

I did want to like this book, but it failed to keep me interested. And that's just what happens sometimes.

A queer love story set in the middle of a reality cooking show? Sounds like a recipe for success to me.

Dahlia, recently divorced, has followed her passion for cooking and ended up as a contestant on Chef’s Special (basically Master Chef). While there she quite literally runs into London, a non-bianary contestant, and they alternate perspectives through the book.

The beauty of this story is in its tender care of the evolution of London’s character, as well as the sureness of identity both London and Dahlia have. It made for a perfect pre-bed read.

While I wish there was just a little more food talk in here, let’s be honest, I was in for a cute love story and a HEA - which it delivered.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC.

Love and Other Disasters is a romance set within a reality TV cooking competition and two of the contestants. London is the very first openly non-binary competitor this show has ever had and Dahlia is a recently divorced woman dealing with major financial difficulties. While this romance pretty much follows the recipe for romance novels (including the dreaded miscommunication-leading-to-argument), it's unique in that it features a nonbinary main character and a dual POV. The LQBTQ rep in this book is fantastic and I love seeing these characters normalized and not just used as diversity checkbox. We really get to see London's motivations, their struggles, and how they deal with the unsupportive people in their life. There are elements of a rom-com, definitely many heart-wrenching moments as London deals with the challenges of being openly nonbinary on a national TV competition, and some "spice" sprinkled throughout.

Over the past year I've read my fair share of queer books, but nearly enough with non-binary leads, and I honestly think this is my new favourite! This had me in a constant goofy smile and was just so darn adorable. I only had time to read between work/on lunch breaks and every time I was forced to put it down, it was a struggle.

I love that Dahlias story wasn't centred on coming out, and that while some of London's story did involve a bit about people not respecting their pronouns, the main gut wasn't really about that. I found was more about self growth, acceptance, and a good old fashioned cheesy rom com about a couple of people falling in love when they least expected it.

London and Dahlia are my new favourite fictional couple.I cannot recommend this book enough and cannot wait to get my hands on a hard copy!

I really liked the start of the book, I was really excited about the food making! i just really love the idea of sharing and preparing as a love language and queer people sharing that could have been really great. alas there's little food making than i wanted :')

So anyways, this book suffers from everyone only experiencing heightened emotions all the time? Like the protagonists are always either really overjoyed or really sad and distressed? Also the writing doesn't hype up the tension at all, I was simply bored.

If this book had been fun, I would've rated it higher but I did not enjoy reading it. The kissing descriptions felt too clinical, the side characters too insignificant, the dynamics between the leads were just not compelling enough. Scenes that I thought could've been great were just mediocre, I mean the cow milking scene should've been obj at least funny but I was bored.

I expected better ngl :/ I didn't rate one star because I really appreciate more trans characters in published romance books and also I liked the first 3-4 chapters.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion in any way.

3.5/5 stars

At first I wasn't too sure about this book but I really enjoyed it in the end. I enjoyed London and Dahlia's relationship and found that the food bits didn't take away from the overall plot.

This is a great book to pick up if you like a good friends-to-lovers romance with a mix of reality TV (because who doesn't love reality TV). It was a breeze to read and took almost no time at all. Definitely one to add to your TBR.

I thought that I just didn’t like contemporary romance because I had a lot of issues with the last several contemporary romance books I read. And maybe this still isn’t the genre for me, but this book definitely changed my mind about some things.

This book is fun. It’s cute. It’s sexy. The characters are engaging. It’s wonderfully queer. It’s perfect for fans of cooking competition shows.

Even when this book used tropes or kinks that I don’t like, I didn’t mind because the characters didn’t take themselves too seriously and I never felt like the author was trying to force me to be into those things.

This book is friends to lovers and I would say somewhere comfortably between slowburn and insta-love. They’re attracted to each other from the beginning, but the author takes the time to build their friendship between putting them in explicitly sexual or romantic situations.

I relate to Dahlia a lot. I’m not sure that’s a good thing. But I would probably also fall for London cause they’re very cool.

I was bothered by some of the pacing near the end of the book, but it’s definitely possible that things will change before publication and overall I enjoyed it a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

AAAAA! Dahlia and London *WEEPING*! This was the most adorable romcom I've read this week and such awesome rep <3 I felt so happy and elated after reading this, I loved the idea of live show element and managing the media. All of it was so sweet!

A delight!!! I loved the cooking competition setting in general, and especially loved the scenes where London and Dahlia get to know each other through exploring LA and crashing weddings and hanging out at their hotel. As an LA native, that setting felt so sparkly and true and just--fun! The scene at the beach!! Excellent stuff.

thank you to netgalley and grand central publishing for the arc!!

Very cute. I love the non-binary representation and I loved seeing characters find themselves at an older age. Not that late twenties is older!

I wished to see more of both the main characters’ families as they are both interesting. They added a real dynamic that a lot of books miss. Or I read too much YA.

Either way, I recommend for a cute romance.

This book was very cute! I really enjoyed the main characters and I really like to read from a NB perspective. I wish we got more of the drama on the cooking show but I understand why it focused on their relationship.

I did find that the pace of the book was really slow, and it took me a while to read it. I found myself enjoying any parts that brought up their sexuality and identity. (i.e. when Dahlia spoke about her queerness, Londons story, her relationship with her dad) I enjoyed that the most.

but the Fruit scene is probably what brought it down from a 4 to a 3 star.