I love books about contestants on reality shows, so I enjoyed the premise of this book. I think it has great nonbinary and queer representation but the pacing was a bit off. I'm not sure if I'm the target audience for this book and I do think it was cute, but it wasn't a home run for me.

This book was such a delight! The premise of the cooking competition is what drew me to Love & Other Disasters in the first place – the Food Network is my constant companion – but the romance between London and Dahlia is what really stuck with me. The way they grew alongside each other and supported one another was beautiful, but that emotional journey also had moments of fun and romance and whimsy. Like a perfect recipe, everything was balanced and harmonious, leaving you feeling satisfied when it was done.

I loved the representation in this book! I’m always a fan of a grumpy sunshine trope and this was exactly that and perfect! I loved the aspect of the cooking competition and was part of my favorite thing about this book.

I was really drawn to the premise of this because I do enjoy cooking competition shows.

Dahlia and London meet on the set of the show Chef’s Special, each exploring their identity in some way. Dahlia is struggling to figure herself out after a divorce while London is in the process of coming out as non-binary to their family, show contestants, and the world given the platform of the show.

Both were compelling characters, but where this fell short for me was the connection between them. Because this takes place almost entirely on the show set, I wanted more about the connection between Dahlia and London. It happens so fast, and then the majority of conflicts have to do with the aftermath of show outcomes rather on the characters.

I also would have liked for the alternating perspectives to be in first person rather than third to get us closer to the characters and to also help differentiate the chapters more.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Book Group for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Well this book was delightful! It was the perfect cooking show book because it focused the correct amount on the show and more heavily on the romance. Loved this journey for Dahlia and London!

This sweet queer romance between a recent divorcee and the first openly nonbinary contestant on a home cooking show warmed my heart. After initially getting off on the wrong foot, Delilah and London soon find that their chemistry on and off the show is undeniable. The choice of whether to start a relationship in the middle of a competition that could send either of them home at any time is a more complicated one. But a chance at love might be worth more than any amount of cash prize from a reality TV cooking show.

This book was fine, I didn’t find it to be incredibly groundbreaking or all that interesting to be honest. The characters fell a little flat to me, the conflict seemed a little forced, and the ending seemed a little rushed. I thought it was just ok.

What I liked:
This cover is perfect. I love it, I’m obsessed with it.
The cooking show aspect was fun for me.

I thought that this book was a fantastic read. As a lover of the Great British Baking Show and Top Chef this was perfect for me as it married both and added a complex and emotional romance.

this was super cute! A cooking show romance, two chefs falling for each other, a grumpish/sunshine. The writing and plot were great but to be honest I was just not fully sold on the romance. I just didnt feel a connection between them as strongly as I wanted. The beginning started a little abrupt for me and made me feel like I was already being dropped in the middle of something. I still really enjoyed it and thought their banter was hilarious

Ok Dahlia and London are just the cutest. The gender and sexuality rep in this book is great. As a cis woman, I don’t know first hand the struggles London experienced but I felt like they were represented really well. The cooking show trope was cute but I’m a little burnt out on food romances in general, they seem to be everywhere recently! Overall this was a really cute story with lovable characters.

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly is one special book! I cannot comment on the representation as I am not part of the queer community. What I can comment on is how the story and characters made me feel like a warm cup of tea on a cool morning wrapped in a blanket. I loved the friendship and eventual relationship between Dahlia and London. Kelly created a sweet and heartwarming story and I cannot wait to read more by them.

This is the first queer romance with NB character that I have read, so I was very excited to get into it. I listened to the audio while reading the novel. I enjoyed both very much. So much so, that about 1/2 through the book I emailed the author to tell them about it! If you're a reader that likes cooking shows or similar reality based TV, queer romances, open door sex, and HEAs, then please grab this one. This author is now pushed up to the first read status for me.

This was such a lovely, tender and genuine love story between two queer/non-binary people. I simply couldn’t get enough of this relationship. Dahlia and London meet on the set of a cooking competition show where they have to complete challenge after challenge while falling for each other. Dahlia is trying to rebuild her life after divorce and London is out as the first non-binary person on the show, introducing themselves with their preferred pronouns. I’ll admit I wasn’t into the reality show plot, it was uninteresting overall but it didn’t detract from the beauty that was the evolution of London and Dahlia. I absolutely adored London’s perspective, learning about their journey with gender identity, their insecurities, the internal struggle but also how newly confident they were presenting their authentic self and falling for someone when they least expected it. Delightful, funny, touching, romantic, beautiful. Good book with great representation.

I really, REALLY appreciated how sex positive and steamy this was, but the book as a whole fell a little flat for me. Going into this I expected to love the cooking competition elements of the story, but as I was reading I found myself growing more and more bored with those scenes and wishing we were spending more time with just Dahlia and London instead. While I didn't totally fall in love with this book like I was hoping I would, it was still a mostly enjoyable read and I definitely recommend checking it out if you want to read a book features a heck ton of queer representation and some A+ steamy scenes.

CW: transphobia, misgendering, divorce

This book is an amazing and fun queer romcom that everyone should read. Not only was the pacing perfect but the author's way of writing really brought me into the story. I am not ashamed to say that I am deeply in love with London, they were such a fun character to follow throughout the story, as well as Dahlia. The story was tied up perfectly at the end and it was wonderful watching someone who struggles with mental health succeed, find happiness and fall in love. This was a refreshing take on romance and they baking show setting and plot was pulled off beautifully. As a lesbian who uses she/they pronouns this was a wonderful representation of a queer loves story and I cannot wait to see more from this author. As far as I am concerned this book was a 10 out of 10 in my opinion.

"Love & Other Disasters" was a fun and delightful story about baking and falling in love that does a wonderful job in setting its characters in their identity and place.

L&OD follows two contestants on a baking show, Dahlia is on the show to make a name for herself and prove her ex wrong, but she falls flat on her face in the first episode. Instead, she finds Parker, the show's first nonbinary contestant and a person who has caught Dahlia's eye.

The book follows their story as they deal with the producers on the show, as well as their feelings for each other and all the other ups and downs of the hectic life of a cooking show not quite as wholesome as "The Great British Bake Off" but not quite as cutthroat as "Chopped."

This book has many pros with a few cons as well. A part I absolutely loved was the sex scenes and the way they were written, especially with Parker. I haven't read a sex scene with a nonbinary character before and the way it was written was done so delicate and well.

Another aspect I really enjoyed was the pacing. The book follows the episodes quite nicely and the anticipation builds as the show does.

Overall, "Love and Other Disasters" was a fun read. It wasn't my perfect and favorite romance novel, but one I recommend and hope others check out soon.

Loved the representation! Non-binary representation is desperately needed and this did it well. Super cute.

This book sadly just wasn't for me. I do love a romance and food, but this one fell short for me. It was hard to connect with the characters and there were moments that it felt a little bi-phobic and it was hard to get through.

This is a great book about love and food and adventure and I was here for all of it. I really enjoyed the character development and the whole story.

Love and Other Disasters

What a fun read! I requested this because I was excited to see a book featuring a nonbinary main character. And the backdrop being a reality cooking show just further piqued my interest.

I loved the main characters, and found them to both be interesting and complex, I loved the relationship and how that developed. I feel like I could have personally used a little bit more in terms of the reality show–felt that while there was some conflict from a trans-phobic contestant, this portion of the novel could have the opportunity to be a little more developed but overall I really liked the story.

I personally had a few stops and starts in reading this; it was slow for me to get into, then there was a slow bit in the middle but I don’t want to hold that against the fact it was still a great read.

Thanks for the opportunity to review.