I loved this so much! I love the representation that this book gave and it was such an addicting read. The characters are well developed and lovable and I found myself unable to put this down! I love the cooking aspect and thought it was engaging and entertaining.


ARC provided by Netgalley

I enjoyed this book so much, I am not even sure where to begin. I am a lover of romance books and ones that center around queer characters are my life blood. This story was so warm and cozy that it wrapped me up and made me forget everything else. 



Our story follows the perspective of Dahlia and London, two competitors on the reality cooking show “Chef’s Special”. Dahlia is a recently divorced queer woman. She has left her marriage, her job, and her home to pursue herself. She wants to delve into her identity and her passion. She doesn’t want to be boring and complacent. She wants to be “LA Dahlia”, She wants adventure and spontaneity. But most of all she wants to believe that she’s made the right choices for herself and those around her.

London is the first nonbinary competitor of the show. London wants to be true to themself and their identity. Winning the competition would mean everything for London. They could pursue their dream of starting a program to support Trans teens in their community. London wants to prove that they can win and find affirmation from their competitors, friends, and family. London might even have what it takes if they can stop being distracted by the gorgeous woman with untamable hair, Dahlia.



We watch London and Dahlia fall for each other in the most heartwarming ways possible. They go on adventures, collaborate on food, and flirt endlessly. I found myself full of glee and happiness as I read their story. This may be one of the best queer romances I have read and I cannot wait to read more from Anita Kelly.

I love books set on reality tv shows and I've enjoyed what I've read of Kelly in the past so I was excited when I got the arc for this book and it really delivered. The characters were fun and interesting and felt very real and the way the relationship between London and Dahlia developed was written so wonderfully. The television aspect of the show could have been a little stronger- I would have liked to have seen more of it. Overall this was a sweet, heartwarming story and I can't wait to see what Kelly does next!

✨ Review ✨ Love & Other Disasters
Dahlia and London quite literally crash into each other on the set of "Chef's Special," a Master-Chef-esque cooking show. Although London (nonbinary pansexual) is initially irritated by the chaos that surrounds Dahlia (queer woman), they begin to develop a friendship that develops into romance.

CW: gaslighting, misgendering

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: f/nb contemporary romance
Location: mostly Los Angeles

First, I loved reading a book that followed a non-binary character, consistently using the correct pronouns. It was really powerful to read, and testifies to the need for more mainstream writing with non-binary characters.

There were points in the book where I giggled because Dahlia was just such a tornado of energy. I loved her and London as characters. The author did a great job of developing them and you can see why they're drawn together in this book. Their relationship was genuinely sweet and you couldn't help rooting for them at every moment.

The Chef's Special scenes added to their attraction and provided a setting to the book, but I felt like I didn't really get invested into the show and it's drama. It was just kind of there. While, ultimately, one of the points is that these shows often have partially scripted outcomes, and maybe this is meant to demonstrate that, I didn't feel especially invested in the show itself.

It was a fun read with a bit of grumpy/sunshine vibes and definitely worth the read!

Thanks to Forever and #netgalley for the eARC of this book!

Anita Kelly: a new queer voice conquering the world! Their stories are heartwarming, fluffy, relevant, and sooo amazing! This is how rom-coms should be written!

I was so happy that I got the opportunity to read Love & Other Disasters early. I adored both of Anita Kelly’s novella’s in the Moonlighters series. Their writing is vibrant and witty, and their characters are beautifully imperfect, inside and out. I still want to immerse myself in Love & Other Disasters, in the fantastic personalities Anita created, in the humor, the banter, and all those difficult topics that came up in between.

Dahlia is bankrupt and just got divorced from her first love. She feels guilty for letting David down and has doubts about her future. While reading I listened to Alone by Rag ‘n Bone Man & Nothing but Thieves, and this song fits so well with Dahlia’s struggles.

‘Maybe it would stop hurting, each reminder of how easily everyone she knew was navigating the path David wanted so badly, the path Dahlia couldn’t give him.’

Three years ago, London announced that they’re non-binary, and they’re the first openly non-binary character in a cooking show. But from the moment London told their beloved dad that they’re non-binary, he refused their gender identity and his rejection still hurts.

‘It was a hard thing to explain. That they could exist in a space that was all their own, and that they could shift and adjust until it felt right.’

I fell head over heels in love with Dahlia and London. Love & Other Disasters is touching, sexy, and refreshing. It’s about following your dreams, accepting yourself, being vulnerable. All in all, it’s an astonishingly funny story and so well written. There will be more books in this series, an m/m story and an f/f, and I’m dying to read them 🥰!

A reallly cute rom com. Enjoyable characters, dual pov’s and a fun cooking competition made for a fun engaging read. Would recommend.

You know, I learned a lot from reading this book and I enjoyed the journey. I love cooking shows and love, so, the combination of these things created a lovely and thought-provoking book.

This book was so good I feel the need to start reading it again after just finishing it. Dahlia and London are perfectly imperfect in so many ways and they kept me entertained throughout. I loved their interactions with each other and with their various family members. The cooking show filming served as a great catalyst for throwing them together and I loved that Dahlia was so protective of London and their identity right from the beginning. This book addresses deep issues that affect the LGBTQ community every day in a way that keeps me hopeful for the future. Loved this book and can’t wait for more to come from Anita Kelly.

Today I read an eARC of Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly! The Instagram outage today sure gave me time to focus on reading so I think I finished this in a little under 5 hours.
Super cute sweet book. Dahlia and London meet as contestants on a cooking competition show called Chef’s Special. It’s friends to lovers and grumpy sunshine. Relationship is F/NB which I have somehow never read before. This is actually my first read with a non binary main character. I love a good queer romance that makes my heart happy.
Both of the characters were really lovable. Dahlia is recently divorced from her husband, they met in high school and he’s the only person she’s ever been with. She’s trying to find herself and move on to the right path for herself. London has been out as non binary for 3 years and out as pan since college. Their family is mostly supportive other than their father who refuses to use they/them pronouns. London hasn’t been with anyone since coming out as non binary. It’s really the two of them opening up and taking the risk of falling in love. I won’t go into more detail than that but the story is really sweet and I totally binged it.
There are spicy scenes in the book but nothing too wild. Just a few moments where it makes sense.
The release date is 1/18/22! It’s definitely worth a read if you like romcoms or queer romances or both! Thanks to NetGalley & Forever for the ARC.

This was such a cute contemporary romance novel! I appreciated how the London, who is non-binary, was a main character and that issues were addressed but also in some ways was a non-issue-- this is reflective of reality today and a range of how people react to those who are different from them. I enjoyed the cooking show setting and how it created this unique environment for the characters to interact.

Looking for a sweet queer romance to keep you warm this winter? This is the one for you. It’s a Great British Bake-Off type of show where a contestant just can’t help falling for one of the judges.

This book was absolutely phenomenal. I've never read one by Kelly before, but I'd heard rave reviews about their previous novellas and couldn't wait to pick this up based on the premise. It's a story about love, but also love that asks for vulnerability and acceptance from both sides. I can't wait to read more from this author.

4.5 stars

This is a sweet romance set against the backdrop of a reality cooking competition.. What makes it more important is that it provides representation to groups that are usually marginalized. It follows two contestants, Dahlia Woodson and London Parker, as they navigate not only the rigors of the competition but also their growing attraction to each other.

Dahlia has been financially struggling since the divorce from her husband, is questioning her sexuality. She needs this win to get back on her feet financially. Perhaps more importantly, her connection with London is helping her to figure out who she is.

London comes from a life of privilege, but as is the first openly non-binary contestant on the show, they struggle are for acceptance not only with the show's audience (and intolerant fellow contestants) but also within their own family. Their father refuses to use London's preferred pronouns, causing a rift within the family.

This line especially stuck with me "If there was a society where everyone rejected the binary, where gender norms didn't exist at all, where bodies were just bodies, every one real and valid and equally human, and you didn't have to worry about what people were assuming or not assuming about you." I know this was an advanced copy and the finished copy could be different, but I sure hope that line makes the cut because it is so important. Our society is so intent on labels - whether it's race or sexual orientation or gender or even conditions like autism. What a wonderful world it would be if people could just be people, without being pigeonholed into a certain category!?

I'm the sponsor of the Gay-Straight Alliance at the high school where I teach. I'm a straight cisgender woman, who hasn't experienced the struggles my GSA students endure. However, books like this one will help me to be a better ally and advocate for my kids. Thank you Forever/Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced digital copy in return for an honest review.

So I really enjoyed this book about a nonbinary person and queer woman falling in love on a cooking reality show!

To start off this review I want to note, that I have the memory of a goldfish when it comes to book titles of things I haven't read. So when I got the email that I was approved for this ARC I first thought "didn't I review that book already this year?" then when I double checked I realized I was just mixing it up with Love and Other Natural Disasters. In my defense, the titles are very similar.

This book follows London Parker and Dahlia Woodson as they compete in a show called Chef's Special (That is suspiciously a lot like MasterChef...) Dahlia is somewhat recently divorced and trying to fully find her identity post divorce, and hopefully her time on the show will lead to that. And London is nervous about how their identity will be treated on national television and just wants to participate in the show so they can help people afterward. But after London is charmed by Dahlia being a lovable clutz, they just seemed drawn together. But will it last after the show?

So I found this book to be a whole lot of fun, and surprisingly touching as well.

I do want to get out of the way, this show sounds a LOT like Masterchef with minor variations of course. But as a fan of the show, I didn't mind at all! It was fun to imagine two characters getting together! And the food ugh. It all sounded so yummy!

The characters Dahlia and London were really great together. They're just one of those couples that I can so vividly imagine in real life actually working together well. And that doesn't happen in every book. They really seem to balance each other out perfectly and fit together really well. I was a big fan of this pairing. And individually, they were both really nuanced characters with their own motivations for what they wanted, their own flaws and insecurities that needed to be worked on. They both just felt very real to me. And it really helped me get into the book.

Additionally, I really loved how this book handled misgendering. The book definitely discusses misgendering, and even indirectly depicts London being misgendered- but it never actually says it or refers to London as anything but they/them. And it's just done very well. I've read many other books with trans or nonbinary characters, and I don't necessarily dislike when a character misgenders another when it makes narrative sense (I don't actually like when it happens lol) but I like the way this book handles it even better.

Also, I don't always bring it up in my reviews but get ready for some spicy scenes in this book!

I do have some minor critiques of the book, but they aren't unique to this book as much as just general pet peeves of mine. This book does have the very excepted black moment at 70-98% of the way through the book with a resolution at the end. Which isn't necessarily bad but just kinda is what it is. And also the declarations of love seem to come very fast timeline speaking (even if later in the book). Being on a reality show is a contained environment with being around each other for a month straight, but still that seems fast to use that L word to me.

I liked Love and Other Disasters a lot. It was a fun story with touching characters, and depicted nonbinary characters very well. 4.25/5

Oh my goodness, Anita Kelly! What a debut! I've followed Anita for so long on Twitter and was unsurprised to find how much I adored her book! This Grumpy/Sunshine romance was unputdownable.

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

Honestly, I loved this book so much. It was beautiful. I smiled throughout so many of this book, both at the love, the sex, and the identity discussions. Even when I had tears in my eyes at London confronting their dad and reading the messages they were sent on social media after living their truth ... every second of this book was perfect. I didn't know I needed this book until I had it - a bisexual female MC and a pansexual nonbinary MC in a full-length romance novel? I will never be the same.

This book was terrific! It focuses on two contestants on a cooking competition show, Chef's Special. The two contestants, Dahlia Woodson and London Parker, get off to a rocky start. As the competition heats up, the two become closer and closer and their connection is undeniable. But as they face the end of the show, they must face whether they have a future outside of the bubble of the show.

This was an enjoyable story -- the two main characters were both compelling and the backdrop of the cooking competition provided a great context for this story.

Recommended!

thank you to netgalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review!


i loved this book!! the representation was so good and the characters were lovable and extremely relatable. i will be recommending this to all of my friends<3

Apparently cooking show romances are all the new rage. Recently I've read Rosaline Palmer, Battle Royal, and now Love & Other Disasters. I love this setting! It’s always interesting to hear the contestants’ thought processes and read the descriptions of the dishes. It always makes me crave really good food!

Love and Other Disasters is an own voices nb/f romance. This was also the first book I've read with a main character that uses they/them pronouns, which I love to see! I've read a few with nonbinary side characters, but this is the first MC. I hope to see many more romances with nonbinary main characters in the future!

I adored London. I’m a sucker for a closed-off grump turned softie, and they certainly fit the bill. I liked that neither character was perfect but that both showed growth throughout the book. In the beginning, Dahlia read much younger than her age to me, but as the book progressed she seemed to grow up a lot. Both characters seemed to have great relationships with their siblings, and I would have liked to see more scenes between them.

This is no closed-door romance--it was way steamier than I was expecting, in the best way possible. That fruit scene!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this lighthearted romance. I’m excited to see what Anita Kelly does next--a Hank or Julie spinoff??

Dahlia, recently divorced and trying to figure out what’s next for her, is chosen to be on a cooking show! The prize money would give her what she needs to get out of debt and start her life over. London ends up on the show because of a dare from their sister, but there is so much they can do with that prize money to benefit others, but mostly this is a great opportunity for them to be themselves and to be completely upfront about it.

I really enjoyed this book! I love cooking and cooking shows, and I enjoyed reading about them just as much! I loved Dahlia’s character, she really came across as a big ray of sunshine and someone I’d love to be friends with. This is the first book I’ve ever read with a non-binary character and I loved that! London is amazing, and the way that she feels about Dahlia could give you butterflies.

I love their romantic relationship and their friendship. I loved the way that they accepted each other wholeheartedly, and how they came together to overcome their challenges. They make a good team and I really enjoyed their story.