This book was actually one of the cutest things I have ever read. My mouth literally hurt because I was smiling so much. There was a beautiful romance story that touched on some great topics. The representation in this book was great and the love story was fantastic. This was the first book I have read with a non-binary character, and I really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend and I will 100% be buying this when it comes out! Thank you to NetGalley and Forever publishing for letting me enjoy and review this amazing book!

Okay I’m all in on the cute queer adult romances! Keep publishing these queer romances!!

A pansexual nonbinary cooking show contestant falling for another queer contestant brings the hotness, the drama, and all the food!

When I first saw this book, I was immediately drawn in by the cover. After reading the description, I knew I would love it. A book with cooking and romance? Count me in. I have never read a book with a non-binary character in it, and it was really nice to see their POV and inner thoughts. I felt I gained a better understanding of it just by reading this book, which was really cool. There was a great balance between the cooking and romance for me, so I got to feel like I was watching the food channel while ALSO watching a rom com! I would definitely recommend this book to friends.

Ok WOW this book was lovely. I didn’t realize how special it would be to read a book with a main character who uses they/them pronouns but it really hit me. I loved the cooking competition aspect, the queerness, the important conversations about acceptance and ignorance and just really everything about the love story. This book could not have been any better. Definitely need everyone to read this.

3.75/5 stars, read from 9/6/21-9/9/21.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. That being said, this is my unbiased opinion of this book.

Okay, first off, the first line of the book had me HOOKED. I feel like it captured the humor of the book in a nutshell. Also, this is my first time reading a book about cooking… and I really enjoyed it?!

Dahlia and London are two contestants on “Chef’s Special”, a cooking competition TV show. The two of them are such a cute couple, and I LOVED the dynamics of their friendship-turned-relationship. The chemistry between them was fantastic, and the banter was just *chef’s kiss* SO cute!

Honestly, I was hooked by the cover of this book itself… but the storyline and characters made me swoon & love it even more. Although the ending felt a little rushed/too bland for my tastes, I still recommend this read!

Some of my favorite quotes:
“I need you in a way that can’t be temporary.”
“Maybe you got to see her brightness for a fleeting moment, but you couldn’t chase her. She didn’t deserve to be caught.”

How do I even begin to explain how much I loved this book?

Set against the backdrop of a cooking competition show, this romantic comedy follows the shows first openly non-binary contestant, London, and walking chaos machine, Dahlia, as they cook, compete and make emoji heart eyes at each other.

This book delivers everything I could possibly want from a rom-com. I laughed, I teared up a bit and I fell in love with more fictional characters. London and Dahlia are literally *chef’s kiss* (pun intended?) on the page together and I was so invested in their story from start to finish. I’m not a huge fan of cooking competition shows (I much prefer baking shows), but the cooking competition led to some truly delightful moments in this book that I can’t stop thinking about.

I just, sigh, super want to live in this story. It doesn’t help that I highly relate to Dahlia’s particular brand of chaotic.

Pick this up if you’re looking for: a queer romance, open door romance, fun/funny rom-com moments, and/or a love letter to cooking.

This book was so much FUN! I get bored with romances sometimes, but this one drew me in for two reasons: a love interest who happens to identify as non-binary and the setting of a reality TV show! The chemistry between Delilah and London was spiccyyyyy!! I grew up watching reality shows, so I enjoyed the Chef's Special competition they were participating in. I also love Los Angeles, so I appreciated all of the references to the city. *Chef's Kiss!*

Dahlia needs to break out of her rut. She's newly divorced, tired of her job, and sick of her small town. She applies to be on Chef's Special, a Top Chef-like cooking competition show, but she never expects to get chosen. Her first day on set, she literally bumps into fellow contestant London. They do not seem impressed with Dahlia's clumsy charm, but they also keep staring at her during the show. London, meanwhile, is determined to make a good impression on the country and their family as the first nonbinary contestant. They cannot afford to get distracted by the chaotic Dahlia, no matter how warm and beautiful she might be.

This was a very sweet story (no pun intended, but the baking always did sound delicious). The two leads are determined to focus on the show but just can't seem to stay away from each other, and they're cute enough together that their fellow contestants are rooting for them, even before the two acknowledge there's something between them. You'll be cheering for both of them, too.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed Love & Other Disasters! I want to start out with saying I loved the representation within the book. The story was cute and heartwarming and I really loved the development of the story. I will say the story fell flat in some aspects but overall it is a good read!

Anita Kelly is a star. Write it down now. This debut is the start of what I hope is a long and prolific career of writing beautiful, funny, complex, sexy romances. What a place to start. Kelly's writing is more confident than a debut author has any right to be. It had a stand out voice for both of the main characters. Dahlia is impossible not to love. She's funny and quirky, a little clumsy, and so feisty and sweet. London is prickly with a heart of pure honey. Together they are magic and the setting on a cooking show perfectly shoves them together and pulls them apart.

Anita Kelly is a star. You can count on it.

This is absolutely a modern romance that will take you on a fun ride through the new challenges dating life has to offer you. I also found this book is a great way to become versed in uncertainties that hover over the young mind in today's reality.
This was definitely a fun ride that Kelly takes us on 😄


LGBTQ+ community 🏳️‍🌈

3.5 stars

i really enjoyed this! london and dahlia had great chemistry, the cooking competition setting was fun, and i loved the discussions around identity and family and personal growth. my only issue with this book is that i wanted the romance to feel a bit more substantial than it was. it definitely wasn't instalove or anything, but things developed pretty quickly, and i didn't feel like there was quite enough buildup before london and dahlia actually got together. regardless, i'll definitely read whatever Anita Kelly comes out with next and i'm super excited for the other books that are going to be in this series!

Thank you to Grand Central for providing me with an e-ARC of this via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

5 stars. I loved this book. Set on a cooking show, it's the story of exuberant Dahlia, who's just divorced her husband and quit her job, and reserved London, who's nonbinary and who's dealing with unacceptance from different areas. Dahlia is a hot mess at the beginning of the book, and we're there throughout the cooking competition as she and London fall for each other.

Dahlia and London are both such sympathetically drawn characters. They're definitely not perfect (and indeed, this becomes part of a love scene), but they are trying. Their chemistry is written so well; you get to see them both attracted to one another and understand why. Kelly uses the dual POV to good effect; you feel connected to both Dahlia and London (and their families).

The conflict is also completely believable. When they're having their big fight, it's something that reasonable people would fight about. And then when they reflect on the conflict, they work through their issues in ways that make sense and also seem to be real fixes rather than slapdash patches that will fall off as soon as the book ends. Dahlia will always be a little messy for London's taste. London will always retreat into what can seem like a gruff silence when they're stressed.

A fantastic own-voices debut that explores the main character being non binary without reducing anyone to stereotypes, I recommend it to anyone who likes love stories where you'd like to actually hang out in that world with the main characters. There's an epilogue too, which is always so satisfying.

I will definitely be rereading this one.

This was such an addictive read, it actually distracted me from work and I was physically unable to put it down.

As a non-binary person, I already loved Anita Kelly's first Moonlighters novella (I'm saving the second one for the holidays), and I was so glad to also see a non-binary character in a full-length romance novel! Especially since they also have a POV! It always makes me so happy to see my pronouns used on page, and since this book is written in 3rd person, that happened a lot.

Both of these characters felt so real to me, and I found them so relatable. I loved the setting of a cooking show, but even more I loved how much time Dahlia and London actually spent together in the novel, since as opposed to a lot of other books, this one didn't have the enemies to lovers trope and they started getting friendly really early on in the book.

Another aspect of the book I really appreciated is how there is a third act break-up but it actually served a purpose, whereas I tend to find that lacking in other books sometimes. The third act break-up gave both characters the space to work through personal issues and to grow as a person outside of a relationship, and I found that so valuable.

i really wanted to love love & other disasters because it had the perfect set-up for a book i’ll adore – and yet it let me down. i love the fact that it had a nb main character – i can say london was the only character i actually liked. i loved the cooking show parts – the challenges were fun to read about, but i wish we saw more of that. the show was just the background for the romance and i would’ve enjoyed it a lot more if we’d seen more of the casts or the judges, if the set-up was explored more.

while i did like london as a character, i didn’t think there was much chemistry between dahlia and them. they were constantly annoyed with dahlia at the beginning and then it just switched to instantly in love in a few pages – which kinda put me off a bit. i did enjoy the conversation on gender and how it was handled here, but i cannot comment on the nb rep, it’s not my place to do so. loved the relationship london had with their sibling – even if julie was barely present, i did like her from the few scenes she’s in.

dahlia, on the other hand, i couldn’t stand. she’s written as such a “not like other girls”, quirky character that it got on my nerves eventually, considering she’s a grown woman acting like a teenager. she said the most random things at the worst moments and the book tried to sell that as humor, but i didn’t really get it. she was such a “head in the clouds” character, but i could not connect with her at all.

the smut in here came as an uppercut, because even though i knew this was adult, i didn’t expect that. lets just say they bring fruits to the bedroom and i considered dnf-ing it because that scene made me so uncomfortable. the other sex scenes were a bit awkward, but alas.

i wish the book had some conflict in it – something to make it more interesting, because it was okay, but i found myself bored at times. the pacing was also off – the ending was rushed and that’s the part i was most interested in – the contest, and it was over in a couple pages. the side characters and the relationship between them and the two protagonists weren’t developed at all. they’re there just to move the plot along and they barely have anything to add to the story.

overall, i’m really sad this wasn’t the book for me, but it might definitely work for you. it’s a fun romcom, so if you’re into that, maybe give this one a try.

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

What a treat! I loved the slow unfolding of London and Dahlia's relationship, and how they lifted each other up. The cooking scenes were all a delight to read, and I want the recipe for Dahlia's soup in particular; reading this made me so hungry! Such a delicious romance, full of complex characters and relationships, and a hopeful, real glimpse into the difficulties they face. This is not only an important book but a joyful one as well, and I look forward to reading many more of Anita Kelly's stories.

I really enjoyed the first half of the this! Dahlia and London were super cute and the plot was moving! But, the last half slowed down (especially once they got together). I really wasn't a fan of the main "drama/conflict" at the end which made me not totally love this one.

The side characters were all great and I'm hoping at least one of them gets their own love story in a sequel!

However, this is the first traditionally published romance with a nonbinary POV/love interest so I am still going to support this one a lot because it is so important to have love stories like this one published. I also can't wait to read more from Anita Kelly!!

TW: strained relationship with parents

I had the best time reading this. It's ridiculously cute, very funny, and heartwarming. This is one of those "feels like a warm hug" books for me.

Sometimes the right book comes along just when you need it, and Love & Other Disasters is currently that book for me.
The M/Cs, Dahlia and London, have an awkward meeting at a tv cooking competition when Dahlia runs into London, overshares, and then continues on as the show gets started.
London is non-binary and pan; Dahlia is queer. They’re attracted, but their lives are so far apart. Dahlia’s divorced, living in a small town in Maryland and just quit her job to do the show. London is in Nashville near their family, working as an audio engineer. They’re attracted to each other, and Dahlia is so far out of the dating game she doesn’t even realize she’s flirting.
An element I found interesting here is that cooking is something they both learned by choice; Dahlia, as her marriage crumbled, and London, from their nanny growing up. They like cooking for cooking. The layers of how they cook, and what they cook are important to their characters.
One discordant note is that Dahlia finds something out and I’m not clear if readers are supposed to think she told London off-page or what. It’s something that precipitates her reaction to something else, so it seemed like it should be, but it wasn’t tied together.
I really enjoyed the flirting and the cuteness of watching them both fall (and being somewhat clueless as to each other’s interest when everyone around them knows), and how both characters grow and handle disappointments in their lives. Being out of their comfort zones of home has them looking at what they truly want out of life, and what they’re learning about themselves and from each other. It was a really satisfying romance and I closed the book with a happy sigh.

As a big fan of rom-coms, and with glowing praise from the queen Rachel Lynn Solomon herself, I was really excited to read Love & Other Disasters! And while it fell flat in some regards, it definitely did shine in others. The non-binary rep was fantastic, as was the tension between the two leads (also, the descriptions were spot on, I could picture everything perfectly), but the overall story felt a little rushed and I didn’t find myself connecting to the side characters as much as I wanted to. Overall, , this book didn’t make it to my favorites list, but I think a casual reader of rom coms would enjoy it!