Thanks to Netgalley and Atria for the ARC of this!

Super cute! I loved the baking show plot line, the slight animosity/drama between the love interests and the overall pacing. It had such a satisfying ending. Definitely recommend for romance and food fans!

Wow, I totally devoured this book! I loved how lowborn the romance was, the non-binary, and the way this book didn't feel like every other rom-com, but stood out on its own as a less formulaic piece. I loved the prose, pacing, and character writing, and their relationship totally won me over. Thank you for the ARC!

Simone is a pastry chef for a magazine. The magazine isn't doing so well. So they decide to do videos. They hire Chase an idea man to help brand the videos. Ray is hired as the kitchen manager. When I first started reading I was worried the love interest was going to be Chase. Once you read you will understand. Ray comes out to the video team as non-binary with the pronouns they/them. The video team is welcoming and accepts them. But the bosses and HR are not accepting.

Oh my! Oh my! I loved this book so much. I was seriously hungry for all of the amazing foods Simone made. I loved Ray's personality and big heart. I really hated certain characters. I could not put this book down. It was such a great read. Definitely a must read.

Simone is working her dream job creating recipes for a food publisher. But when the higher ups want her to bring her recipes to video, she is not interested in the spotlight. To make matters worse, her new coworker Ray is getting under Simone’s skin with her cheerful outgoing personality. And after Ray makes a video that goes viral, they have to work together on this new project. While this is happening, Ray comes out as nonbinary at work, with many mixed reactions, and Simone learns how to support and stand up for Ray.

This was a fun, slow burn romance with great representation. What I particularly loved about this book was the focus on being your authentic self, learning to trust others with seeing who you are, and how to be an ally. Seeing Simone’s journey in learning more about trans and non-binary individuals was so informative and I think many people will be able to learn a lot from reading this book. Additionally, I love a good food romance and the food descriptions in this one wade me so hungry!

Thank you to Atria Books for the advanced copy.

3.5 Stars

A cute romantic comedy that I devoured in only a few hours! This was well-written plot-wise and character-wise. Simone and Ray's relationship unfolded beautifully and I would certainly read another novel by the author.

I really enjoyed this one, and desperately hope that many more like it will be coming in the future!

Simone works for a magazine as a pastry chef (think America's Taste Kitchen), but everything is upended when new management comes in to make changes. A new kitchen manager, named Ray, is also added to the mix. Simone and Ray don't immediately mesh well. She is a perfectionist who keeps to herself. They are very outgoing and go with the flow. When the two are put together for a video cooking segment, Simone becomes attracted to Ray, but knows that Ray only wants to be friends.

This book was a very slow burn romance, and has a lot of dancing around one another with their attraction to each other. I loved so much about it! The workplace is extrmemly hostile, especially in regards to Ray being nonbinary. Watching the amazing group of co-workers and their support of Ray was a joy!

I enjoyed everything about this one, and couldn't put it down. I am really looking forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you to Atria Books for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This novel was absolutely amazing from start to finish. I believe that this is the first romcom I have ever read with a nonbinary love interest. TJ Alexander has such a way with words and they made the characters feel so real and lovely. I loved that the narrative structure deviated a bit from the traditional major plot points that we have grown to expect from most romcoms. I cannot wait to see what TJ Alexander writes next!

Trigger Warnings: Alcohol, cursing, sex, coming out, transphobia, top surgery, blood/drains/surgery recovery, sex toys, deadnaming

Representation: Transgender, Bisexual, Non-binary, They/them pronouns, Anxiety

Chef’s Kiss is the story of how Simone changed everything she ever wanted to defend a friend and do what’s right. Simone works at her dream job, until one day a new kitchen manager is hired who is a little too happy, in her opinion. The company is struggling to stay afloat and decides to dive into the virtual world as attempt to survive.

I just love all of these food-centric books! There’s no faster way to my heart than through my stomach! This was a great story with a heartfelt theme! I loved the love story, obviously, and the characters had great depth and development. The story is most definitely a slow burn for anyone looking for the romance. The romance story arc is a bit steamy, but it doesn’t occur until the very end. I loved all of the information I learned about top surgery and being non-binary. The book handles some difficult topics with ease and respect, but still allows a light-hearted story to make you laugh.

This book was an okay read for me. I really love queer romances and especially romances featuring non-binary characters. This voice is so needed in books!

The pacing of this book was not for my taste. I like a slow-burn, but there has to be enough romantic tension to carry the slower pace and I just didn't get enough of that in this book. I found myself kind of plodding onward.

So many good components in this book, but in the end it just couldn't quite get me through the slow build-up.

This was such a cute queer rom-com story and it had great representation. I loved that the two main characters were complete opposites and this was definitely a grumpy/sunshine. It was also a little bit of an enemies-to-lovers in a way as well and it's a workspace romance. It is also very much a slow burn and the banter between the characters was great. I loved the cooking/banking parts of the book as well. I loved the relationship between the main characters and most of their co-workers. I would recommend this book.
I will say check for trigger warnings as there was some on-page misgendering, deadnaming, transphobia, homophobia, workplace harassment
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this story in exchange for my honest opinions and feedback.

First off, I like stories that center around chefs, so that's what first attracted me to the book. This was a bit of a slow-burn, but well worth it. Most of the characters were intriguing as there are a lot of things at play here. Simone was super likable, love that she used food as a way to show appreciation and look after others. I enjoyed the podcast development and the way this book spoke about trends in social media and how struggling businesses have to adapt to those changes.

And speaking of adapting, I thought this story provided a good way to educate the reader on misgendering and deadnaming. As frustrating as it was to read about the toxic work environment, I think most people have either been in situations similar or know someone who has dealt with these issues. I also know people struggle with not wanting to upset or hurt others, but do not know the correct way to use pronouns and names and are embarrassed to make a mistake and sometimes do the wrong thing with the best of intentions. All of that is represented here and I think it makes this a really intelligent read.

Having never read a romance with a nonbinary as a lead, I didn't know what to expect, but this was very much like any other enemies to friends to lovers in the romance department. If you haven't read a book like this before with trans and nonbinary characters, I strongly encourage you to give this one a try, especially if you are a foodie! You may want to eat before reading because this book will make you hungry!

Thank you so much to #netgalley and #Atria for this ARC!

This book was such a treat to read! I’ve never read a book with a non-binary character and I’m so glad I did it was done wonderfully. In the beginning I thought I was going to dislike one of the main characters Simone because she seemed a little snobby but she ended up being my favorite character.
The character development was well done.
There were a lot of feel good moments that supported the non-binary storyline for me. The characters came together in the story to support Ray in the workplace, and it just felt good to read a story like this. I honestly learned a lot from reading this book and I also adored it!

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for providing me with a ARC in return of my honest review.

Is there anything better than the combination of good food, good beer, and a good book? And the book's plot even includes home-brewing beer and developing recipes for food and pastries!
I had a lovely lunch date with myself this week to celebrate being back in Boston after my epic backpacking trip. I am supremely pleased by the ease of getting a glass of water that doesn’t need to be filtered through my Sawyer Squeeze! I took the time at lunch to finish devouring Chef's Kiss by TJ Alexander which comes out Tuesday, 5/3. This queer romance involving food reminded me of Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly which I reviewed prior to its January publication, although this one involved a YouTube show instead of a food competition. I love that multiple food-centric books with non-binary representation have been published already this year - and that I’ve had the opportunity to read and share them!
This is a slow-burn romance with a grump/sunshine trope. Simone is a Le Cordon Bleu trained pastry chef (and she’ll remind you of that multiple times) who is quite rigid in her thinking. She develops recipes for a cooking magazine. The magazine isn’t making any money and decides to make some big changes, moving into the digital world with social media and video content. Ray is hired as the new kitchen manager and, although Simone is against any changes, Ray makes immediate reorganization adjustments that benefit Simone. Ray chooses to hide how they self-identify, and once they decide to share their pronouns, the test kitchen administrative staff is not entirely accommodating. It is hard to read about how they treat Ray. However, both Simone and Ray find success in a video series called Revamp, where Ray makes an old-fashioned midwestern recipe which they both taste and then Simone creates, on the spot, a modern, updated version with the same flavors. I love watching food shows, and I loved this concept!
The beginning was slower than I wanted, but the food descriptions were SO enticing, which was a bit of a tease as I was eating a lot of bars and re-hydrated meals while backpacking! I enjoyed getting to know Ray and Simone and seeing both their work relationship and friendship change over the course of the book.
Thank you to Atria Books, Emily Bestler Books, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for the e-ARC of this title.

I really enjoyed this romance. At first, I had a little trouble getting into the book because the main character is very rigid and a little harsh. However, she is mostly just a bit closed off emotionally, but fierce and protective once she knows and cares for someone. I loved how she fully accepts people's identities and tries to learn what she can and be as good an ally and listener as possible and accepts and learns from her missteps. I also loved the nonbinary and transgender rep in the book, and how we were able to learn some from those characters without feeling like that was the point of them. It just came about naturally in their interactions and stories with the main character. The only thing that might have made this book better is if it had dual narration, with Ray's POV added in. I had a hard time sometimes reading them and how they were really feeling/coping with things. Otherwise, though, this was an enjoyable, but at times serious, and wonderfully interesting read. I definitely recommend.

Loved this queer romance! Its a slow burn with heart and completely lovable grumpy/sunshine energy. More of this, please.

The world needs more NB rep in romcoms, and I am here for each and every one that comes my way! This one was a little hard for me to rate, and it mostly has to do with the disconnect between how much I loved these characters and how well I feel the book was edited. I loved Ray, loved getting to see them make their way and exist authentically while still surviving in what is described in the book as a hellscape workplace. I loved watching Simone grow. Her embarrassments were my secondary embarrassments. It was a whole thing. Where this book fell short for me was pacing and a few plot choices that just didn't feel congruent with the rest of Chef's Kiss. If you are into slow burns (and I mean, slow slow, checking-the-percentage-left-on-your-Kindle-slow), this is a great choice. I stayed up until a ridiculous hour in the morning just to see it all wrap up. The descriptions of food were so mouth-watering my stomach was growling constantly. Definitely check your content warnings, there is some misgendering and deadnaming. Overall, a solid addition to this subgenre of romance.

Such a truly sweet story (pun intended) and while it has some sad/painful parts, the characters and their love for each other renewed my faith in humanity.
The author does an especially great job with the pronouns and navigating them. I loved how they were also able (and willing) to add the real life excuse “oh but it’s hard for me to remember” and it’s accompanying explanation, “you already do it you just need to shift your thinking a tiny bit and if you slip up just correct yourself and move on-it’s a tiny thing you can do to help someone feel like the self.”
I am so glad I was able to get a copy of this to read in exchange for an honest review, it was one of the best romcoms I’ve read!

Simone is a master recipe creator at her dream job. Some changes have come into her workplace and one of those is Ray.

Watching this journey as Simone becomes more "woke" 😂 in how to discuss terms of LGBTQIA+ was so great. I adored her friends and coworkers who helped guide her in a way that will help the reader gain immense insight.

Ray was such a great addition to this book. Their journey is both unique, and not so unique. If that makes sense. It was so refreshing to understand the inner workings of a person who is truly determining their self.

I found that this is a great resource for those who are trying to navigate a way towards being accepting of all.

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for the advance read of this great story.

This was a really cute read with great representation. However, it felt a little more like contemporary fiction with a romantic subplot. Still a very enjoyable read!

The oven filled the room with a radiating warmth as she mixed the dough in the large metal bowl. The sweetness of vanilla, the creamy texture, and the hint of chocolate made her tastebuds tingle. Baking brought her comfort and gave her an abounding joy she wasn’t sure how to describe. She couldn’t imagine doing anything else with her life. The oven beeped, signaling its readiness for the dessert she was crafting. She slid her mixture in and smiled as she set the timer for her masterpiece. Only one thing was missing… they weren’t by her side.

Chef’s Kiss tells Simone’s story, a professional pastry chef, and her new coworker Ray. They enter Simone’s life and quite honestly turn it upside down and completely leave Simone flustered. A story working to break the homophobic and transphobic mindset in businesses and giving characters a strong voice to stand up for themselves and each other.

I loved Ray and Simone’s characters and I loved all of the food references and silly banter. This book also has such a great message within it and I highly recommend reading. Just beware… you’ll be hungry while reading!