Sorry to say I just couldn't get into this book. I gave it half the book to see if I could with no luck... It just wasn't for me but maybe someone else will enjoy it.

Thank you, Atria Books, for allowing me to read Chef’s Kiss early.

A couple of months ago, I read Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly, and I loved the setting and the pairing (f/nb). Chef’s Kiss is comparable to that story in setting and paring, and therefore I was utterly delighted when I got approved for the early copy. This book is a mouth-watering and sweet slowburn covering important topics such as gender identity and mental health, and I devoured this story in twenty-four hours. Highly recommended!

This was everything I wanted it to be and more. I’ve never felt so represented in a book in my entire life, and with such great writing!!! It’s hard to beat. Catch me buying like ten copies of this to distribute around my friend group when it releases later this year

This slow burn romance was absolutely delicious....pun totally intended! I really loved the tender moments of discovery of your true self that were evident throughout. The story, overall, was important in its messages of being true to who you are along the path of discovery and I do believe this book has great merit in incorporating emerging themes in all of our lives. I really enjoyed it and will be purchasing it for sure!

This was a fun f/nb grumpy/sunshine very slow burn workplace romance that busted me out of a reading slump and made me hungry! I wish Simone and Ray had gotten together sooner and I wish that Simone’s anxiety had been better addressed but overall it was a good book. Definitely occupies that hybrid women’s fiction/romance space with how much of the focus was on their jobs and Ray’s coming out at work vs the romance but it was still very enjoyable.

You've heard of "there's only one bed" now get ready for "sharing a bed because the friend you only just now realized you have feelings for had top surgery and you want to prevent them from rolling over while they recover."

I'm obsessed and words can't describe how desperately I loved this book; it is definitely one of my all time favorites and something that I will be recommending for a long time.

So many important topics are broached but I especially loved the conversations about how exhausting it is for marginalized people to educate friendly, but woefully uneducated, allies on their identity because it is a lot of emotional labor they are not getting paid for.

Also; not sure where this influx of queer baking romcoms is coming from but I am loving it.

I positively devoured this book, I read it in a day, I loved it so much!! Ray and Simone were amazing, well-rounded characters. This was a slow-burn, enemies to friends to lovers story with lots of pining and adorable awkwardness. The misunderstandings and miscommunications that are common in romcoms were there but they actually made sense and left me shifty in the good, edge-of-my-seat-when-will-they-get-together way instead of the annoying these-people-don’t-have-real-problems-just-have-a-freaking-conversation way.

The characters’ struggles with coming out in the workplace, particularly for Ray, were really well-represented. The complex emotions and difficult conversations around coming out and emotional labor were too. I absolutely adored Simone’s roommate, Luna and would love a sequel with her as the star. I’d give the steam level a 3 on a scale of 1-5. Honestly, I can’t think of anything I would change except that I’m sad it’s over and I need T.J. Alexander to get to writing more great queer romances ASAP please.

Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

**CONTAINS SPOILERS**

CHEF'S KISS by TJ Alexander is a quick read about a no-nonsense bi pastry chef who (very slow burningly - we're talking last three pages) falls in love with a non-binary kitchen manager and ball of fun and energy.

While I enjoyed the story on the whole and certainly appreciate a good relationship AND career goals happily-ever-after, I did have a hard time with this one.

As one character is not out at work, they are misgendered for almost 50% of the novel. While I understand this decision for the plot, it hurt my heart a little every time I read those incorrect pronouns. I also wish we talked more about Simone's mental health struggles, as the resolution there seemed to be a little "love can cure anxiety," which I'm not super comfortable with. Related to Simone's mental health and how isolated she appears to be: Simone and her roommate have a sort of "baked goods for friendship" exchange going...and I sort of wanted Simone's roommate to be her friend and make time for her with-pastries-or-without so that rubbed me the wrong way. Lastly, echoing others I think this book would have been MUCH more successful at a PG-13 rating, as the steamy scenes didn't match the tone of the novel and seemed to come out of nowhere with bells on.

I really liked this book, a lot more than I thought I would. I am only starting to enter the world of preferred pronouns and gender neutrality as I live in a very rural, conservative area. This book really helped me gain some insight, and was really a very enjoyable read.

Chef's Kiss can be read in two ways - the first is as a friend to lovers romance. The second is as a tutorial on how to navigate nonbinary life. The setting and food media scene are on point, but Simone, a baker who identifies as bi, seems unaware as an LGBTQ+ person who has lived her entire life in New York City.

Ray, a nonbinary person, comes to work at the food media group where Simone has worked tirelessly for years - it is pretty much her entire life. But Ray walks in, looking good, and Simone is attracted. However, this particular food media group seems like it is stuck in the past because they aren't accepting Ray's selected pronouns. Simone botches a lot of this as well, and, even with her trans roommate who is occasionally her soundingboard for handling things that read as basic cases of respect, This is where I got a bit hung up - I liked the book, I liked the romance, but it got a bit pedantic. This is probably an excellent tutorial for those who have not walked this path before, but I wanted the integration of a rallying cry to be more integrated into the romance.

This particular title just wasn't for me, unfortunately. I liked the premise, but the story just didn't work for me. I wish it had. I really wanted to like it.

Chef's Kiss is so so fun! I loved the "foodie" themes and the banter combined with the grumpy/sunshine trop is the best!

With glorious grumpy-sunshine vibes and delicious descriptions of food, Chef's Kiss is a delightful workplace romance that balances flirtatious scenes with serious discussions about the reality of what it means to be queer and trans in the world.

Let me start by saying that this was the slowest burn with the most tender (with a bit of spice) payoff. The way Ray and Simone pined for each other the whole book and almost were like annoyed at themselves that they had feelings for the other person was *chefs kiss*

While this plot definitely takes us on a romance journey I think it could be categorized as fiction with romance as the plot focused on the experience non-binary folks go through when they are their true selves and a reminder for cis folks on how to be allies.

Ray and Simone’s banter was so funny and it was so adorable how quickly Simone would get riled up. The ending wrapped this book up perfectly!

TW: transphobia, homophobia, misgendering, workplace discrimination.

Engaging F/NB romance between a chef and the kitchen manager at a test kitchen (probably modeled on Bon Appetit?).

A heartwarming queer romance, even better if you're a fan of cooking shows (or if you just like food in general).
Reserved pastry chef Simone is thrown off when her long-time test kitchen manager is sudden replaced with outgoing, nonbinary Ray. As their company tries to stay relevant by pivoting from magazine to video, Ray accidentally goes viral on YouTube. To keep the positive momentum, Simone and Ray partner on a video series and get to know each other.
In addition to being a sweet romance, it was also educational about things like pronoun usage and sensitivity to the issues faced by nonbinary people without feeling preachy or heavy-handed. I'll be purchasing a copy for my library!

This was too much of a slow burn for me. I knew from the description it was a workplace romance but I wasn't expecting such a large portion of the story to involve details of their work. Between the work related details and the coming out story, the romance was a portion of the story but not the main focus.
The story had a great casual enemies to lovers story and was a great addition to the romance genre for representation.

This was a lovely read. Ray and Simone are wonderful leads. The passion for food and love of their work is so well displayed. It’s funny, sweet and a great read.

I wasn’t sure about this book going in, but it was a quick read. The food writing was good and there characters interesting. The sex scenes were awkward and would have done better as fade to black.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is one of those books that I’m so happy I had the pleasure to read.

Basically, I had a crush on Ray from the moment their character was introduced.

It truly is a book that makes you feel all shorts of emotions. At one point I’m fuming mad and another I’m punching the air in success.

I feel like everything discussed in this book was handled so amazingly and it truly was a book I was delighted to read.