This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Montlake and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Cute, whimsical, fun three things I look for in a romcom.

Small town stories are always fun to read. Stirring Up Love is one such story. However, although the romance was fun to read, at time it was cheesy. I was wishing for something more unique tale.

Ah this one was a bit cute. Enemies to lovers trope in a small town. Simone and Finn are rivals who compete on a cooking show. Obviously something else blossoms and their futures are tied.

Individual character development, banter and chemistry A+. Would have liked to have seen more couple development.

I thoroughly enjoyed Chandra's writing and will be reading more of her novels (like Digging Up Love)!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

The story itself was okay, and I'm sure there's tons of people who would enjoy this book, but it just wasn't for me. From the very beginning I found it difficult to view the characters are real people—the dialogue felt too stiff at some points and too passionate at others, the descriptions and internal thoughts filled with cliches. There were too times were the characters mentally reflected on the dialogue instead of just letting it be.

I love a good enemies-to-lovers, but the enemies didn't really feel justified from the get-go. Simone is angry that someone else in town makes barbecue sauce, and Finn thinks... she's hot? Actually they both think the other is hot, and they constantly think about how attracted they are to the other despite "hating" each other, which makes it seem less enemies-to-lovers and more "I need to stay away from them because they're bad news for my business", which is what it really is.

That being said, there were some cute moments, and there was witty banter throughout that made me giggle. I don't regret reading it, but I don't think I'd read it again.

Truthfully when I started this I had no idea if I was going to like it. I don’t like Shark Tank and during this book the characters go through The Executives which is a similar concept. I was putting off reading it all at once and ended up reading 15 ish pages at time..

Well when the got to The Executives everything changed for me. It was a very different situation than I thought was going to happen. As soon as our main characters got in that rental car I was hooked.

Simone did make me so sad toward the end with her words but she did make up for it so I couldn’t be mad for long. Finn is just a sweetie and emotionally wearing his heart on his sleeve was something I truly related to.

If you want a cute heart wrenching enemies to lovers book this is it!

Could not get over how annoying Simone was and did not feel any real connection between her and Finn. The reasoning behind their animosity toward each other felt forced and there was little payoff in the end.

I enjoyed this book! It had a bit of a slow start but once the story really got going, I really liked it.

First, let’s talk about the premise of the book. It’s marketed as being about two characters who both want the same thing and end up on a reality show competing for it. I find this just a bit misleading. Here’s my basic rundown of the premise of our story: Finn and Simone both make barbecue sauce. Finn makes his in the kitchens of the real estate properties that his friend is flipping, hoping that it will launch his culinary school founding dreams. Simone makes hers in the kitchen of Honey and Hickory, her family’s barbecue restaurant, hoping that it will help her reintegrate into her hometown’s community and maybe help her contribute to it in a unique way. After an encounter on a Shark Tank-style reality show, they are offered an all or nothing deal that, if they take it, could be either very beneficial to their dreams or completely change them beyond recognition.

The tropes in this book got me. I am a sucker for forced proximity, road trips, enemies to lovers, and every trope in this book. The development of the relationship between Finn and Simone was fun to read and kept me hooked, and their relationship didn’t feel forced. The two of them truly balanced each other out and fit together in a way that felt realistic and reasonable.

As I often do, I loved the side characters in this book. The foil between Chantal and Darius was fun to read and both of them were strong characters, and Alisha and Meg were so much fun and very relatable. This book is full of strong female characters and characters of color, which is nice to see in a book with a happy ending and that is focused on the relationship and careers of the main characters.

My only minor issue with this book was the slow start. I was frustrated in the first 20% or so with both Simone and Finn, and it took some convincing to get me to root for them. However, after their reality tv appearance and the subsequent airport interaction, I was hooked. Part of this may be because I have not read the other book in this series - this book works as a standalone, but that may be the reason that it took me a while to get into the story and the world.

Overall, I enjoyed this book! It was cute and sweet and had a lot of tropes that I enjoy. Not an absolute favorite, but I enjoyed it and found it fairly refreshing and fun to read.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and to Montlake for sending me an advance copy of this book for review!

his enemies to lovers, forced-proximity, road trip book was so cute and funny. i loved the banter between simone and finn. their chemistry felt so real

I was so excited to receive this ARC from NetGalley. It is the second book in the series, and what a great way to continue the story! I love a good HEA! ❤️

Now… can I see Darius and Meg get a book next?! 😁

Chandra Blumberg is an absolute delight. A recommended purchase for collections where contemporary romance is popular.

« Chandra Blumberg writes funny, heartwarming love stories about characters that feel real and relatable. » Well... This author was a complete discovery for me. (Thanks to NetGalley, who provided this ARC). I started reading this book knowing nothing about it, just because I got drawn to the cute cover. I was not disappointed.
Stirring Up Love was a very light read. I was unsure at first, but that only lasted for the first two chapters or so - just enough time for me to get a clear shot of the characters, and let me tell you, I loved them all. Let’s focus on the two main characters. Simone is a strong, independent women, who is only hard and cold on the outside. Her behavior was just a bit frustrating at times but entirely relatable - it is hard to trust people and to open your heart, girl, I feel you. It’s also maddening for your work to be disregarded or seen as illegitimate just because you’re young and a woman. (Insert The Man by Taylor Swift here).
But, to be honest, the real star of the show here was definitely Finn, Simone’s rival and love interest - a cinnamon roll who, deep down, wants nothing more than to belong and find his people. Entirely relatable as well. Men written by women are the best thing ever and I fully stand by that.
This book has everything I love. Rivals to lovers, dual POV, cute banter, tension and forced proximity, a convenient road trip during which Simone and Finn actually get to know each other and recognize their attraction to one another. Not that things are that simple… But that’s the entire point of the book and you should probably find out by yourselves.
When this book comes out, I’ll definitely get my own copy.

SUL by C. Blumberg, published by Montlake is the second stand-alone in the Taste of Love series.
Simone and Finn's story gives all the feels. Is a feel good read, sweet romance.
I enjoyed reading about the restaurant newbie and the chef who's gonna make it, soon.
Love at first sight exists showing in this well written sweet romance.

Stirring Up Love- Chandra Blumberg

(I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.)

Simone Blake is a boss, recently coming home to her small town of Hawksburg, Illinois to take over the family BBQ joint Honey and Hickory, but has bigger dreams to showcase several businesses in her small community. Finn Rimes is a BBQ sauce connoisseur, who dreams of providing individuals with opportunities they might not get otherwise with a culinary institute. Both value community but quickly find themselves involved in competition with each other at Hawksburg's farmer market, and then on the bigger scale on a television show. When they are forced to examine if they could work together, they learn whether they could trust each other to bring their dreams to life.

While the premise of the book is pretty clear, I feel like the story just doesn't deliver. Simone as a main character is defiant, not wanting to take any criticism, even if it is constructive, and consistently feels like nobody believes in her and is judging her. She is scorn by her past, especially after losing her job in Chicago when a former coworker sells her out. She does get some redemption by the end of the book, but it just feels like it is too little too late. Finn's characterization, however, was much more complete, which was redeeming, but it felt like most of the book focused on Simone which made it somewhat difficult to read.

The story was drug out and felt very disjointed, with the beginning of the book focusing solely on the famers market and then making a sudden transition to The Executives. I was no aware that this was a sequel book to Digging Up Love, so I am going to read that book and determine if I didn't get the flow because I had not been introduced to the characters before. I was also hoping for a bit more romance in the story; most of the book was characterized by Simone and Finn thinking each other was out for the other one. The ending was cute, but it felt like it was all tied up in the bow because that's what the reader would want.

Stirring Up Love by Chandra Blumberg is absolutely delightful, from beginning to end, full of heart and moments that wrap around you like a warm blanket. I loved both characters but wanted to take Finn home with me. This book involves some of the people we met in Digging Up Love but can be read as a standalone and certainly stands on its own merits. Simone Blake has returned home to run her grandfather’s barbecue restaurant and feels that she is not anyone’s first choice. Her grandfather would prefer that her sister be in charge while she thinks the town’s people also find her lacking. She intends to prove her worth by making the restaurant’s barbecue sauce a household name. When Chef Finn, stumbles into the town and takes a booth at the local market with his SAUCE in tow, Simone is sure that he is there to sabotage, and she goes into attack mode. Finn is such an engaging character, where Simone is all prickles and snark, he wears his heart on his sleeve, constantly looking for his place at the table. This book has a bit of everything: humor, road trip, enemies to friends, social commentary, and a sweet love story. Locked in an unexpected alliance (or battle, depending on who you are asking), Finn and Simone find that they have more in common than they could ever imagine. I laughed even as I had tears in my eyes! I highly recommend this story.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC for an honest opinion!

BBQ sauce enemies to lovers! I immediately wanted to go outside and have a BBQ when I read this book (and I did)! I love the bi-pic rep. The author did a great job with this one, I love that I “felt” everything the chapters were experiencing and it made me feel as though I was watching a movie not reading a book because it flowed! This is a wonderful summer option! Thank you, net galley!

Not overwhelming, not underwhelming, just .... whelming. Some of the writing was too cliché at times ("she was a tide, a current, and he let himself be swept away" "he just hopes he could be enough for her") and stilted, and some scenes were scenes I've read in romance books before, and executed better. Though there are some cute scenes here and there, the main characters just didn't have enough spark, in my opinion.

Whyyy did this man need to call his barbecue sauce Finn's Secret Sauce?? PLEASE

Anyway, I read Digging Up Love earlier this month, and while it was not a new favourite, I was still curious about the sequel, because Simone intrigued me as a character. I have to say I enjoyed this book slightly less, because I found the setting less interesting. It had its strong moments, but overall I didn't feel really engaged in the story. I did however like the ending!

"Finn Rimes was the flip side to her coin. She hated that."

Stirring Up Love is a wonderful mix of some of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, small town, and road trip.

Simone is back in her small town of Hawksburg after being away in the "big city" of Chicago for years. Her plan is to take her family's successful barbecue restaurant and turn it into a hub of local commerce, like a year-round farmer's market. Simone harbors a lot of insecurity about fitting in that she keeps to herself, which is one of many reasons why she applies to the reality show The Executives. to try to gain the capital she needs to make the expansion.

Finn is somewhat of a drifter, but certainly not by choice. After aging out of the foster care system, he's made his way as an adult by living out of his car and his best friend's house flips while he works as a chef at a fancy restaurant. On the side, he. decides to whip up some BBQ sauces to make some quick cash to help fund some much loftier goals. He, too, struggles with insecurity that makes him a bit hesitant to go on to The Executives when his best friend suggests it, but decides he might as well when he learns that Simone, his farmer’s market competition, will be there.

This book took some well-loved tropes and masterfully mixed them together. From their at-home farmer’s market feud to their on-screen showdown on The Executives to a funny and heat-packed road trip home, the reader quickly comes to love both Simone and Finn. This book was laugh out loud funny at parts and also pulled at the heart strings quite a bit. I’m not usually a reader of clean romance, but I didn’t feel that anything was missing from the storyline because the author did a great job building characters’ chemistry without it.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. Based on this one, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up another one of her books!

I'm serious when i say i had a huge grin on my face from page one. Like: i-dont-want-this-to -end-yes-give-me-more kinda grin! The writing was easy and perfect. Both our love interest were stubborn and the tension and chemistry between them was undeniable. And i know for a fact I'll be reading this book again when I need another dose of warm, soft and fuzzy cuteness.

In this enemies-to-lovers romance two people clash over a little turf war about barbecue sauces at a farmers market. Simone and Finn can’t find the will to burry the hatchet and things escalade when their arguments don’t just happen at the small town market but on the set of reality-show, broadcasted to the whole country. When they are forced to drive together cross country to get home, they find that this road trip brings them closer than expected.

This book had a great enemies dynamic between the two main characters and a funny, entertaining story to tell. I really enjoyed Simone as the main character, she had clear motivations and was generally a person I could identify with a lot. Her desire to prove herself, even to her own detriment, and her continuous drive to follow her dreams was admirable. She was a joy to follow and watch grow throughout the story.

Sadly I couldn’t really click with the other main character and love interest, Finn. He has a sympathetic backstory and I really thought I would root for him after his introduction but I just found myself annoyed with him for a lot of the book. He was weirdly judgemental and pretends he is unsupported when he truly is just too prideful to take the support he has access to.

What also got a little too much was how (nearly) every conflict in this book is based on miscommunication or bad communication between people who should know better. It cheapened some of the really interesting problems the characters were dealing with.

The heart of the book had two people struggling to find their place in the world, wanting to carve it out all by themselves and working out how to get there. The way both of them struggle with their own problems and how after a lot of bickering, fighting and misunderstandings they manage to find common ground and the will to help the other was a compelling and interesting plot all together.