I was interested in this book because I love books about food, a female MC striving for her goals and finding her own path in life accompanied by a male MC that supports her ambition. I loved the descriptions in this book, and honestly I wish it was more focused on Kate's journey and her restaurant. I felt like the "enemies-to-lovers" got in the way. It wasn't really enemies-to-lovers, it was very strange miscommunication that two thirty somethings couldn't handle. I found the communication to be more childish rather than passionate or combative with sexual tension brimming up. The side characters went from excentric to annoying really fast. It was really strange how Charles' mother was like taking over Kate's restaurant. Ma'am you have enough money to start your own.

Kate Jenkins is finding herself quite distracted. She is about to open her own Parisian restaurant and she experiences problems from the very beginning. For one thing, running into her new neighbor is frustrating from the start. Then an accident almost ruins her restaurant’s opening. But, there is light at the end of the tunnel. She strikes a deal with fellow business owner and another new neighbor Garrance. Garrance assures Kate that if she uses some of her exotic spices, her restaurant will be a sure success. The deal that Kate agrees to? Working with Garrance‘s son. Before Kate understands the implications of their agreement, she is bombarded with images and sensations that overwhelm her when gets any whiff of the exotic spices Garrance has to offer.

The other neighbor Kate disliked on site? None other than Garrance‘s son Charles. Kate might feel cornered, but she knows the reputation that Charles has when it comes to his cooking talents. Despite the friction that Kate and Charles have at the beginning, the pair begin to realize how drawn they are to each other. Could what is now happening between her and Charles have anything to do with those exotic spices of Garrance’s?

In this whimsical story by Samantha Vérant, chemistry is everything. Not only does the enemies-to lovers trope work will with this book, I love the humor in the story, especially when all Kate could ever call the gorgeous Charles was “Anti-Keanu”. She might be forced to work with him but she doesn’t have to like him. However, that seems to be completely out of her hands the more time they spend together.

A great setting, great food descriptions, enjoyable characters, including Kate’s delightful mother Cri-Cri, drama and chemistry all work well together to make this book quite a lovely read.

Many thanks to Berkley Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please enjoy my YouTube video review -https://youtu.be/4peWtfLA32I

This will appeal to readers of romance and food lovers. Kate is risking everything to open a restaurant, fulfilling her dreams. When everything seems to go wrong, in steps Garrance, a wealthy woman with ulterior motives. One of those motives is getting her son, Charles, a Michelin star chef, to cook again. The kitchen soon gets hot been Kate and Charles. A quick and fun read. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

A talented chef discovers how spices and scents can transport her—and, more importantly, how self-confidence can unlock the greatest magic of all: love—in this perfectly seasoned new novel by Samantha Vérant.
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This brought the feeling of Paris and French cuisine. Kate an American that has been living in France since she was a teen and has studied at Le Cordon Bleu and just when she's going to open her own restaurant everything starts to go wrong. Especially when she runs into this handsome jerk she nicknamed Anti Keanu, things just start to snowball from there.

The owner of the building the restaurant is in, who has a fancy spice atelier helps her to relaunch as long as she follows some rules. Love montages.

The magic of the spices the way they put a spell on people. I wish I could smell and taste all the foods they were eating. The chemistry between Kate and Charles was so sweet. They both had their reasons for taking it slow but they knew they were very much into eachother.

The mothers were the best! Kate's mom was like a hippy older sister and Charles mom was a very fancy cat lady with a huge green house of exotic plants. But they were a good team.

✨ And seriously the food magic reminded me a little of the Sarah Michelle Gellar movie Simply Irresistible. I love that movie!!! And you even referenced it at the end. Even the crab! 🦀😂

Thank you berkleyromance and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

this book was silly and cute, not to mention made me extremely hungry, but it wasn't really my cup of tea. this had the vibe of a cozy mystery more so than a romance, and while i want to like cozy mysteries, they rarely align with my sense of humor - or my reading preferences. i wanted more from these characters and their stories, and while this was fun, it also felt surface level.

i loved the setting and the french elements and i'm definitely going to give this author another try

Beautifully descriptive. Just not really enough to keep me reading. Slow build. Hoping for more dialogue.

One of the things I loved most about The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique is how the author has infused it with insights into French culture. As an American who has lived in France for many years, she offers a perspective that I could relate to as an American who has also lived in Europe (though in my case, it was Spain). Especially early on, this novel shares Kate’s impressions of Paris after living there for the past 13 years. I enjoyed these cultural insights and the culture clashes she has with some characters. On a related note, I loved how much French is used throughout the text, and it’s often not translated. This allowed me to practice my (extremely limited) French, and in any case, most of it could be understood by context clues. Don’t let the use of French scare you off from reading it! It only adds to the sense that The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique has whisked us readers off to Paris.

While this is largely a romance—and I’ll get to that in just a moment—I also enjoy the focus on Kate as a talented chef and entrepreneur. She’s consistently shown to be skilled in the kitchen, organized, and a doer. By all accounts, her bistro’s grand opening should be a success. Alas, bad luck seems to have gotten in the way, but with a little help from some new friends, things could turn around.

Interestingly, the titular character isn’t Kate, but the woman who owns her building: Garrance. This generous, wealthy woman wants to help Kate with her sense of style, her powerful spices, and her chef son, Charles. Much of the book dives into Kate’s relationship with Garrance, her own mother, and her upstairs neighbor-turned-employee-turned-friend Oded. Kate has good people around her, and even with their quirks (new agey discussions; magical spices and scents; overly fancy and slightly creepy cat), it’s clear that they all genuinely want the best for her.

And then there’s Charles. I have to admit, his introduction did not convince me he was a suitable love interest at all. He was so rude! And immature! Of course, even while hating him, Kate can’t help but notice how handsome he is. She dubs him the Anti-Keanu until, to her dismay, she discover’s that he’s Garrance’s son… the one she has to work with now. Charles is somewhat mercurial, and after throwing out an unconvincing apology, he suddenly seems super into Kate. Despite this book being a romance, I found their love story to be the least convincing aspect of the book. If Charles had been less of a jerk at the beginning, I would have been able to better enjoy everything that came after. Indeed, most of their later love story is cute. Except the final act conflict; that was also unnecessary in my opinion.

Two other themes stand out in The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique. One is the hint of magical realism that runs throughout the novel. Thanks to Garrance’s unparalleled scents and spices, the characters have some rather dramatic reactions to the food and restaurant. What is in those spices?! Kate, in particular, imagines all kinds of salacious scenarios every time she’s anywhere near (or just thinking about) Charles. Is his mother putting a lusty spell on them? With all the sexual fantasies—and all of Kate’s mother’s spontaneous, awkward talk of sex (she’s a sex therapist)—you would think that this novel might end up being a rather spicy (pun intended) romance. And on that you’d be wrong. Kate and Charles don’t get intimate until the end, and it’s a fade-to-black scene. Not that I need all romances to have open-door scenes, but it doesn’t quite match the tone of the rest of the book.

The other theme, of course, is the frequent and detailed descriptions of food and cooking. From picking ingredients to coming up with recipes to tasting the final product, this book is fully immersed in the culinary world. I’m no chef, but I can appreciate good food, and this book certainly left me hungry! Luckily, the author includes several recipes at the end. I may just have to try some of them out! (Or, more likely, make my husband cook them! He’s the chef in our household.)

All in all, there’s a lot I loved about The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique: the French setting, culture, and language; the subtle magical realism; the food descriptions; the relationships between friends and family; Juju the cat. It’s only the romance that was a little lacking for me. It got off to a rocky start, but ignoring that, it was overall a sweet relationship. This is only the first book by Samantha Vérant that I’ve read, but I am eager to read more from her.

I always look forward to Berkley's women's fiction releases. They almost never disappoint! I felt the same way about The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique. The book took me on a magical journey, and I enjoyed it a lot! I ended up having mixed feelings about half-way through the book, but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless.

Books set in Paris have always fascinated me. I loved how the author took me on a journey to Paris throughout the book. Also, the food theme was so delightful! *chef's kiss* <3 The book features an enemies-to-lovers romance. And that's where my complaint comes in. Romances need to be written with proper development - but I couldn't see a lot of it in Kate and Charles's relationship. The transition from their *hate to love* feelings for each other occurred suddenly, so that was really disappointing. I did enjoy the banter during their conversations, though.

Charles and Kate's moms took away the crown for the entertaining aspect of the book for me! I adored their eccentric remarks and meddling. It was so hilarious!

Overall, The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique was a good read. I expected a bit more - hopefully I'll get that from the author's upcoming books! *fingers crossed*

The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique was a beautifully written book that transported me to Paris. Verant's writing is so smooth and lyrical it just drew me right in and I found myself up way too late into the night reading this book. I loved the characters - Kate is bright and driven and she has no worries when starting her the restaurant of her dreams. She knows her brains and work ethic will carry her to success - even when the annoying guy next door, the "Spice Master" Garrance, tells her she's on a path to a crash landing. The chemistry between Kate and Garrance is great and their journey throughout the story is one of my favorites in a long time!

The Spice Masters at Bistro Exotique is a delicious rom-com that you will devour in one sitting.

Oh la la this book is c’est magnifique! This book is a foodie lovers’ paradise—the food talk is out of this world. I felt like I could taste and smell the delicious dishes Kate and Charles were making. You are going to get major hunger cravings while reading this book. Kate and Charles’ passion for cooking just leaps from the pages, and their characters come to life in the kitchen. Their passion is addictive, and I wanted to get into my kitchen and cook up a storm. The foodie components in this book really do elevate your whole reading experience.

Besides all the delicious food talk, there are so many other things that make this book an addictive and enjoyable read. Let’s start with the setting. This story takes place in Paris, the City of Lights. Samantha does a wonderful job at bringing the city to life and showing us the side of Paris that isn’t touristy. I loved exploring Paris with Kate and Charles. Samantha’s descriptions of Paris and the people living there are lush and vivid and had me wish I was there.

The story itself is so much fun! I always love reading a book about a fabulous woman starting a business. Of course, things for Kate don’t go smoothly, and many hilarious and out-of-this-world events make the opening week of Kate’s restaurant a bit of a disaster. All the events in the first week were highly entertaining, and I needed to keep reading to see what would happen next. On top of the disastrous opening, Kate has a full-on neighbour war with anti-Keanu Reeves, aka Charles. The antics these two do to get back at each other were hilarious! I loved their hate-filled relationship with each other at the beginning of this book. It is full of witty and snarky dialogue, and I just soaked up every bit of it.

The characters in this book are delightfully quirky. Cri-Cri, who is Kate’s mom, is a hoot. She reminds me of Barbra Streisand’s character from Meet the Fockers. She is a sex therapist, and her outlook on life is, shall I say, very different. She is that embarrassing but kind of cool mom that really loves Kate and wants her to be happy. The things that came out of Cri-Cri’s mouth had me laughing! Garrance, who is Charles’s mom was a wonderful character. She was this beautiful blend of French chic, mysterious scent, and spice master. Both Cri-Cri and Garrance were wonderful secondary characters that almost stole the show at times, and to be honest; I would love to read a book about these two ladies.

Let’s talk about Kate and Charles, our main love interests in this story. Their relationship starts off VERY rocky. There is no love lost between these two, and as I said, the neighbour war that went on between them gets heated. However, they have to put aside their differences when Garrance coerces them to work together. That’s when things really start to heat up. The attraction between Kate and Charles is evident, but both characters have walls and barriers that stop them from acting on their feelings. Samantha masterfully weaves in this slow-burn attraction between Kate and Charles. I don’t think I have ever read a book that feels so spicey and heated but actually has no sex scenes in it. It really was mind-blowing and also really enjoyable. Their attraction would build up so much that you feel like you might explode, but then Samantha would pull things back with ill-timed interruptions or a misunderstanding that would cool things off, and then she would start to build that heat back up again. It was a wonderful dance. Besides all the spice and physical attraction, Kate and Charles are likable both as a couple and individually. They are incredibly interesting characters with a lot of depth. You really can’t help but root for them.

The Spice Masters at Bistro Exotique is a swoony and fabulous rom-com.

Thank you, Berkley Publishing Group, for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Books for the e-ARC!

I’ll start off by saying that I was very excited to read this book. It was the first Berkley book I picked up after the curse ended… or so I thought. (But that’s a story for another day.)

The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique tries to be everything that makes a good romance book. It wants to be fun and charming, funny and zany, and most of all, romantic. Because, of course, a romance book without romance is like chocolate without cacao. That is, it’s not romance at all, it’s missing a fundamental part of itself.

This book wanted, so badly, to be all of these things that it never actually settled anywhere. I try not to be too mean in my reviews (okay, that’s a lie), but if you check my notes for this book, it’s just a long, ranting document. The further down you travel in the sinkhole that was my thoughts of this book, the more you find me TALKING LIKE THIS and utterly losing my mind.

I’m going to try to be a critical academic about this and tell you some things that just. Did. Not. Work. I’ll even go in chronological order to make it easier on your heart and soul.

- The floors are porous enough that wine can drip down from one apartment into the other
- We’re 30% in and they haven’t had a single real conversation
- Kate (our main character) is annoying
- We’re 40% in and they haven’t had a single real conversation
- Why are we using “hangry” and “bae” and “fam” unironically? WHY???
- Too much unearned lust
- Stop describing the restaurant as your dream
- Kate is annoying
- How is there tension when there’s no chemistry? *mic drop*
- Am I reading an instruction manual? Why is everything so robotic?
- Stop saying “my dream” WE KNOW
- Kate is annoying (... are you starting to see the pattern?)
- “Dimples puckering” should not be a legal phrase
- What happened to her fear of cats and sex?
- Why is she upset that he called her funny?
- Stop gaslighting me into thinking you’ve given me information, Samantha
- Why are we suddenly hating models???
- Kate. Is. Annoying. The. Living. Hell. Out. Of. Me.
- The dialogue sounds like it was written by a humanoid robot (I’m sorry, Samantha)
- Why is her heart broken when NOTHING HAPPENED
- Nothing is making sense anymore and I still can’t stand Kate or Charles (our other main character)
- I hate how they’re insulting the model’s lashes and extensions, as if that automatically makes her some sort of bitch (what year are we in?)
- How are we 70% OF THE WAY THROUGH AND THERE HASN’T BEEN A SINGLE KISS
- She needs to throw her playlist in the trash
- Their dialogue is so awkward that it’s painful
- Samantha, darling, do you have a foot fetish? Why are you describing Charles’ toes as “sensual”?
- He called her funny and she flinched… my god
- No one has a character arc
- Why is this book validating her deadbeat father?
- I hope they break up and stay that way
- What happened to her anxiety about sleeping with someone?
- WHERE DID ALL OF THEIR ISSUES GO?????

This isn’t even half of it. Before I jump into a more formal critique, let me introduce you to the last sentence I wrote in my notes for this book:

“I sincerely hope they break up and never see each other again and none of us ever have to hear from them again.”

This book tries to be so much that it ends up being nothing. Since this entire book hinges on food and a restaurant (*cough* her dream *cough*), I’ll give you a food analogy. It’s like Samantha had all of these ingredients in front of her, just sitting there, begging to be used. And instead of picking and choosing the important ones, she added every single one in, and so the dish that she finally created was a whole bunch of… nothing.

I sincerely wish that she had focused on one to three major plot points and let the rest be. Besides that point, Kate was one of the most annoying characters I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading through. Everything in her world centered around her, her, her, and it was like everyone bent around backwards to do everything for her. Why can’t we give people their own lives, too?

I’m sorry, Samantha. I wish I could have been nicer to your book. But just know that where there is one of me, a soulless book-eating ghoul, there are a dozen lovely people that love your story and your characters.

Okay, that’s it. I can’t go on about this. The more I talk about this book the more my body temperature rises.

✨ Review ✨

A big thank you to @berkleypub @netgalley for this #gifted ARC! Available Dec 6th!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique by Samantha Vérant

A talented chef is opening a restaurant in Paris but when everything starts going wrong she must rely on her new spice master friend and an arrogant fellow chef to help her persevere.

What is has to offer:

💋 Romance
🍽 Food Descriptions
👯‍♀️ Female Friendship
💨 Quick Read

Quick thoughts:

✨ Loved the food descriptions.
✨ The story moves at a nice pace.
✨ The moms were fun to read about.
✨ It was interesting watching her build her Bistro step by step.

A mesmerizing tale of food and love.

Overall thoughts:

📝 The writing style was very engaging. It sucks you in right from the start. I had a hard time putting it down.

💋 This was definitely a slow burn, enemies to lovers romance. The romance becomes more of a focus in the second half of the novel, letting her ambition and dream of opening a bistro really shine in the first half of the novel which was nice.

🍽 The food descriptions had me drooling. Recipes are included at the end of the story!

👯‍♀️ I loved all the female friendships happening in this one especially between the moms. They were all very uplifting and supportive.

💨 I read this one pretty quickly and loved every second of it.

💜 My favorite part was getting to watch her plan and build her dream restaurant. It was really interesting and absorbing. Also her interactions with the spice master were fun to read as well.

If you like reading romance with a lot of yummy sounding food in the mix then this would be a good pick for you.

The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique is an absolutely delicious love story.  I was pulled in from the beginning in this romantic and culinary delight, from its delicious start to its tantalizing finish!

Read/Listen If You Like:
♥️ Enemies to Lovers Romances
👩🏼‍🍳 Books Based in Paris
🇫🇷 French Phrasing Added In
✨ Magical Realism
🥖 All the Food
🎬 Keanu Reeves
🎶 Ed Sheeran’s Music
😆 Puns

My Thoughts:
This one was such a trip! I loved the crew of misfits that make up this story and what each of them brought to the table because they all had a purpose in this story, even the big boned cat.

I loved how Kate’s mom was so utterly inappropriate and eccentric and everything was about sex that came out of her mouth. I also loved how eccentric and plotting Garrance was as well. The two of them together were a dynamic duo.

I loved the magical realism playing into the story with the way the spices transported those smelling their aromas and eating them in different dishes to places of fantasy, love, and lust.

The romance aspects of this one had me feeling a bit of whiplash as Kate and Charles were hot and cold with one another for a good portion of this book, but when they came together finally, it was quickly done.

Thank you Berkley Romance for my ARC copy of this one in exchange for my honest thoughts!

Four and a Half Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒

The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique by Samantha Vérant is an enemies-to-lovers romance that transported me to Paris where I found beautiful ingredients and lovely food. This book gave me serious food cravings as well as strengthened my desire to go to live in Paris.

Story Recap:
Kate Jenkins has always dreamed of opening a restaurant in Paris. But, Kate is not a dreamer, she believes in hard work and a solid plan. Now, she’s on the verge of opening her restaurant after years of hard work and planning in a premium spot in Paris. Nothing will stop her success, not even the handsome man next door who thinks she’s a crazy American or his mother, Garrance, the self-proclaimed Spice Master of Paris, who ominously warns her of the previous owner's failures.

When a series of events leads Kate to believe she might be cursed, after most of her staff quit, her neighbor, Garrance offers up her mastery of scents and spices. The only catch is that Kate must work with her son, Charles, the man she just can’t get along with. But, eventually working Charles ends up being less of a chore and more of a friendship.

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this enemies-to-lovers romance. First, I loved the setting. It’s clear that the author knows and loves Paris. Her descriptions of the farmer's markets and the city were beautiful. Second, I love all the food and descriptions of the food. This book should come with a warning, “Will Cause Serious Food Cravings”.

The characters were well-developed and sympathetic. First are the meddling mothers and they were both a delight! It’s obvious they love their children and only want the best for them, but I’ll admit, they are a bit meddlesome, which makes for a great story. Kate is a bit serious, but once she opens up and lets her guard down and we could see her vulnerability as well as her humor, I grew to like her very much and wanted her restaurant to succeed. And Charles was a bit snooty at first, but he has a great sense of humor and I learned to love him as well.

And there are recipes at the end of the book!

Recommendation:
I highly recommend The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique to anyone who enjoys romance. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique by Samantha Verant is a sweet fun standalone novel. Kate Jenkins, our heroine, finds herself in a quarry, with the opening of her new Paris restaurant, Bistro Exotique; as everything that could go wrong, does go wrong; with things unsettled, almost all of her staff quits. Help comes from her wealthly and friendly landlady, Garrance, who claims to be the Spice Master of Paris, using her wonderful scents/spices, and offers her a deal, that she can’t refuse. Kate must work with Garrance's son, Charles, a world-class chef, who both recently got off on the wrong foot

The two are forced to work together, especially with the restaurant opening pushed up two weeks, to make the changes, use the special spices into the meals, and to hire people. In a short period, both Charles (who used to be a former Michelin starred chef) and Kate begin to work well together, as they are determined to make the opening a grand success. Kate opens her mind to new senses, as she begins to experience the power of Garrance’s spices that are amazing. She also finds herself falling for Charles, as their chemistry was becoming sizzling. When the restaurant opens to raves, with the unique scents driving everyone to a touch of magical senses.

What follows is a charming story, set in Paris, with a couple that were meant for each other, two mothers pushing them, great secondary characters, magic, and romance. Kate knows that Charles has many admirers, including women who try to get his attention; she learns to accept his love, and her feelings for him.

The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique was a wonderful sweet love story, with a fantastic setting in Paris, and amazing food senses we get to learn about throughout. Kate and Charles were a terrific couple, even with their bad start. I really enjoyed watching them slowly fall in love. I loved everything about the restaurant, the food and spices, and the great secondary characters. The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique was very well written by Samantha Verant.

Thank you to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy and to PRH Audio for the complimentary audiobook. These opinions are my own.

Kate is opening her own restaurant in Paris, the Bistro Exotique. As she goes to take a picture, Charles walks into her. The two immediately dislike each other.

The romance started quite slowly. Instead, the focus of the book was much more on secondary characters like the mysterious spice master Garrance and the start of the restaurant for Act One. Much of the book focuses on the sensuality of food. There are amusing language choices that highlight steam (spanking bread and dreams of more, more, more garlic) long before the actual romance begins. I enjoyed the Julia Child quotes that started each act.

There's a touch of magic that I also quite enjoyed. But I found the relationship itself underwhelming. The switch from enemies to romantic interests happened too quickly and rather unbelievably. And the steamy language and tension didn't lead to steamy scenes.

The book was narrated by Nikki Massoud beautifully with lovely French pronunciation. The audiobook comes with a pdf of the recipes in the book. I always appreciate that and am sad if I feel like I miss content because of my format choice.

Overall, I recommend this for foodies and people who like more of a woman's journey than a romance focus.

3.5 stars rounded up

This one was just far too all over the place for me ... and very few of the places were happy ones. I appreciate the chance to get to read it early, but I found myself rolling my eyes so often that it's not one I would recommend, and I probably won't be attempting other titles from the author.

This read like a quirky French film with a lot of cheesiness and over the top characters. The writing style was different than the two other books I've read by her. It was sometimes too cheesy but the sights and descriptions of the Parisian food brings you back to the story. Our main character, Kate, has put all her eggs in basket by opening a restaurant. When she is finally ready to open, everything bad that can happen, happens. Mixed in are some kooky neighbors, a sex therapist mother that is too involved in her life, and a romance that starts with a screaming match.

Spices mixed and grown by spice master Garrance are used by chef Kate Jenkins when she opens her own bistro in Paris. There is a hint of magic in the way that Kate is transported to other romantic places when she uses Garrance's spices.

I loved the use of flavors from around the world to create exotic dishes in the Paris bistro. The magic of taste and scents permeates the novel, a love story to cuisines and spices from around the world.

The romance that develops between Kate and master chef Charles also adds some magic to the story and setting.