I adore Samantha Vérant's books, and her latest is another culinary romantic feast. Kate is near to opening Bistro Exotique, her restaurant in Paris, when her plan is derailed and her staff quits. Quelle horreur!

Don't despair; Vérant's characters always find a way, and in this case, help comes from Garrance, the Spice Master of Paris, and her talented arrogant son, Charles. Will Garrance's shared secrets bring Kate success? And what about the growing spice between Kate and Charles? A perfect read for the holiday season!

Thank yo so much for an advanced copy! This book was fun!

Star Rating: 3⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pub Date: December 6, 2022

I really liked this book! I haven't seen this in other reviews, but there were a lot of elements that just screamed found family to me. I loved Kate's relationship with Garrance, and the way he stepped in to save her. This book had a really elegant blend of food, France, and good writing + some really engaging characters!

My one complaint is I felt like the story dragged in parts and I found myself skimming some sections just to get to the next "big thing." Otherwise, I really liked this one, but I don't see myself purchasing it for my shelves or rereading it TBH.

I do highly recommend it, though, because it is such a cute little book!

I enjoyed 90% of this enemies to lovers, foodie romance set in Paris that had meddling mothers, a sneaky cat and a touch of magic. I really loved that the story followed Kate (never to be called Kiki) who is trying to start up her own unique fusion food bistro and her grumpy, reclusive, billionaire neighbor, Charles who just happens to be a former Michelin starred chef.

These two are forced to work together by their mothers and slowly fall in love. The romance felt a little too formulaic for me and I didn't love how Kate fantasizes about Charles constantly but then when he's actually interested in trying to see where a relationship might go she sort of slams on the breaks. They two also don't end up in bed together until the last 10 minutes of the book and it's a fade to black, closed door situation (which I don't always hate but I felt like we got teased throughout the book and got a big let down).

On the plus side this book had great food, fun side characters and of course Paris, France!! Recommended for fans of the Netflix show Emily in Paris looking for a more adult romance or fans of books like Roselle Lim's Vanessa Yu's magical Paris tea shop. Much thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Samantha Vérant’s Spice Master at Bistro Exotique is a winning recipe with memorable characters, a swoony romance, a dash of whimsy, and delectable food! (Oh, the food!!)

Keep calm and cook on is Kate’s motto as she opens her dream bistro in Paris, France to a series of disasters, all of which coincidentally align with the desires of her mysterious neighbor Garrance.

Kate is a humorous and compelling protagonist to follow and I had fun reading about her overcoming various challenges, culinary and otherwise, including heated run-ins with an attractive man appropriately referred to as Anti-Keanu. Highly recommend for foodies and fans of women’s fiction with a hint of magic!

Samantha Verant did it again! This book is a scrumptious blend of romance and food that will transport you to Paris. Add in a dash of magic (or is it?), and this was a total delight to read!

This book was pure delight! The effortless writing, the Parisian setting, the delectable food, the hints of mystery, and the romantic tension make this book as addictive a read as the author's two previous novels. Definitely do not read while hungry, my mouth is still watering!

I loved this book (and its cover) and always looked forward to having a few minutes to read the next chapter. This is the first title that I have read by Ms. Verant; I know that I will pick up the others.

This book has so much in it to enjoy. A list: Paris, foods and a special restaurant, good characters, friendship, romance, a plot that led to both my laughing and caring at different points, obstacles to overcome, pages that turn.

Kate has lived in Paris for a number of years. She moved there with her eccentric mother after her parents separated. Now, as the story opens, Kate is about to realize her dream of having her own restaurant with a menu that she has carefully curated. Just when everything should by rights be perfect, the challenges begin starting with a piano that lands on the bistro’s awning. This is just one of the potential pre-opening disasters and they keep coming. What about the mysterious neighbor whose access to certain spices seems pretty magical? Will she and Kate find common ground? Will Kate find romance with the maddening neighbor whom she has dubbed anti-Keanau? What will be the fate of the restaurant? Grab this title on its pub date to find out.

This book will be welcomed by those who gravitate to fiction that is simply enjoyable. Foodies also will find this one to be fun.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for this title. All opinions are my own.

Exotic sexy dishes and fiery passion encompasses Ms. Ve'rant's new foodgasmic novel, THE SPICE MASTER AT BISTRO EXOTIQUE. Kate Jenkins is an exquisite exemplary chef who stumbles upon an arrogant atrocious fellow who happens to be her neighbor in an apartment building in the beautiful city of Paris. In spite of the cursed building's reputation, her dream is to own a Parisian cafe' in the perfect downstairs empty restaurant. Fortuitously, Kate meets eclectic, eccentric landlord, Garrance and snags an apartment. However, her pesky, smirky, particularly hunkalicious neighbor disses her as incompetent and clutzy. Garrance happens to be Charle's mother. Oh boy, just her luck.

Garrance introduces Kate to a world of secret spices and scents that instantly entrance her. The spices magical properties perfectly season her dishes and award her with prosperity and luck. Maybe love is in the cards too!

Charles, a Michelin starred chef, doesn't believe Kate can pull it off running a restaurant. Garrance offers Kate business advice and spices from her garden. Kate encounters one disaster after another and business is dismal. With flack from her mother and Charles, Kate is disheartened. However, as Garrance's spices get mixed into her dishes it unleashes fortune, romance and self-confidence. Kate is still skeptical. But, as Kate and Charles get pushed into working together creating meals, attraction flames between them as the heavenly spices fill the air. Do they fall in love? Will Kate's restaurant flourish or will it fizzle out?

Full of intrigue and romance, THE SPICE MASTER AT BISTRO EXOTIQUE, offers decadent food, a family atmosphere, inspiring messages and most importantly, love. Kate, a talented chef discovers how spices open up a world of possibilities, like self-confidence and most importantly, love. Talented author, Ms. Ve'rant expertly spices up the story with a bewitching quality that enchanted me. If you are a food lover, there are bonus recipes included at the end. THE SPICE MASTER AT BISTRO EXOTIQUE is a steamy heaven of orgasmic food and love proportions!

Kate Jenkins doesn’t believe in fate. She believes in a clear vision, meticulous planning, and hard work in order to achieve her culinary dreams. On the cusp of opening her own Parisian restaurant, Bistro Exotique, she isn’t even concerned when her standoffish—and annoyingly sexy—neighbor dismisses her as a crazy American tourist or when she meets the wildly eccentric Garrance, the self-proclaimed Spice Master of Paris, who ominously warns her of the previous owner’s failures.
Confident and optimistic, Kate keeps calm and cooks on. Until a series of unfortunate events derail her plans and her entire staff quits.
Kate is about to throw in the kitchen towel on her lifelong dream when Garrance offers to use her mastery of scents and spices to help her, but it comes at a price: Kate must work with Garrance’s son, Charles, a world-class chef and total jerk. After Kate hesitantly concedes to the deal, she slowly learns to open her heart and mind to new concepts, not quite sure if the magic she’s experiencing comes from Garrance’s spices, from within herself, or from the growing chemistry with Charles. One thing is certain, though: her kitchen is getting increasingly hot.
In this book by Samantha Vérant a wanna be chef achieves her dream and finds love. Charles and Kate are meant to be together.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

Another lovely read from Samantha Verant. A warning though- do not read on an empty stomach! A delightful and whimsical romance set in Paris, you can smell the spices and the vivid descriptions will have you yearning for French food, especially some with the “special spices”. Kate is a budding bistro owner and chef, and she is determined to make her mark on her own. She resists the help offered by her eccentric neighbor and landlady. She is even more resistant to the hot guy who lives upstairs. What follows is a madcap rush to get the bistro open and overcome serious obstacles to success and love. You’ll cheer Kate on as she finds all the right ingredients for her food and her life! Thanks to Samantha Verant, Berkley Books and NetGalley for an Advance Readers Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start out by saying that I love what Samantha Vérant is doing for foodie romance, with strong female chefs finding balance in both their careers and love. That being said, The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique needs some work on the flow. Characters often speak in sentences that are the same number of words, making for choppy dialogue, if h says 5 words, H responds with 5 words. There are also several instances where the passage of time is not made clear and little to no transition took place. What seems like the reader to be a 5-minue window, had to have been an hour or more for the narrative to make sense. H is moody, condescending and unrelatable-- not quite sure what h likes about him other than he's hot and can cook. The supporting characters are all well thought out. The story and characters are all there, just the flow needs to be ironed out a bit.

It’s always interesting to see how things trend in entertainment, in subject or theme. This is one of several novels set in Paris revolving around food I’ve read in the last few months. Kate is a woman on a culinary mission to open an authentic Parisian restaurant in spite of the location’s cursed reputation and the sneery son of the landlord, Charles, a chef in his own right who doesn’t believe she can pull it off. His mother, wildly eccentric Garrance, offers to provide both business advice and spice stock from her exotic indoor garden; oddly, any changes Kate makes at Garrance’s request result in tremendous success…

Full of romance and intrigue, The Spice Master at Bistro Exotic offers an authentic and exquisite French setting and decadent, delicious food writing, within the framework of a magical realism story. The novel includes recipes featured in the narrative, with clear instructions and ingredients that are fairly easy to source, prefaced by a note about philosophy (a recipe is a guideline!) and substitutions. They are mouthwatering and inspiring.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #TheSpiceMasterAtBistroExotic from #NetGalley.

The main character was very annoying, as was the love interest . the romance was sickenly sweet and full of unnecessary dramatics of highs and lows. The cast of characters were all messy and I just didn’t mesh with this story. The ending felt very abrupt, and wanted to hear more about why those spices were so “magical.”

I enjoyed the author's first two novels and looked forward to a new 'foodie story'. Instead it read more like a New Adult novel (a genre I'm not drawn to) and I quickly grew impatient with the main character. I didn't find the warmth and charm as in the previous novels. Clearly it wasn't a good match for me but I think it will be for many readers. I will give Verant's next book a try, for sure.

Definitely for foodies and women’s fiction fans, but maybe not for romance fans. Kate and Charles go from loathing each other to falling for each other in a week. The third act breakup and Charles’s running hot and cold made no sense to me.

Cute read. Kate comes off as immature but since she’s supposed to be finding her way I guess that fits. I just couldn’t buy into the romance.

I absolutely loved this book. I have read all of Samantha Verant’s book and each one has been my favorite. The Spice Master is her latest and I highly recommend it, It takes you away to Paris, romance, cooking and all kinds of wonderful food. A great escape and it will make you hungry.

Like a lovingly prepared blend of spices hermetically sealed in a jar, when you pop open "The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique" you'll be greated by an intoxicating wave of sensuous excitement - I have to admit, I got very hot under the collar before I was even halfway through the first page!

A mix of love, passion, drama, and intrigue will transport you into another world just as happens to Chef Kate Jenkins in her ambitious plan to open a brand new Parisian restaurant. Avec un soupçon of magic courtesy of a mysterious benefactor and a hot-but-frustrating stranger, Kate learns how to bring her dreams to fruition --- and then serves it poached in white wine.

I'd say that everything happens for a Riesling - but the recipe included suggests Muscadet.

Thank you for NetGalley and Berkley pub for this earc

This book tried to be too many things.

Enemies to lovers? Secret billionaire boyfriend? Magic cafe?

It also had too many clichés. Like wayyy too many. The hot dude she met on the street lives in her building? Check. He’s also son of her landlady? Check. He’s also a hot chef with a crazy model ex girlfriend.

Every character in this book just fell flat for me. Kate sounded like a teenager through most of this book. Her weird “visions”. Girl. You barely knows this guy and you imagining his babies.

And Charles? He’s cute and sweet one moment. Crazy and mad the next. He’s character like the rest of this book was totally all over the place. And don’t even get me started how many time he freaked out over everything.

And can we just talk about whole fake magic spices? Because I kept hoping tang would come to something but author completely through away the whole thing.

So basically what we got is a feels like a 15 is writing this ROV, with hot super cliche chef dude, who obviously has the most cliche model ex. Oh and don’t forget about super random made over chapter that completely took away from something nice and natural from Kate.

Samantha Verant has done it again. Her blend of food, France, and fantastic writing makes this another joy to read. Kate Jenkins is an up and coming chef who buys a restaurant in Paris and decides to reinvent it into the Bistro Exotique. With a charming cast of characters - we ALL need a Garrance in our lives, and "Anti-Keanu" is just hot - and a heroine coming into her own, this book was lovely.

My only ding on this book is that it wrapped up a bit too quickly for me. Now, I know that Ms. Verant has taken a stand alone book and make it into a duology before, so maybe there is a chance we can catch up with Kate and Charles again?

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book ahead of its publication.

What an adorable book, filled with so much mouth watering food and funny banter that had me snorting out loud. This was a great read for me and I loved the chemistry between Kate and Charles. I highly recommend this for reading at the beach, at home, on the train, anywhere. It will make you laugh, make you taste the food Kate and Charles are making, and make you feel all the feels for the eccentric characters they are surrounded with. I didn't want the book to end!