Dueling food critics heat things up in this fun NYC enemies to lovers story. Cute premise and adorably awkward main character.

Unfortunately, I did not care for this book. Being a foodie, I appreciated the tastey descriptions of the food, however, the story was lacking. I was bored the whole time and kept waiting for things to get interesting.

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley for the digital ARC.

This book was an easy one to breeze through. That said, I found the writing too clichéd at times and the descriptions of the interactions could be painfully uncomfortable, Once the romance between the main characters picked, up the book fell flat.

Unfortunately, I did not love "Best Served Hot" like I did Amanda Elliot's "Sadie on a Plate" It was not as engaging and I didn't feel the Jewish representation as much. I appreciated Sadie's cameo because she's my baby—secretly wishing she was in it more. Despite all that, I think the food descriptions were well written, making me very hungry a lot of the time. The story is still cute overall, but it lacked something I can't put my finger on.

I found this very enjoyable! it wasn't as memorable as I wanted it to be, but it kept me reading and I had a fun time doing so.

I previously read Sadie On A Plate and my immediate thoughts were "man I love the plot of the cooking aspect for this book, but I wish there was more story to the romance". Now with Best Served Hot I felt the complete opposite. Amanda definitely heated up the romance aspect with this book. Sadie is mentioned in this book, but I don't feel it's a true companion novel, just happens to be in the same world.

In Best Served Hot, I do think sometimes the food descriptions took away from the plot of Julie being a food reviewer/writer. I loved the behind-the-scenes aspects of how her job worked and I would have loved even more of it. I think her little friend group was great as well and could definitely lead to more stories featuring them. Julie and Bennett being food critics/reviewers in different ways was a fun twist to their meet cute/forced interactions. I enjoyed their relationship a lot, even though I wish we could have gotten to know Bennett just a little bit more throughout the book. this book was also a little bit steamier than her previous work.

I love everything food related. I have had a food blog for many years now. So reading a book about food reviews was a lot of fun. They are rivals, one at a newspaper, which is a dying industry and one an influencer that is up and coming. The chemistry was good and I really liked the characters. I really don't like miscommunication breakups. One where one won't talk to the other to see what the real deal is...That's my reason for 4 stars instead of 5. Otherwise, a really fun read!

I love a book that talks about food and this did it in all the best ways. It left me wanting to try new dishes and fully experience the food. I loved Julie and Bennetts banter and how they started off. While I did not like how their “problem” was resolved it was a cute romance. I also loved how Julie was able to grow and learn through the experience not only personally but professionally.

This book will make you hungry, not joking! I don't read many "foodie" romances for this reason, but overall, it was an enjoyable, slow burn and I loved this title!

This was an adorable and fast-paced rom-com about two feuding food critics had me wanting to learn how to cook.

I enjoyed Julie and Bennet as they move from her instant dislike to him and her belief that he's looking down at her to their happily ever after. Their shared love of food is a strong basis for their attraction but their approach to reviewing, he traditional paper and her blogging, put them a bit at odds.

A lot of time was spent describing their meals which was interesting but made me realize how NOT adventurous I am as an eater. I also didn't find the characters or the story gripping in a "can't put it down way".

While I'm not raving about the book, it was an entertaining way to spend a few hours.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Before staring this book make sure to grab some snacks and cozy up! Trust me, you will need them.

I thought this was a really fun easy read and I rate it 3.5 /5. Julie is a foodie who enjoys reviewing different restaurants on her social media. She struggles to balance her current full time job & her passion for critiquing food. I feel like I saw a lot of myself in Julie and this helped me connect with her character. There were times were I found her character to be annoying but overall I enjoyed it. The author did an amazing job at describing all the different dishes featured on this book. I was seriously hungry the whole time! Hence the suggestion of keeping snacks close by! The book also has some rivals to friend to lovers action going on which I always love. However,
this is a rom-com but to me it felt like the romance portion of the book was lacking. Full disclosure… I am a hopeless romantic and love drama. So, if you don’t enjoy when there is a lot of drama in a book (sometimes people refer to is as “unnecessary”) then this might me the perfect book for you! Overall, I did find myself laughing out loud and had an easy time reading it.

Julie is a food influencer who works as executive assistant to a wealthy businessman. She applies to become the restaurant critic for the New York Scroll newspaper but someone called Bennett Richard Macalester Wright scores her dream job. How could she ever compete with a guy like this from a privileged background with connections – he’s even friends with her boss’ daughter.
When Julie spots Bennett at a food festival, she sees red and sends him off on a wild goose chase to find a famous chef and a video of their bitter exchange goes viral. However, the rivals soon realise that partnering up for dual reviews will benefit them both.
I am not a foodie in any sense so was attracted to this title more for the competitive characters and the clash between social and traditional media, rather than the mouth-watering food scenes. However, the author did a fine job in dishing these up and they weren’t over-done at all. If you are looking for a sweet rom-com, this may well satisfy your cravings.

The best part of this book was all the food descriptions, the conversations around social media vs. traditional publishing, and the validity of each form. I really enjoyed those two aspects of this book. Elliot is great at making food jump off the page and I want a fully curated meal delivered for each chapter of this book, thank you.

However, at times the writing was so uncomfortably cheesy (sometimes just acceptably cheesy) and once the "romance" was introduced the scale was tipped into too much for me.

At the halfway mark is where I completely lost the book. This is where the characters are just barely dipping their toes into friendship and we get the line, "the way he squeezed my hand. Reassuringly, as if to say 'this is the way I'd squeeze your nipple.'" I just could not anymore. This was so out of left field and cringey. I am not convinced Elliot's writing talent lies in "sexy" writing and would have been better off writing a clean, no-steam, closed-door romance.

Really sad. I thoroughly enjoyed Sadie on a Plate and the foodie vibe but this did not work at all for me.

This one was a fun read but some parts of it weren't for me. The relationship between Julie and her best friend seemed off at times. We were introduced to characters that didn't feel integral to the story.

I'm not sure why I'm reading these books that make me so hungry but this one did too. The descriptions of food were so detailed I really wanted to try some.

I would recommend this one to people who enjoy a food element to their rom coms and very light on the spice.

Basically- a food influencer and a food critic meet and decide to review the same restaurants to see the differences in review techniques.

Thank you to @letstalkbookspromo and @berkleyromance for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Calling all foodies! This is the perfect romance for any food loving readers!

Julie Zimmerman is an executive assistant by day and an up-and-coming social media foodie influencer by night. When she misses out on a dream job, Julie is crushed. She's even more upset about losing the job to Bennett, who's mom is friends with the editor. Convinced that Bennett got the job not based on merit, Julie gives him a piece of her mind when she runs into him at a food festival. When the video of Julie telling Bennett off goes viral, the two decide to take advantage of the attention and team up to do food reviews together.

While I enjoyed Bennett and Julie together, their romance was a slow burn and not one of my favorites. There was some great humor between the two and the plot of them being rival food editors was fun. However, the romance wasn't very memorable, and Julie's character seemed a bit immature for me. The food though in this book! It's the food depictions that really shone for me and had my mouth watering. Elliot makes you feel that you're at every restaurant with our main characters, and while I came for a romance book, I stayed for the food. Too bad I couldn't eat along with them.

Overall, Best Served Hot is a cute and easy read that is guaranteed to make you hungry. Rom-com wise it's fine. I don't regret reading the book, but it won't be one that sticks with me.


Best Served Hot is out now. Huge thank you to Berkley Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.  If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.

I enjoyed this book. The plot was well paced and the characters felt fully developed. I would recommend this book to others and am looking forward to other works by this author.

Unfortunately, Best Served Hot did not appease my appetite for a fun, romantic comedy. It’s me. I’ll admit it. But, it just may be the book for you. I just could not get into the premise of the story. I’m not a foodie and just don’t buy into how one person’s opinion could influence so many people.

Please don’t get me wrong. The book was very well written if not overly descriptive. And, I think that may have been part of my problem with the story. The descriptions of the food were very detailed to the point where I felt the book read like a cookbook instead of a romance. And, that’s a foodie thing but not a romance reader thing. I know, my opinion.

But, Amanda Elliot built her characters so you understood why they were in the Food Reviewing business. You understood their love for all things food and their quirks. The story also flowed … from one restaurant to another … and from the Central Park Food Festival to online praises. The characters were all interesting and the banter between all of them was entertaining.

The narrator, Anna Caputo, did a fabulous job narrating the story. She captured the tone and characters perfectly. I definitely recommend the audio!!

The food descriptions are absolutely amazing. Don't read hungry! 😋

This is a rivals to lovers story of two good critics. Bennett is from the upper class and lands a job as a food critic for an established paper. Julie is not from the upper class and is a food blogger. She also has a day job to pay for her meals. Julie and Bennett come at food and restaurant reviews form different angles. What could they possibly have in common? Maybe their passionate love of food?

They have a run in that is filmed and goes viral leading to a collaboration of sorts. I enjoyed being on the journey as they get to know each other. There is some commentary on classism as well as some derogatory attitudes towards women on the tech industry. All is handled realistically and well. Julie's best friend is wonderful as are the rest of the characters (some you might love to hate). I appreciated Julie working through some miscommunication- it was there and she tried to be aware of it and question what was going on. It felt real.

This was a fun foodie romance!

A romantic delicacy: this slow-burn enemies to lovers rom-com serves an entertaining tale of two food critics crossing paths as tension boils, spice rises, and chemistry cooks between them. Despite the predictability, delicious descriptions and a constant tensity makes it a quick read that holds attention. Also, the exploration of social media impact as well as passion-driven careers is a strong aspect.