This was very cute and fun! I didn't love it nearly as much as I loved Sadie on A Plate but I still really enjoyed it. I loved Bennett and the way his and Julie's relationship changed throughout the book. I loved getting to travel around NYC with Julie and her friends. I wish there was more character development in certain ways. Julie wasn't my favorite but I did really enjoy this still. It was cute, fun and fast.

I have read from Amanda Elliot before, so I was a bit hesitant to read her newest book, Best Served Hot. Surprisely, I enjoyed this book so much more than her previous book. It had all the cuteness of a rom-com book: enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and the slow burning chemistry for one another.

Best Served Hot brings two rivals competing/collaborating with each other while they deny their chemistry for each other. Julie has always been a foodie that she devoted her time and effort to her social media reviews. It does frustrate her when she gets passed over a big opportunity. And it does not help that the person who did get it is a stuffy food blogger, Bennett.

I may be biased, but I truly think that blogs are not outdated as much as the main character thinks so. Blogs are still a thing; it, it's just more work in my opinion. You have to devote your time to building your blog. And it's something that Julie will realize later on in the book. I just wished that I wasn't annoyed as much as I was with the main character.

Amanda Elliot, I have been waiting for your sequel since I finished reading Sadie On A Plate! Best Served Hot is quite different and while I knew the next book wouldn't follow the cooking competition, I kinda wish it had. I was pleasantly surprised to see a cameo of Sadie! I really enjoy when authors give us a glimpse at their previous character's lives after some time has lapsed.

Julie is a restaurant reviewer and influencer, Bennett is the guy who got "her" job at the Scroll. These two are very much like oil and water. This definitely leans itself into tropes of enemies to lovers and forced proximity. Both are doing quite a bit of self-discovery throughout the novel. What I think left me wanting more was that Julie to me felt whiny at times and very "woe is me", which I tend to steer clear of.

I do enjoy their adventures to food taste and the banter these two have with one another. I also appreciate their ability to admire very different aspects of the other. Both are flawed characters, I just needed a bit less whining from Julie.

Old school and new trends clash in this delicious tale.

Julie Zimmerman was an assistant to an eccentric (read: rich) boss.  It pays the bills and provides medical and dental.  But Julie's passion is her time as an up and coming restaurant reviewer on social media known as @JulieZeeeatsNYC.  She has a small but growing fan base.

She was hoping that that was enough to get a response from The Scroll, the big NYC newspaper giant.  They have been looking for a new restaurant critic and Julie had hoped they would recognize her fresh new ideas and the fact that people were trending toward social media platforms like hers.  She was more than disappointed to see the announcement that Bennett Richard Macalester Wright (how pretentious) was their new reviewer, just another stuffy, old, white man from the proper social circles who was probably buddies with the CEO.

Even after learning that Bennett was about the sane age as Julie, she could tell just from his first review, it would be same old, same old at The Scroll.   No new, up-and-coming restaurants or ethnic foods.  While she was jealous of Bennett Rigatoni Mushroom Wright's expense account and better health plan, Julie would rather review the new, fresh restaurants always popping up in Manhattan, than sitting in some stuffy, overpriced restaurant where only the rich could afford to eat.  Okay, the expense account would be really, really nice but Julie's followers liked her and her food choices.

Julie catches sight of Bennett at a popular outdoor food fest in Central Park.  When it becomes clear from his attitude that Bennett looked down upon influencers like Julie and simply the idea of reviewing something so plebian as a food festival, the gloves come off.  Julie tells Bennett just what she think of his pretentious newspaper and their audience and the fact that it was time to step into the 21st century. Really? Who still reads newspapers?   While Julie argues reviews with Bennett, her friend is still filming for Julie, and catches the whole argument.   The video goes viral and bumps Julie’s audience by thousands of new followers. Then she receives an email from Bennett that his paper is also getting a boost on social media, and The Scroll wants Bennett to collaborate with Julie. As much as she hates the idea of spending time with Bennett, the idea of finally growing her audience to real Influencer Level is just too tempting.

Spending time with Bennett doing the one thing they both love best—eating—clear shows that they are very much alike in  their appreciation of good food—it’s just their interpretation of a proper review where they can't find a middle ground.   By the time The Scroll decides the social media boost just isn't there anymore, neither Julie nor Bennett want to give up the camaraderie they have found together.

Thoughts:


I enjoyed the enthusiasm for food that the author gives to Julie and Bennett, although I couldn't imagine ordering and eating that much food at one sitting, especially at NYC prices.  If real, Julie would have been a good reviewer to follow with her descriptions of the foods and the blends of tastes in each item and each bite.  I liked Julie a lot in this story.

There was a line drawn in this story between the ultra rich that we can find in Manhattan (go ahead and zillow an apartment or condo in Greenwich Village or overlooking Central Park, I dare you)  and the general working class "poverty" of the rest of us, but I think the author softballed it.

Julie's boss is semi-retired and rarely in the office.  She spent the day alone so Julie used some of her working day handling her social media.  It isn't like we spend a lot of time with her being oppressed  by her boss or belittled.   Julie has most of her interactions with the mega-rich with her boss's younger daughter, Emerson Leigh, who jumps from one frivolous business idea to the next.  Her latest being yoga for pets.    So the frivolous daughter with no understanding of why someone can't just borrow money from their parents is our only view into the world of the wealthy here.  She is friends with Bennett and at one point I wasn't certain if she was trying to step between Julie and Bennett or was trying to push them together.

I would have liked to meet Bennett’s family. We understand that Bennett grew up living the life of the ultra rich.  Julie goes to  Bennett's apartment, which is one of his father's holdings, which is roomy with amazing views.   Bennett  is mostly down-to-earth and seems to understand that he was raised in privilege, even getting his job through his family as Julie first surmised.
We don't learn much of Bennett's upbringing or where he went to college.  If we are referencing a financial gap, we haven't gotten too much reference on this except Bennett's large family apartment. His restaurant budget is paid by his newspaper. We don't see Bennett waving around his giant stack of hundreds in Julie's face. What about his family? Are his parents also down to earth? Are they clueless as to how their wealth protects them?   Do they welcome Julie or see her as a gold digger?  Do they see her attempt to be an influencer as frivolous as Bennett did?

There was no hard hitting or even sharp pokes at how the ultra rich at so insulated from and ignorant of the plights of everyone else who live paycheck to paycheck.  Okay, this was a romance and not a dramatic fiction on the social classes but if it is going to be brought into the story, give it some weight or don't bother.   Emerson Leigh was more clueless than mean.

I enjoyed the storytelling and most of the secondary characters were fleshed out enough that I checked to see if this was a book 2 in a series.  Bennett's sister could have spent more time in the story.  She was there but not for long enough to determine whether or not she would be a character we could like.

Julie is a social media restaurant reviewer, but wants to be a newspaper food critic instead. When Bennett snags her dream job and Julie confronts him at the Central Park Food Festival, their confrontation goes viral. In order to further increase their followings, they agree to partner up for their reviews. Soon it’s not just the food that gets spicy 😉

I absolutely love rom com books with food! Warning though- this book will make you hungry!! 😂 I thought this plot was so unique and especially loved the secondary characters. Such a fun read!

I really enjoyed this book! I loved all of the restaurant references and I really hope all the places mentioned are real because I want to go try them all. I thought the peek into the influencer life was a lot of fun and I really liked how the influencer/traditional reviewers balanced each other out in the end. The love story was sweet, but for me the shining star of this book was the food!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing the ARC.

I am a sucker for a good rivals to lovers romance, but this one felt pretty middle of the road.

After losing out on her dream job, Julie Zimmerman effectively stalks the man that got it instead of her and pranks him in a public venue. It is recorded and the video goes viral, prompting an unorthodox working relationship between the two.

I had trouble connecting with the main character, because while Julie does grow in this novel, I cannot fathom how a grown woman would publicly play a prank on someone because they lost out on a job. It is incredibly petty and jnsecure. And yes, while she decries that sexism and classism as reasons for why she didnt get the job, and those are very real reasons why women are often passed over, this feels more like a maturity thing than anything else.

The story itself is serviceable. There's nothing particularly amazing about it, but it is not a bed book. It's a nice palette cleanser if you're looking for something that doesn't require a lot of thought to get through.

This was really good! I liked the fact that while the romance was a big part of the story, it wasn’t the only focus. Julie was a fantastic character and I loved seeing how much effort she put into her role as an online food influencer. I thought that Bennett and Julie were great together and I really liked the cast of secondary characters. I am so glad that I decided to pick up this enemies-to-lovers romance.

Julie works as an executive assistant during the day but her passion is the work she does as a food influencer. When someone else gets the food critic job at the newspaper, she is disappointed. It would have been her dream job with health insurance and an expense account. When she gets attention by posting an argument between herself and the man who got the job, Bennett, they decide to partner up to do a few joint reviews.

I really liked the romance and thought that Julie and Bennett had great chemistry together. I really appreciated the fact that this book was about much more than that. I really liked learning about all of the things that Julie did in order to fill her role as a food influencer. I also liked the fact that Julie had some career issues to deal with, not to mention her boss’s sometimes clueless and entitled daughter to deal with. Honestly, some of my favorite parts of the book involved Emerson Leigh.

I listened to the audiobook and thought that Anna Caputo did a fantastic job with the narration. I thought that the voices that she used for both the male and female characters were all very well done. I felt like she was able to add just the right amount of emotion into her reading. She has a very pleasant voice that I found easy to listen to for hours at a time. I am certain that her narration added to my overall enjoyment of this story.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a wonderful romance with a lot of depth and great characters. I definitely want to read more of this author’s work very soon.

I received a review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group and Penguin Random House Audio.

Thank you PRH, Netgalley and Amanda Elliot for the advanced eARC and ALC of this book! It was a fairly easy read and I enjoyed listening to it. The narrator kept me intrigued the entire time.

Best Served Hot was an adorably entertaining book with delicious food elements and an enemies to lovers trope that will have you swooning! Loved the characters and setting and the slow burn was perfect!

This enemies to lovers romcom was everything I needed! Two rival restaurant critics face off in a truly delightful (and delicious!) novel by Amanda Elliott.

Julie has her eye on the open restaurant reviewer at the NY Scroll. She had her own blog reviewing restaurants all over NYC and she has over 50K followers. Not bad for being self funded. She’s heartbroken when she finds out the job goes to slimy Bennett Wright. After telling him off at the Central Park Food Festival, she goes viral and they both gain followers. They decide together to partner up to review a few restaurants together.

Bennett and Julie have wonderful chemistry and banter. It’s so fun to watch the two of them discuss food which they are clearly very passionate about. Be prepared to have your mouth water and some of the incredible descriptions of the food. There’s also a smaller side plot about Julie’s desk job and standing up for yourself that I also really enjoyed.

Julie reminded me of me in the way she had a regular 9-6 job and a hobby she was passionate about. I work at a bank during the day, but I love my #bookstagram community in my down time!

Thank you to @berkleypub @amandspanitch and @prhaudio for my gifted eARC.

3.5 stars*

This book made me super hungry with all the mentions of amazing food.

Enemies to lovers? Sign me up. I loved this story of a food influencer getting paired up with a classic food critic to fuel the competition between their two parts of the food industry.

My biggest complaints were the pacing and the main character’s inability to see her own flaws and how she was kind of rude sometimes.

Overall I enjoyed it!

Review Rating: 4.5

𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜: 𝘿𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙮

Julie Zimmerman is a food reviewer/influencer known as JulieZeeEatsNYC. She would love being an online food reviewer full time but her ultimate dream job is to be the food reviewer for the Scroll. When she finds out she didn’t get the job and that it went to Bennett Richard Macalester Wright she decides he’s her enemy. While both visiting a popular food festival a confrontation ensues and is recorded by Julie’s friend. Julie decides to post it saying Bennett doesn’t support or like online influencers. When they both realize the video is increasing their follower count Bennett’s bosses want the two to collaborate on their restaurant reviews. Fans are loving the newly found partnership and while sharing so many dishes together Julie is beginning to realize she may have feelings for her enemy Bennett.

Being in the F&B industry I really enjoyed this story. There were so many things I could relate to and Julie’s banter with Bennett while dining at multiple restaurants was top notch. I also appreciated the focus on showing how in today’s world people are finding new restaurants to try and reviews online and not looking at print publications. It’s wild how tech focused things have become, especially in the restaurant business.

Julie Zimmerman has a job as an executive assistant and works for a demanding employer. But that’s not her main thing in life. She is a social media influencer and as a restaurant reviewer she has a very good following. Julie is good at what she does, but she never quite got over losing a job she really wanted, which was for a major newspaper as a restaurant critic. It still hurts that someone who actually hates social media,Bennett Richard Macalester Wright, is the one who got the job.

When Julie runs into Bennett at a food festival, they definitely rub each other the wrong way. In fact, they have an argument, and with his opinions being so different than hers, she ends up posting that on her social media platform. As a result of the popularity of that post, the pair reluctantly decide to partner together for a few reviews. This will benefit both of them, and both their subscriber bases should increase even more.

However, they are much like oil and water, and this hate to love romance really takes off. Different experiences in different restaurants slowly begin to work to changing their opinions of each other. Meanwhile, Julie experiences some issues at work, and I do love how the author touched on classism in this book. This additional factor made an already good story even better. In fact, making it a fabulous story. Not only were Julie and Bennett were well-rounded characters, but the story itself touched on other important things all while it became clear that the two were truly meant for one another. I enjoyed watching their relationship involved, as well as Julie’s relationships with her good friends.

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

Please also enjoy my YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/fyH5wZ4YgGI

Thank you #BerkleyPartner @berkleyromance for my gifted physical copy and eARC of Best Served Hot. #BerkleyIG
#penguinrandomhousepartner

🍝 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘁
By Amanda Elliot
Pub: 2/21/2023 -- out today!

Blurb: Julie is a side-gig food influencer who dreams of making the big leagues one day. After she's rejected for a coveted position at the NY Scroll, the guy who got the job (Bennett) becomes enemy #1! After a run-in between Julie and Bennett goes viral, the newspaper pairs them up to work together. Will these two strong-willed foodies be able to work together? Or perhaps there's something a bit tastier in store? 😉

👉🏻Bullet Point Review:
• So.Much.Delicious.Food. 🤤
• Another diverse cast
• Enemies-to-Lovers
• Workplace Romance
• Great witty banter
• Clean / closed-door
• Standalone, but set in the same world as Sadie
• I recommend reading Sadie first 🥚

Another enjoyable read from Amanda Elliot! It's official... this author is now on my auto-buy list!🔥 Definitely recommend!

What I appreciate most about Elliot's novels is that they both deal with important themes like workplace discrimination and sexism. I love a romcom with a message 👏🏻

*POSTED ON MY IG AND GOODREADS.
RETAIL REVIEWS WILL BE POSTED THIS WEEK.
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Best Served Hot will make you hungry. It is the story of Julie, a social media food critic in NYC who pairs up with her arch nemesis, Bennett, a food critic for the paper, to try and boost both of their visibility and ratings. First of all, the food descriptions leap from the page. Everything sounds amazing. Second, Julie and Bennett have such cute banter and interactions. We have some tension, some miscommunication and some whining by Julie even though her real job is pretty cushy. But these are two characters who just seem to click and are so fun and entertaining to watch them figure out their feelings. I giggled and I swooned. As someone glued to her phone and disenchanted with so much about social media, I really appreciated the honest look at the life of an influencer and seeing Julie have standards and a sense of responsibility to her followers. And we have a surprise appearance from Sadie on a Plate!

🍲 Book Review 🍲

Thanks to @berkleyromance for this book. I loved Best Served Hot and highly recommend you all read it - it's out today, Feb 21!

✔️ Rivals to Lovers
✔️ Teaming up for work reasons
✔️ Opposites attract

Best Served Hot by @amandapanitch was a delicious read about rivaling NYC restaurant reviewers (Julie and Bennett). I was swept up in the setting and it made me miss living in New York and the food scene there. I still
love trying new restaurants with friends - poring over menus, deciding which dishes to split and then ordering and tasting while catching each other up on our lives. And when a meal blows you away and your dining partner has the same experience, it's transcendent. This book captured that exquisitely.

I loved both characters and rooted for them both, Julie especially. I love a scrappy underdog character who feels like all snarls and elbows to their perceived enemies. And when that enemy ends up being a cinnamon roll (like Bennett here)?! Perfection. These two are matched up well and I loved how patient he is with Julie.

The romance and the pining were well done here as well. Loved their email exchanges and the forced proximity across the table of restaurants they were reviewing.

I loved it. 5⭐️ and I immediately bought the author's prior book Sadie on a Plate and I can't wait to read!

Steam 🔥🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕💕

The writer wrote this book during late 2020 into early 2021 when the restaurants were still closed and going out to eat was a thing of the past. She lived in NYC and wrote this book about food blogger from the memory of eating out in NYC. The descriptions of food and restaurants were as entertaining plot.

Julie Zimmerman is executive assistant by day and @juliezeeEatsNYC after work. Her job application to Scroll to be a restaurant reviewer was rejected. Only thing worse is that four name Bennet, social media averse, society boy getting the job!! When they confront each other at central part food festival the game was on!!

This was a fun one (and it made me hungry!). Julie is an executive assistant by day and an Instagram food reviewer by night; Bennet is a fancy newspaper restaurant critic. They butt heads by chance one day at a food truck festival, but when a video of the encounter goes viral, they agree to team up to review restaurants and offer their different takes on them. Along the way, sparks fly.

What I liked: all the food! The discussion of classism, racism, and sexism in the culinary world.

What I didn't: I wish there had been a little more chemistry between Julie and Bennet.

The food descriptions really took this one over the top for me. 3.5 rounded to 4 stars.

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

this book made me incredibly hungry and wanting to try even more new foods. I loved watching Julie come into her own, I only wish we had a little more on page development in their relationship, to help understand the progression