I wish I could say I liked it more, but too many side stories that didn't really add to the story or the character development slowed down the book and kept it from being as engrossing or fun as it could have been.

This book was so intriguing from the cover to the name, but it just fell a bit flat for me. I really struggled to even finish this book. I just didn't have any connection when reading, there was no emotion in the characters and the pacing was so slow at times and fast at others. I think the book was entirely too long and too many side stories and things happening that took away from the main focus.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for sending me an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Review for NetGalley:
The premise for this story is very rom-com - Gia makes a list of resolutions and it accidentally gets stuck to a take out delivery bag, her note gets read by Ben who sends a response via a delivery boy, cue a series of letters between the two.

From the jump, we see our main character is a series of really embarrassing situations. Some of which are due to her entirely terrible group of coworkers. Others are connected to the FMC drinking and partying in what feels like an excessive manner.
She then meets Ben via these letters and it transpires that he’s been sober for several years. At this point I really my thought Gia’s relationship with alcohol might be questioned - but no, she spends a large chunk of the story drinking to excess or nursing a hangover. Yikes.

In terms of plot lines we follow: dynamics with her work and co-workers, a bad boy CEO trying to have a family-marketed brand, an ex best friend who is getting married, sex-capades of Gia’s mother. Then there are side plots connected to Ben: his parents highly PDA relationship, relationships with all of his siblings, the sale of the takeaway, coaching the boys football team and the goal of a football academy.

It just feels like there are too many elements which as the story culminates, start to be shoe-horned together.

There are some fun moments, but overall this was not for me.

I received an arc of this from netgalley in exchange for a review.

3 stars - mainly cause at least everything was wrapped up in the end, but the whole book felt like it dragged on. And I’m sure it’s just the file formatting, but parts of it were alltogetherlikethisanditgavemeaheadachetoread. I’m assuming that’s not going to be like that in the final copy.

Gia and Ben were ok. I didn’t feel a connection to either really, and felt like they both made some pretty stupid mistakes. The ending colored how you see some of it (mostly with regards to Gia’s boss I thought, and her old friend), but overall it was an okay read.

Unfortunately like others I have struggled with the formatting and editing. Although I'm aware it's an arc, it really is off putting. In addition, I didn't really connect with Gia or Ben so had to abandon the book around halfway through.

Just finished reading 'Love on the Menu' by Mimi Deb and I have mixed feelings. The idea of Gia and Ben exchanging notes through food delivery was unique, but the execution wasn't as strong. The pacing felt off at times and didn't quite hit the mark for me. Despite that, I still appreciate the effort put into the story. It had its moments, but just didn't fully deliver. If you're looking for a light and refreshing read, give it a shot and see for yourself."

This was not for me. I immediately knew this when Gia was making remarks about the "bevy of bitches" and was describing herself as wearing a red velvet dress with gold sparkly tights. Unfortunately I did not finish this.

A delicious rom com that’s not too sweet and just a little spicy, Love on the Menu tells the tale of Gia and Ben, 2 very different individuals who unexpectedly find love one takeaway meal at a time. I loved this book! Utterly charming!

This book wasn't just for me.I loved the summary and the cover was too cute but I just wished there had been more depth throughout the story.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange of an honest review.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THIS REVIEW COPY IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.

But this is going to be my first DNF of the year. Title and Description promised me a cute rom-com ft food. But it gave me sullen environment, unlikeable characters and weird writing style.

I will say the format it came to kindle in wasn’t the best, but having said that the story it’s self was just so cute, I really enjoyed all the characters and it was laugh out loud funny. Thank you for this ARC it means the world to me!

The premise was so intriguing, but I unfortunately had to DNF. This books feels like it is still in desperate need of editing. There are so many long, run-on sentences. Some paragraphs really just feel like a stream of consciousness, and it’s difficult to follow. The dialogue between characters is awkward and cliche at times. All of those factors distract from the storyline, which really WAS promising.

I really wanted to like this book a lot more than I did, but it fell a little flat to me.
It's marketed as a rom-com, and I was really excited about it. I really love women's fiction, and I wouldn't normally have an issue with this, but I think other parts of the book also fell a bit flat for me.
There were several inconsistencies throughout the book that I hope get resolved, for example, Gia claiming she is not an alcoholic and then asking Ben how being sober is because she can't go a couple of days without alcohol. These were just funny, odd moments that left me scratching my head a little bit.
I liked the story itself, but the characters felt really young to me, and not their real ages.
I would love to read more by this author but I was hoping for more with this book.

"Love on the Menu" by Mimi Deb is an absolute delight to read! The characters are well-developed and their journeys are both heartwarming and relatable. The story is well-paced, with just the right balance of humor, romance, and drama. The descriptions of the food and the restaurant scenes are so vivid that I could almost taste the dishes being cooked. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves romance novels and foodie fiction. Five stars!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this at about halfway through. I couldn't connect with the characters, and there were just so many side characters that it became confusing. The story was hard to follow and I just didn't enjoy it, I'm sorry to say.

I opted not to review on Goodreads since I didn't finish the book in its entirety.

In my years of reading romance, I've gotten pretty good at telling what I do and don't like from the genre. A big "don't" for me is anything that relies too heavily on the "com" part of rom-com, generally because I find myself eye-rolling more than I do laughing. I don't like when a book starts out with hijinks or excessively silliness because I find it grating. Sadly, this was my experience of Love on the Menu. I feel confident this book has an audience ready and waiting for it, I'm just not in that group.

This one started well, but then it just didn’t do it for me! I started to struggle with the story and the characters, unfortunately this one wasn’t for me

3.5/5 stars! This opposites-attract contemporary romance hit all the right marks. It was like "The Lake House" brought to life in a takeout food adventure. I enjoyed this book. I did struggle with the pacing and thought the book could have benefited from cutting 50 pages. But overall it was an enjoyable and sweet read.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

I think the best what I can describe the experience of reading this book is to say I developed a love-hate relationship with it.

I was instantly drawn in by the cover and the description and I was so excited to dive into this.
I figured it would be more of a slower pace so I had to prepare myself as slow burn is usually not my style. However, the pace didn’t end up being the negative point for me.
I found the story a bit hard to follow - I originally thought the MMC, Ben, was the delivery driver. So finding out he wasn’t had me second guessing everything I had just read and also wondering who the character I had read about even was.
The supporting characters also got confusing, as there are just so many, I sometimes found myself forgetting who was who.
As for the dual POV, I typically love it, but this dual POV didn’t flow for me. The jumps back and forth each chapter sometimes became too much and I wasn’t feeling fully invested in the story.

I did love the way the author wrote and the idea behind the story. I loved that the FMC, Gia, felt real and relatable. I appreciated that these two main characters were created to be imperfect, rather than having a seemingly perfect life.

There were definitely parts I enjoyed, but unfortunately more that I just could not get into. Overall I would give this 2.5 stars.


Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really try not to DNF arcs, but I just couldn’t finish this one. It felt like a video game with too many side quests that I lost interest in the main story. I loved the premise, I just wish it would have executed it more like I assumed it would have.