"Cookies were like people, not because they had a personality of their own but because they consisted of multiple ingredients that created a singular flavor profile. And someone could know when they'd found "the one" not because of a spark, but because that person accepted the cookie as it was and didn't want to change the recipe."

One Tough Cookie by Denise Torres was such a relatable story. This is a story that will resonate with anyone whose ever felt too wounded too be loved, too broken to be accepted flaws and all. Our protagonist, Karina, is mourning the death of her friend Anne and offered the chance to work at the bakery that Anne's family owns. While there she falls in love with Ian but really struggles to let her guard down with him. We learn a lot about Karina's past relationships and the stories she tells herself about why she is unworthy of Ian and his affection.

So many of us go through situations where we are wounded interpersonally and taken advantage of by people who pretend to care. These situations truly break down our ability to trust others and most especially to trust ourselves: if we did not see the red flags way back then we wonder how we can see them moving forward? Maybe we are defective in some way. Maybe we just don't possess the strength and foresight to see the truth of the matter. These are the types of questions Karina has to work out for herself in order to obtain inner peace with her past and her present.

The metaphors used in the text that compare characters to cookies made reading this story so charming! We learn a lot about the different personalities of folx based upon how they are described. In the end, Karina truly goes after the healing and love she deserves and I loved that for her!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-arc copy!

Karina victim mentality really heavy and exhausted, feel not enough, feel as a burden, low self-estem. Then her cynical and stuborn about love, my god her mother really ruin her. Ian patiance with her, crumble her wall little by little, he really want to take care of her (Dang where i can man like this? Lol). What Karina do to get ride Ian give me headache, then her decition on the end...my god..this book give me emotional roller coaster.

Thank you to NetGalley for provide this book, it is pleasure to review this book.

#OneToughCookie #DeliseTorres #AlcovePress #NetGalley #ARC

Overall opinion: Rom-com meet cute in a cookie factory. This was a fun read that I finished in one sitting. I like how the author included Puerto Rican culture throughout and how she handled some difficult topics (therapy, family issues, abortion). The overall theme I took away is that people are flawed and that is ok. You can find people who will accept and support you and who may also make you want to be a better version of yourself.

What I liked:
The flow of the story was really great. I enjoyed the sprinkle of cookie tie-ins throughout the book. The recipes at the end and the cookie quiz on the authors website! I am apparently a Mellow cookie.

Karinas friends brought a nice balance to her personality and problems. They also provided a nice reality check for her when she was in a mood.

I actually enjoyed the business side that was described throughout the book. All of the things that needed to be done for the inspection. I feel like sometimes parts of characters lives are glossed over to focus on the romance but here it was balanced. This fit the plot as well since MC was trying to stay independent and not focus on having a relationship. It was well written out and not just filler.

What I was not a fan of:
Karina, the MC. I get that she was supposed to be this strong independent woman who didn’t need a man, but I felt more than once she was just being ridiculous. The amount of miscommunication on her part purely because she was so ‘set in her ways’ was kind of annoying.

Ian, main love interest, came on way too strong. I thought it would be more gradual but no. It was even more annoying at how fast their relationship started progressing when she explicitly told him she didn’t wan to be serious and he agreed.

“One Tough Cookie” is a debut novel by Denise Torres.

What I liked about this book:

Tackling a difficult topic. Ms. Torres explains in the Author’s Note how this book came about and this topic was at the forefront of that beginning. I think Ms. Torres did her research well and also handled the topic well.

The inclusion of cookie recipes at the back of the book. I’ll admit, I’m always on the lookout for a good small batch cookie recipe. I’ll have to try one of the recipes one day.

The “what it takes to manufacture a cookie” background material. Yes, gearing up for an inspection was secondary to the main story, but having worked in QA/QC before there are a lot of forms (and inspections). It’s not a glamorous job, but Ms. Torres’s background in that area made those parts authentic.

The inclusion of the PR culture. I don’t speak Spanish but the little touches of PR pride and bits of the culture shone through this book.

What was meh:

Karina and Ian’s relationship - Karina’s a strong independent person. Ian is an attractive man. They meet - there are sparks. Just to be sparks. As Karina learned more about Ian, she realized things may not work out beyond a fling. As Ian learned more about Karina, he wanted to cling. Insta-love isn’t a favorite of mine and in so many ways, it felt like this couple didn’t really have a lot in common. While I’m glad that Karina was going to therapy to figure herself out, the two together probably need to ensure they’re on the same page about things.

The constant cookie tie-in - it’s cute, I admit it, but it became a bit repetitive.

The side characters - I’ll admit, I could keep a few separated, but while the main female side characters had individual quirks and personalities, I sometimes had to recall who was who and mixed a few of them up. Personally, I enjoyed Roy’s gruff manner and appreciated him admitting “yep, I was wrong, I’ll admit it” toward the end.

The not so great:

Lack of communication - Karina and Ian need to learn how to communicate in a positive manner with each other. Full stop. If you cannot say the words, write the words, sing the words, or something. It got a bit tiring after a while.

Overall, the writing of this book was very enjoyable - I read this book quickly and liked the overall flow of the book. I liked how topics were tackled. I liked how the idea of family is who you pick, not always blood - but also deciding that families of all sorts have their positives and flaws. Overall, a great first book. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Karina Cortés is the cool chick among her circle of friends, relishing the single life. The last thing she wants is what they all drool over — a steady boyfriend, marriage, kids, becoming settled. Pretty much abandoning your life for a man, as Karina sees it. To her, relationship equals trapped and bored.
Why remove all joy from life when she can enjoy fabulous food, one-night stands, and a job she enjoys as a production supervisor at the Singular Cookies factory?

So what if her friends say she’s commitment-phobic, afraid of vulnerability? Karina’s life is just fine, thank you. She doesn't want a serious boyfriend, aggressive career goals, or other family entanglements.
But when Ian Feliciano, the new mechanic, joins the team, not only does she find it impossible to remove her gaze from his butt, but Karina is reconsidering whether a relationship might not be the scariest challenge in life.

One Tough Cookie is a novel that foodies will love. Set in the locale of a cookie factory, full of workers of Puerto Rican heritage, the novel delivers a fascinating look inside the inner workings of the commercial food production industry. And as a reader, I enjoyed learning about how to make commercial cookies! The book also has a fun backstory of custom cookie recipes designed to suit unique personalities (find them at the end of the book), and lots of descriptions of yummy Puerto Rican food.

Karina Cortés is a uniquely memorable heroine.The author included many adorable touches that made me smile, such as how she talks to her own disobedient heart and sifts her life decisions through the filter of cookie and baking analogies.

On a more serious note, Karina's struggles with an unintended relationship explore the balance between intimacy and one-night stands, sexual power and freedom, and declared independence versus embracing your found family.

Original, witty and entertaining with strong romcom vibes, One Tough Cookie explores what happens when we let the hard external layer protecting us crumble just a little.

This was fine! It didn't blow me away. Just breezy women's fiction with an "unlikable" main character. Kind of forgettable, but I'd recommend it to my mom (this is a compliment!)

The title is meant to be a play in words about the protagonist, Karina, who works in a cookie factory, and the struggles that she went through that gave her a hard exterior. However, if anyone in this book is a tough cookie it is Ian because she put him through the wringer.

I found the characters in this novel so frustrating and so fixed in their mindsets that I was unable to really enjoy even the most minute plot points. I would skip this one if anyone asks.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

I enjoyed the opening scene. The main character was to aggressive which turned me off the book. DNF




****************************************I received an ARC for my honest opinion from NetGalley.*****************************************

One tough cookie was such an amazing book. I loved the natural flow of the romance it made everything seem so realistic.

This book is absolutely delicious! Perfect to curl up with on a summer day and is likely to be your favourite companion at the beach! I loved reading this - the characters and the plot are full of heart and humor. Looking forward to more of the author's work.

This is a cute rom-com with a strong female lead who "doesn't need a man" and a kind and understanding male lead who won't give up on love. I did find this cute and sweet, especially with the cookie descriptions linked to the characters personalities but it was not totally for me. I don't really enjoy the miscommunication trope and it happened multiple times, I also didn't really like the main character Karina, I felt she was so pessimistic that she brought the whole book down and stopped there being much emotional chemistry between her and Ian and left just the physical relationship. I also didn't like the insta-love in this I wish there was more of a build up to their relationship and there was a development of the characters problems, especially Karina's trauma I think this would have made their relationship gain a deeper level and add a bit more to the story instead of being a bit superficial.

This story follows Karina - a care-free, sexually adventurous young woman with a troubled childhood- who embarks on a new relationship with Ian - the hot new engineer at her work.

Okay guys, let's get into it.

So Karina and Ian work at a cookie factory that makes cookies with quirky cookie names - the Flirty, the Active, you get it. But what that also means is that all the characters have their personality compared to cookie names (xx is a Sexy Cookie because of xyz, yy is a Popular Cookie because of la di da). Basically, it gets a bit grating after a while.

But none of that compares to the thing that annoyed me the most - the two main characters (!)

Karina is written like a sexually adventurous young woman and I loved to see a character who wasnt afraid to go for it. But dang, this girl was equally sexually mature and emotionally broken. All "who needs relationships, I am a strong female, men be damned".

Alright, then. Enter Ian - now Ian is basically this perfect guy who will put up with everything you can imagine and still wait around like a love-sick puppy. Yup, you guessed it, we have a stage-five clinger on our hands.

Because trust me when I say that this the only way a relationship would work between these 2 people. For every time Karina pulled away and acted like a emotionless robot who just could NOT use her words, Ian fell more and more in love with her. Based on WHAT, Ian? Yes, she is pretty and smart, but she was struggling with some real childhood trauma and did nothing about it - she didnt talk to a therapist, she definitely didnt talk to Ian about it - so what real relationship did these 2 even have?

Everyime she needed space, he would whine and act all hurt and basically force her to spend time with him. It just made for painful reading.

Look, the writing was good (style, flow, use of language) and I do not mind characters being flawed - but constant miscommunication is just ridiculous. Do better Karina. Do better Ian.

I may read a story about her friends, the side-characters. I think Cordelia's journey to motherhood may make for an interesting story.

Thank you to Net Galley for the advanced copy! This review is my own.

This was such a great read! I adored the title and the cover and by the end, really wanted to eat some cookies! While overall, this book was lighthearted and steamy, it also covered some important topics. A great read!

This is a cute room rom com. One thing I struggled with is how miserable the main character was. It just went on for so long that I struggled to get into the story.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

3.75/5 stars! A meet cute set at a cookie factory?!?!?!? Sign me up. Karina is the ultimate "I don't need anyone" independent heroine. There's a difference between being independent, however, and being a raging man-hater. This story got old in that area for a bit. Once Karina is able to get over that angle, however, I really enjoyed the chemistry between her and Ian.

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

This book started off with the cookie descriptions and ended with the recipes which was SUCH sweet addition and I really loved it, I haven't seen it before!

I struggle with insta-love books so this moved a bit too quickly for my liking. However I liked Karina and her relationship with her friends and Ian was a wonderful love interest.

This was so good, I ate this up! It was a delicious romance. I was absolutely vested in this this and could not stop thinking about it.
I just reviewed One Tough Cookie by Delise Torres. #OneToughCookie #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Karina works at a cookie company called Singular Cookies. Lacey is the levelheaded CEO of the company. Lacey has started dating someone new, and Karina worries that her new romance is clouding her judgment and causing her to lose focus at work. Lacey and her uncle, Roy, started the company together and Karina has been there since the beginning. Karina was the maid working for Roy at the time that the started the company.

Ian is the hot new mechanic. He and Karina have an immediate attraction and quickly fall into bed together. She wants it to be temporary. She was taught that love is foolish and she should only rely on herself. Karina’s mother made her believe that love was a waste of time and she has held on to that her whole life. Will her feelings for Ian change how she feels about relationships? Or will she be stuck in her ways?

I enjoyed all of the information about making and developing cookies. I love that the author included cookie recipes at the end of the book too. I can’t wait to try some!

The book had some heavy topics, and I appreciated the author’s notes at the end of the book. The notes helped explain her thought process and the intent and research that went into creating the story.

I loved the idea of Karina having a found family at her work, and it helped her to realize that she was capable of doing anything that she put her mind to. She needed to believe in herself and her abilities.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an ARC of this book.