Beyond adorable. I loved how this story managed to build some incredible chemistry between Tori and Kendra with minimal interactions. Tori’s growth to self assuredness and Kendra’s growth to being less prickly we’re perfectly done. I also loved the baking competition aspect and the mild mystery twist at the end. Super fun read!

3.5 stars (rounding up to 4 though, because it was close).

Thank you to The Dial Press and NetGalley for the E-ARC of this book!

"Love at 350 Degrees" follows Tori Moore, a chemistry teacher turned TV contestant baker after her children secretly sign her up to audition for the national phenomenon: American Bake-O-Rama, and Kendra Campbell, a long-time judge of said-TV show who is known both for her immaculate cooking and her frosty personality. As the competition progresses, both contestant and judge grapple with challenges on-screen and off, while struggling to ignore the spark forming between them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! Books with premises revolving around a TV show of sorts have typically been hit or miss with me, but I honestly really enjoyed and appreciated how this unique landscape played into the story. Peers takes full advantage of this setting, taking the reader through the full progression of the series with unique episode challenges, culinary obstacles of every sort, contestant and judge dynamics, and even an intriguing sabotage subplot! I ate (ha, get it?) all of it up. Certainly sets a high standard for this genre of books, and I'm sure it won't just be for me.

I also really loved both Tori and Kendra. They're so different, yet share key similarities that made it easy to see how they saw a connection with with another. My only real complaint about the story is that I wish we got to see more of them interacting with one another and more development of their relationship progression. The specific plot circumstances made it difficult for there to be one-on-one scenes between the two of them, and while it makes sense, I do think it resulted in much of the story feeling like two parallel plot lines that occasionally intersect: not a bad thing, but not what you typically want out of a romance.

Speaking of plot lines, I enjoyed all of the little subplots that took place within Tori and Kendra's individual lives, from Tori coming to terms with the impending absence of her twins as they go off to college to Kendra's restaurant being threatened with closure. I just wish, again, that more of their character arcs intertwined or overlapped.

Overall, I recommend this book to those who love baking, TV show plots, and who want to read a sweet but emotionally mature story about two women (on the older side for a lot of romance books – another thing I appreciated!) who find solidarity and solace in one another unexpectedly. I will definitely keep an eye out for future releases of this author, and I recommend the same for others!

4.5⭐️

As a kid one of my favorite things to do with my dad was watch Food Network cooking competition shows. After the first episode we’d make bets on who we thought would win (loser had to do the dishes after dinner). So it’s no surprise that as an adult books that feature cooking/baking competitions are some of my favorites.

Tori Moore is a chemistry teacher, single parent, and a ray of absolute sunshine. She also has a love for baking and she’s so good at it that her twins nominated her to go on a baking competition show. It also doesn’t hurt that one of the judges is Kendra Campbell, a gorgeous celebrity chef known for her prickly nature. When the two meet it’s instant attraction but of course a romance is off the table, at least for now.

This book was really mostly focused on the cooking competition show, with a splash of romance in the mix. Mostly because both Tori and Kendra signed contracts forbidding a romance between judges and contestants for at least a year after the show. So instead we have secret notes being passed, late night google searches to try to learn more about each other, and heartfelt parking lot chats. When I say this is slow burn I mean it because the kiss doesn’t happen until about 95% of the way into the book. I’m fine with that though because there’s enough happening with the competition and some really interesting side characters that kept me happy.

This book also comes with a recipe for Tori’s famous paper bag apple pie which I am absolutely gonna try to bake asap. I will update you with the results eventually (probably in like a week or so).

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

Really good book, didn't have a strong enough connection to the characters to rate this really high. I did love the concept and the cover is stunning!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!! I haven’t read a heartfelt yet funny romance with an interesting premise in a long time so this one hit the spot! Love that the protagonists are women in their 40s. I feel like all romances are people in their 20s and 30s so this was refreshing! I also love that it takes place while one of the women is competing on a baking show and the other woman is a judge on the show — so fun!! A new favorite romance!

Beyond adorable. I loved how this story managed to build some incredible chemistry between Tori and Kendra with minimal interactions. Tori’s growth to self assuredness and Kendra’s growth to being less prickly we’re perfectly done. I also loved the baking competition aspect and the mild mystery twist at the end. Super fun read!

This book was so much fun and really tried to break free from the tropes. I appreciate the slow proof of this novel given that the couple was older and wouldn't naturally fall head over heels for each other given the stakes for both of their jobs.

Really cute queer romance! I enjoyed the plot and the characters. I thought the characters were loveable and thoroughly enjoyed their relationship. Please note, there is no spice to this, just FYI.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Love at 350 is a solid four star read for me - I read it in a day and was heavily invested in the story! I loved the bake-off game show setting and the overall sweetness of this book. I learned so much about baking but in a way that did not feel like the book was infodumping on me! Both main characters, Tori and Kendra, went through loads of growth and I'm a sucker for solid character development. The reason this is 4 (and not 5) stars is that I wanted more romance - it was a mix between instalove and slow burn (I know, right?) and it didn't quite work for me. Then the book ended rather abruptly and I was craving more relationship development. I do think they lived happily ever after thanks to their growth during the book and their life goals expanding to want to include the other, but I just wanted more!

Also this is not even a fade to black romance and the "forbidden" aspect hinted at in the synopsis was not THAT forbidden plus, like grow adults a prone to do, they didn't just say "screw it" and do whatever they want. I liked that a lot, but I meant so little time was spent with Kendra and Tori together.

One last thing - I adored the side characters in this book! They added an element of fun and support that I was not expecting when I picked this up!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy. All opinions are my own.

What a great romance! Loved the characters, their relationships with each other (LOVED Mel!!), the food show, the drama and sabotage, and of course the romance.

I wish when Tori was on the show she was more experimental based on her science class that she taught - that would've been a lot of fun.
Loved seeing the growth in Kendra and how she learned what she truly wanted from her career.
Natalie needs her own book!! I need to know all of her secrets!

Overall, recommended!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in return for an honest review.

4.5⭐️

This was such a cute story! I loved every moment of this story! It definitely got me in the baking mood! Tori, Kendra, Trevor, and the rest of the baking crew were all lovely characters and so special. You could really feel the personality in each character. This was a great, quick summer read! I highly recommend it! Especially during pride month! This was a wholesome love story with a bit of competition mixed in!

Love at 350 by Lisa Peers is a feel good romance story that involves the best thing ever…FOOD. Tori Moore is about to do something she never thought she would do. Enter as a contestant on a baking show called Bake-O-Rama TV. She normally is a mild mannered high school chemistry teacher who has twin teenagers who support her new challenge. Then we meet Kendra Campbell who has a pension for being ruthless and brute. Kendra will be a judge on the television show and was asked to be nicer while on the program.. When Tori and Kendra meet, flames start showing. It might be that Tori is just what Kendra needed and vice versa. Will there be love on the show? Or will the two manage to work together by putting feelings aside? The development of the characters is very well shown through the novel as you are witness to their growth, humility, and powerful unions. They mesh so well together that you as the reader feel as though you are a part of the story. Overall, the author does an amazing job telling a story that makes you feel all gooey inside. Watch out October 10 2023!


5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. This is my honest review.

I wanted to like this. I love baking shows, sunshine and grumpy romances, romances about older protagonists.

But I couldn’t engage with this as much as I’d hoped. It felt slick and surface level. I didn’t feel the depth in the characters and there was much that was very predictable. The writing was good but also somewhat indistinguishable from a myriad of other romances I’ve read.

It wasn’t necessarily bad or good. Just not as memorable or engaging as I’d hoped.

Tori is a chemistry teacher in her 40s who’s famous for her class on baking, which demonstrates the practical applications of chemistry. At the urging of her twin teenagers, who are about to go to college, she auditions for “American Bake-o-Rama” (a fictional Great British Baking Show). Tori hopes that if she wins, she can use the money to quit teaching and open her own bakery. But on set, she starts getting distracted by her crush on the notoriously ruthless celebrity judge Kendra, who also has a lot of hopes riding on the show. Kendra’s new restaurant is failing financially, and she has to do an awesome job as a judge to pay the bills. There is (obviously) a romance between the two, which both women are scared to explore, but it’s a very slow burn, and the plot focuses much more on the competition than the romance. It was really cool to see behind of the scenes of a TV baking competition, and it gave me a lot of insight into GBBO – I ended up diving in and watching that right after reading, and it really enriched the experience! I also really appreciated that the writing was smart and realistic; both women were appropriately cautious with the relationship, and it felt like something that would actually happen. Highly, highly recommend this if you’re looking for a lighter romance and are a cooking show fan – it earned a rare 5 stars from me!

Cute story with loveable characters! Loved the story between Tori and Kendra. This was a fun book, more of a competition than a love story but I still enjoyed it all! My stomach was rumbling the whole time reading this.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This is a really cute book with a cooking contest and it was so cute. But have snacks on hand when reading, my mouth watered through most of this book as the recipes sounded so good that I had to keep getting up for snacks.

This was a sweet, fun little read. I enjoyed the characters and the story about a baking competition and a contestant/judge romance. I thought the details around the baking pieces were interesting and liked that the tone was light and fun without being superficial. The writing style was clear, descriptive, and easy to read.

I didn't get the romance however - which made the book fall flat for me. The notes back and forth without any context in their relationship didn't work at all for what I look for in a romance. It didn't have any of the slow burn or tender moments that I look for - it was just letters back and forth, that made very little sense to me in the context of the story. I also found the main characters to have some rounding to them - but the background characters were very lightly sketched out and I didn't have much of a sense of who they were or how they fit into the story. I think the book needs a bit more depth, or if not, more focus on the romance to make it interesting all the way through.

Thank you for the opportunity to review.

Love at 350 is a cozy, Hallmark channel style book about a baking competition show. There is romance between one of the contestants, Tori, and celebrity chef/judge, Kendra, but the romance really takes a back seat to the baking and the show.

It was a pretty straightforward read for me; not my favorite, but I think there is a definite audience for this one! If you love baking, or the Food Network, or a sapphic HEA, this is the book for you. Thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press for the ARC.

I received this book for free from netgalley for an honest review.

Great queer wrongful I loved every second of it. My sapphic group is going to love this!

i loved this book so much!!! not only did it have such a cute romance story but it showed the main character really finding herself and realizing how talented she actually was. tori and kendra have my whole heart and they deserve everything good they got! their story together was definitely a slowburn but you can tell how much they felt for each other throughout the whole book! i definitely recommend this book to everyone!!