I watch way too many cooking shows and cooking competition shows - so I was immediately drawn into this novel. The Slowest Burn is definitely a slow burn romance - but the progression was worthwhile for me as a reader. Ellie, despite appearing to be super organized, is a bit of a mess. After being widowed at just 27, she is still struggling three years later with creating the life that she really wants for herself - too often taking care of others and ignoring her own wants. Kieran is a mess quite literally at times - a recent winner of a cooking competition, and still sober after eventually dealing with his ADHD. When Ellie is assigned to be the ghostwriter for Kieran's cookbook - they are practically at each other's throats. Ellie being too rigid and practical and Kieran too unpredictable and impulsive. They clash on just about everything. Throw in some forced proximity, fake dating to impress Kieran's parents, then turning to friends-with-benefits - this book has a lot going on. The pacing was a bit slow at times - but the growth of the two main characters was tremendous. The food descriptions were perfect - I wish these cookbooks existed. Would love to read more from this author. Thank you to St. Martin's and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader copy.

The title of this book was right...it was definitely a slow burn, both in the relationship and the pace of the story. I like my romantic comedies to move a bit faster so this one didn't work for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Slowest Burn!

This book was incredibly painful for me. Not only did i find both main characters hard to connect with. But the MMC acted and had the mental capacity of a teenage boy. He was infuriating to me.

I also understand that this is the slow burn story. But when the two characters have barely spoken by 15-20%? That makes the rest seem forced and clunky to me. You dont even know each other almost halfway in.

This almost put me in a reading slump.

Unfortunately this just wasnt for me, but i believe everyone should read it and make their decision for themselves.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

YES. YES. YES. This ate. Literally.

To be honest, I am obsessed with cooking shows and all things food, so I was already likely to enjoy this book. But this gave everything we could want in our romance novel. I liked the characters and always appreciate when a romance book gives us more SUBSTANCE. Deeper issues beyond lust. Real life stuff.

The Slowest Burn is aptly titled for a slow burn romance. MMC Kieran is a hot new celebrity chef after winning first place on a television cooking competition. He works in one of San Francisco's hottest elite restaurants. Now he's tasked by his agent with writing a cookbook and he's been assigned a ghostwriter to make sure it gets done. MFC Ellie is the ghostwriter as well as a grieving widow. Her somewhat stalled career depends on getting this job with Kieran done well and done on time. Unfortunately, they may not work well together. Kieran is impulsive, creative and unpredictable at times. Ellie is staid, dependable and bogged down with responsibilities to seemingly all the people in her life.
Both story characters have a LOT going on in their personal lives and backgrounds. Their pasts seem to have a strong hold on each of them and it's all brought out throughout the book. For me, it was a bit too much to keep rehashing the tough years Kieran experienced until he found his niche or the extent of the loss Ellie feels about her husband's unexpected death. They both carried so much baggage.
Thank you for the opportunity to read the book in exchange for a review. I do think it was well-written and will appeal to the readers who love the slow burn trope.

Such a lovely cover, I couldn't resist it.

Ellie and Kieran are very different from each other. He's a chef who's recently won a famous competition and she's the cookbook ghostwriter that the publisher has assigned to help him. Kieran is disorganized and all over the place, and Ellie is super organized and contained. They're very different from each other and their second meeting in person is a disaster.

There's a lot at stake for both of them and they need to learn to trust each other, come up with a concept for the cookbook, and bring it to reality. Along the way, their relationship goes from not liking each other, to cautious friends, to friends with benefits. But, of course, they soon find it's not enough.

I really liked the ending and epilogue.

Sexual content and language.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

This was charming. It dealt with grief in a comprehensive and lovely way, and was mature and sensitive while also being a fairly fast paced love story.

The Slowest Burn by Sarah Chamberlain is a delightful debut romance novel that captures the essence of a slow-burn love story set in the culinary world. It follows Kieran O'Neill, a chaotic yet talented chef, and Ellie Wasserman, a structured and grieving ghostwriter, as they reluctantly collaborate on a cookbook. Their initial clashes gradually give way to mutual respect and affection, enriched by Chamberlain’s sensitive handling of themes like ADHD, grief, and emotional abuse. With vivid cooking scenes and a cast of well-drawn secondary characters, the novel skillfully balances sweetness and spice, making it a heartwarming and engaging read.

The Slowest Burn is about a Kieran a chef who recently won a big competition and Ellie, a ghostwriter who will be writing his cookbook. Together they explore recipes while also opening up to each other. Each character has something they are working through and the author does a lovely job exploring things like grief, childhood trauma and ADHD. As sweet as this romance is, it has depth and I really enjoyed it.

Some things I loved

- ADHD representation
- The Friends! Ellie's bestie Nicole was incredible. I loved her so much
- The food. I am sucker for tv shows like chopped so this book was a joy to read with all the chef talk and food.
- The growth. I loved romances with depth and character growth and this checked that box for me

Although the pacing was a bit slow in the beginning, I think it was worth it for me. I became invested in these characters and I ended up reading the last half of the book in one sitting.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

DNF @ 38%

I loved the set up for this story! I cannot pinpoint what exactly I’m struggling with. The pacing feels off for me and the story line a little haphazard.

There have been several points I think we’re not given enough time and others that were given, maybe, too much? (The cabin specifically I wanted more of that!)

I appreciate having the opportunity to try it out and am sad that it’s not for me.

A little too heart-on-its sleeve for me - Kiernan and Ellie's chef-themed enemies to coworkers to lovers romance fits perfectly inside a Bon Appetit inspired world, but could use a little more maturity, particularly when it comes to Kiernan's character.
I really really appreciated the complex family dynamics in Ellie's life though. Early widowhood (which is also explored in one of my Faves, Float Away) and eldest-daughter syndrome are primed to break your heart here, but not in a cheap way. I loved the conflict between Ellie and her in-laws, and almost wished that had been the primary story line, with the romance as more of a supporting role.

The title here is seriously accurate. This is truly a slow burn love story. The dual POV really helped the angsty build too. The cookbook aspect was so much fun and I loved the time the characters spent in the kitchen together. Overall, this was a great debut from Sarah Chamberlain and I will definitely look for more from this author soon.

I enjoyed the plot of this story and thought the overall idea for this story was fun. I loved the dual POV and am always excited for an enemies to lovers trope. The way Ellie and Kieran help each other grow and evolve through the book was so sweet! Sarah had me drooling with her description of the food and atmosphere of the restaurant.

The dialogue between Ellie and Kieran felt juvenile and immature, and made the book hard for me to get through. The beginning was especially cringey for me and made it hard for me to connect to the characters throughout the rest of the story. I would have enjoyed this book much more if I wasn’t turned off by the dialogue and I’m excited to see what Sarah writes next!

This may be the most perfect Romcom. I do not cry during books, like, hardly even choked up. But about 3/4 of the way through this book when Ellie was working through some of her past, I cried. The emotions were so raw and real that it came across on the page and I wished I could go into the book and give her a hug.

Ellie and Keiran are my new favorite Romcom couple. Absolutely precious in every way. I loved getting both of their POVs and seeing their own personal growth throughout the course of the story.

This book was based around food and I absolutely loved how food and love came through. I loved how Keiran saw food one way, Ellie saw food as another and they centered their world's around it. Just to show that food can mean something different to everyone. This book was also a lesson on how people give and receive love and it was just wonderful.

The way that Chamberlain wrote about food, I found myself drooling a bit at times. There were times where I felt like we were actually watching the makings of a cookbook.

I say watching because the way that this book was written, I felt like I was watching a movie. Details were so vivid and specific that I could clearly picture the characters, the food, even the runs along the beach were so easy to visualize.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about this book. If you want a book that will make you feel things and leave you all happy and glowy, this is your book.

Overall: Highly Recommend

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Publishing for the ARC! This book was a quick read that really captured my attention and kept it. It is very much a slow burn, as advertised. The only trope I don’t enjoy in slow burns, or any pace romance, is miscommunication/lack of communication. It was resolved pretty quickly. Overall the book was very well written and an exciting debut for this author!

I love slow burn so much and this certainly did not disappoint! It was such a fun time and experience and just so cute I definitely want to read more by this author in the future and it was such a close place to my heart.

What a treat of a book (pun definitely intended)! This was my first read by this author, and it has surely made me a Sarah Chamberlain fan. This book has all the charm of an entertaining classic rom-com, but it also has such a nice bit of depth and personal exploration woven throughout.

The dual POV format was perfect in this instance, as the two characters had such drastically different ways of seeing the world-- and each other. Getting to experience them through each others' eyes added so many layers. Also, both had such rich inner journeys, and it was wonderful to read. Ellie's struggle with grief and identity was a great journey to pursue with her as a young 20-something, and even for those who have never wrestled with grief like her, one could still see themself in her battle to value and choose herself. As for Kieran, I absolutely loved the ADHD representation and the way they showed his struggle with identity-- but in a way that was so unique from Ellie's. He was strong yet kind and shone a nice light on what it can look like to live with a neurodivergent brain– and as an adult, no less. This book also delved into different types of relationships, including platonic and familial ones, and that was such an engaging and touching piece.

As for the love story itself, it was so sweet! The narration was adorable as it showed them crushing and then hastily correcting themselves throughout the novel, and the burn was indeed slow, but definitely worth it! They also explicitly played into and acknowledged tropes (which in and of itself is one of my favorite tropes!) such as the one-bed and fake dating tropes. Ellie jokes about it to Kieran, and there is one specific line that I especially loved near the end when they reference it again (I won't spoil it though, because it's cute as pie!).

Finally, it just has to be said, the food descriptions in this were both torturous and delightful. This book made me want to go out and get cooking... and I don't even like to cook! But the descriptions and details were so mouthwateringly good that I wanted to run to Ellie and Kieran's kitchen stat!

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and am deeply thankful for the opportunity to read it. Thank you to NetGalley and Sarah Chamberlain for the chance to read and review this ARC! (Review will also be posted on @bookish.kendall on IG at a later date)

Reviewed for NetGalley:

Ellie, a young widowed ghostwriter, living in her in-laws backyard, is paired up with Kieran to write his cook book. After an argument goes viral, Ellie and Kieran must move past their disagreement to work on the potentially successful cookbook.

A very slow burn, with overcoming grief and finding one’s independence, this was quite an enjoyable read.

This book was a little different than what I normally read but the cover and the title really had me curious. It's a little too Metro for me but that's a personal preference so I don't hold it against the book. That being said, I really enjoyed the characters. I loved watching them overcome their struggles throughout the story. I found it refreshing that the main character was a little over weight. One can have more going for them than being model thin and I feel Ellie proves that. Kieran acted a little young sometimes and immature. It took away some of the appeal for me. I felt like he kind of grew up as the story progressed though. Overall I think it was a cute story..

Ooooh I love a good slow burn! The chemistry in this one was fire! I really love the whole "opposites attract" trope, which counter balanced a brief foray into my least favorite trope (miscommunication...ugh). Sarah Chamberlain knocked it out of the park with this book!