Amy Hutton is a new author for me, not disappointing with this quirky offering, set in Australia.
I really loved the push/pull element to the relationship between the main characters, Ethan and Hazel bounce off each other so well!
The story is centred around Ethan and Hazel’s work relationship, when Hazel comes to work for Ethan, dog sitting.
Ethan’s big goofy dog Harry breaks the ice when two different personalities navigate who they are and where their lives are headed. Hazel unknowingly helps Ethan stay grounded, while rebuilding her own life.
I particularly liked how easy this book is to read, not too heavy with the right amount of fun and excitement. The dogs and cats are a delightful mix to the story, bringing a sense of humour and warmth to the heart of the storyline.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster, NetGalley and Amy Hutton for the opportunity to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Courage is a muscle, you strengthen it with use"

Wow I am so incredibly late to review this one! 😥

Thank you @simonschusterau Australia and Netgalley for this ARC.

This is the second instalment in the Sit, Stay, Love series. I actually haven't read the first book but as they are interconnected standalones it's not an issue. I picked up things here and will probably go back to read the first.

Ethan is a famous actor (and overall cinnamon roll) with a fear of dogs & Hazel is a badass Sous-chef who tasked with dog-sitting for Ethan while he films his latest Blockbuster. Their chemistry and banter was jumping off the pages and I'm always a fan of furry friends being added to the story. Perfect for fans of Abby Jimenez or Tarah Dewitt.

This was light-hearted and sweet. I didn't want to put it down. Did it reinvent the wheel? No. And there was a couple of situational errors where I thought "are these people sitting or standing right now?" 😂 but it wasn't particularly bothersome. I look forward to reading more from Amy.

Reading more Aussie romances make me so happy!
3 stars
⭐⭐⭐

Ok, so one book in and I am a HUGE Amy Hutton fan!

This book was EVERYTHING I love in a book.
🫶🏼 funny
🫶🏼 escapism at its finest
🫶🏼 entertaining
🫶🏼 likeable characters
🫶🏼 a key character of the feline variety
🫶🏼 page turner
🫶🏼 unpredictable
🫶🏼 heartwarming

10 out 10 💯

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this fabulous ARC in return for my honest review…… now where’s a book signing near me? I’d love to meet Amy, I know we’d be friends 🤩

I enjoyed this book and its tropes; he falls first, opposites attract, celebrity romance and summer romance! I enjoyed both the FMC and MMC.

This was a lovely, easy, light-hearted read. I really enjoyed the characters (and of course the animals!). The development of their relationship into romance was fun to witness, lots of banter, and obvious chemistry. It was a great follow up to her first novel. A perfect read for this time of the year!

Such a fun light hearted romcom! I enjoyed Hazel & Ethan’s chemistry and their banter was amazing, such loveable characters. Also loved the Aussie setting and pets were too cute.

Harry and Kevin are so cute! I love a good grumpy sunshine plus pets are involved so I’m in love! A great romcom to read over the holidays!

A fun little Aussie rom-com ft some very cute pets. I hadn’t read Sit, Stay, Love before reading this one but I don’t think that mattered, you get enough back story. In saying that, reading SSL first would give you more of an idea of Ethan I think.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of Love from Scratch.

Positives first: I loved the two main characters, Ethan and Hazel. Both personalities were appealing (at least, they were to me) and, although obvious, the development of their romance was sweet.

The two pet characters felt completely real. They added a lot to the story. Most people with cats will recognise Kevin.

The budding romance was relatively stress free for the reader.

Set on the Sunshine Coast in Australia was a bonus.

Now for the negatives: Really only one. The F-bombs throughout were completely unnecessary and spoiled my reading enjoyment. Way way way too much. I ended up skimming paragraphs. Lazy writing.

The story did drag a little at times, probably because it was a largely predictable and low stress storyline.

So, overall, a sweet, relatively uncomplicated romance with a great location and a little glimpse into the world of movie making and restaurants. A novel that could do with some extra editing to reduce the usage of the “F” word throughout.

Be aware that there are some relatively mild sex scenes.

Though it was enjoyable, I actually DNFed this book once the protagonist decided she would be fine with a fling, no emotions involved. I could see it all coming from a mile away and just wasn't in the mood for it.

Sweet Insta love celebrity story with the best pet side characters!!!
Ethan needs someone to watch his anxious dog while he films his new movie. Hazel needs a job to tide her over while she finds work in her beloved food industry. The sparks fly between the two as they discover that pets are often good judge of characters.
I’m not a fan of celebrity romances but this one was really fun. I loved the Australian setting and seeing the beaches and descriptions. The romance is instant but I felt that it was attraction that turns into friendship rather than lust. Ethan seems down to earth and very likeable.
A really good summer beach read if you like pets and prickly female main characters.

I voluntarily read an arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are mine.

A feel good easy to read rom-com, I enjoyed reading Ethan and Hazel’s love story and their adorable fur babies.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Australia, and the author for the chance to read this book.

This is a great little romance novel, especially if you're an animal lover! The quirks of the pets are endearing, and the attraction and relationship between Ethan and Hazel is sweet. Put it together, and it's an enjoyable story that is easy to zip through. This was the follow-on from Sit, Stay, Love, and it was great to see Ethan find his person.

I originally started this book as an e-arc and just could not get into it. It wasn’t memorable, I didn’t ever feel like picking it up, you know the feeling. So when my Libby hold came in I pretty much immediately started it on audiobook and WOW was that a good decision!!! This story is about Australian characters, and therefore had an Australian narrator and let me tell you, it made ALL the difference. The simple fact that I was hearing an Australian voice made me automatically feel 10 times more connected to the characters and therefore made me more invested in the book🤭

In terms of the characters themselves, they were cute together. I don’t know if they necessarily had the most chemistry in the world, but I liked their relationship and the fact that they connected through their animals was sweet. I definitely liked Hazel the most, her journey through rediscovering her love for her cooking is something I can relate to (not cooking necessarily, but you get me) so I really liked that storyline!

The ending definitely felt a bit quick. Like they were happy, and then they had the conflict and it was resolved again all within the last like, 5%? So I would definitely say that the pacing was a bit off there. I would have liked to see that a bit more drawn out and explored further… plus as someone who went through a similar long distance situation it really didn’t feel like they tried all that hard to make their relationship work… like if I did it then surely these fictional characters could too😭 just made it all feel a little less convincing🤷🏼‍♀️

Overall even though this book had a couple pacing issues and small details I feel could have been better, I really enjoyed it! I highly recommend listening to the audiobook!!

Ok so it completely didn’t occur to me that Love from Scratch would follow on from Sit, Stay, Love, and I was thrilled when I realised we were back with Ethan again! I really love the way linked romance books like this, where it’s sort of a series but also stand alone, give us the chance to check back in with favourite characters, and it was fun to follow along with Ethan onto the set of his new movie.

Hazel made a great leading lady opposite Ethan’s move star hero, I liked the way she was tough and slow to trust, but at the same time so kind and gentle – she is a great example of people not always being quite wat they seem (of course same goes for Ethan and his celebrity facade, one of the reasons they are such a good pair!). I do love a foody focus in a book, so she also gets extra points for being a chef! I liked seeing their relationship develop, and the way they both helped each other through some difficult issues and feelings caused by traumas in their past. Like in Sit, Stay, Love, the banter worked really well for me. Amy Hutton writes such good dialogue between her characters, and this really helped make the relationships feel authentic.

I absolutely recommend this one to anyone who loves a romcom novel and is looking for something a bit spicy with a gorgeous beachy setting and lots of fab food.

This is a lighthearted, easy to read romantic comedy.

Probably not one I'll remember but I enjoyed the read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I didn't realise this was a sequel when i picked it up but i don't think you need to read the first book to get the gist of what happened.

There's not much depth to the characters and the story is pretty predictable but that was just what i needed after a few big days at work. It did make me realise that i need to read more books with cute dogs and cats in them as they make me happy

A fabulous light hearted romantic comedy read. I loved that this had an Australian setting. Banter & chemistry between hazel & ethan was amazing. And the antics of Kevin & Harry added so much humor to this story.

This was such a nice light read. The characters were built very well and I felt like i was very much there in the moment with them.

This was my first Amy Hutton read but certainly will not be my last. I love a book I can get lost into without it being too heavy. I am not going to reiterate the blurb or give any spoilers but I would definitely recommend this story to my best friend... which means you should read it too.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!

Ethan James is an actor who is about to start filming a movie but needs someone to take care of his dog. He puts out an ad and Hazel Conor applies. Hazel herself has just lost her job as a sous chef and needs a new job to afford all her never ending bills - especially feeding her cat!

It was so so cute that Kevin her cat loved Ethan even though she found him so annoying! Deep down she just really liked him.

Overall this was a cute read and I will definitely be checking out more of Amy's books.

Thank you to Netgalley for kindly sending me this arc to read and review.