Ethan James is a movie actor, who needs a dog sitter to look after his nervous dog Harry whilst he is away at set. Hazel is a sous chef currently working as a dog sitter to keep her crazy cat Kevin fed and happy.

Ethan is instantly infatuated with Hazel when they meet so he initially chooses another pet sitter but circumstances change and he is forced to give her a chance even though he knows she is going to send him off centre. Hazel on the other hand doesn't know him as an actor and doesn't fall for his actor charm.

Gradually a friendship grows which leads to attraction and a relationship between them, however temporary as they know Ethan plans to move to LA to further his career.
They both have their own insecurities and phobias to deal with. Ethan is afraid of dogs but is gradually trying to overcome it with Harry and by starring in a dog film. Hazel is trying to get up the courage to be passionate about cooking again after quitting her sous chef role in Sydney when an entitled actor customer yells at her.

I love the build up and having pets in romances always add a fun element of pet love to the story. Also I can never resist a story set in Australia.
This was an easy read that works as a standalone as I haven't read the previous book.

Thanks to Netgalley.com for this Arc copy.

⭐️5/5

Love from Scratch was the perfect cozy romantic comedy! I loved the main characters, Ethan and Hazel, so much. The slow burn between them was perfection. Grumpy sunshine is always a favourite trope of mine, but especially when it’s the female in the grumpy role! If you’re looking for a cute happy romance with some fur-babies involved then this book is it. I highly recommend!

A sweet and funny book that I whole heartedly enjoyed! I tend to stay away from Aussie books as they aren't always genuine, but Amy Hutton easily captures the humour and complexities needed to pull it off and I will happily read any other books she writes :)

I did enjoy both main characters and you definitely get to experience two whole people chasing their dreams and dealing with their pasts maturely.
The hardest part of the book was their families, both Ethan's and Hazel's equally. It was difficult to read particular scenes when the main characters were clearly at a crossroad, desperately needing to move forward, but struggling with feeling safe in their choices. Hazel's sister was the most insufferable for this...

You could tell by reading the first few scenes that the story is the second in a series, which I didn't know before reading, but it never felt like I was missing anything.

A fun romance set in Australia in the present time. Etham James is an actor and hires Hazel Conor as a dog minder.
Hazel has a cat called Kevin. Kevin is difficult and unfriendly but takes a liking to Etham.

Hazel is a chef and needs time out from her job. I loved the descriptions of Hazel’s cat Kevin. There were lots of descriptions of delicious food as Hazel finds a desire to start cooking again.

Hazel’s cat Kevin and Etham’s dog Harry are the stars in this romance.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher Simon & Schuster for a chance to read and review this E-Book. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Having not read the preceding book I was worried this might leave me feeling a bit lost with the characters but I found this was not the case as the author filled in the backstory where needed so I felt I knew what was going on. The story was fun and lighthearted so I was happy that I decided to go ahead and dive in.

I really enjoyed this book! It was such a fun romcom, I really loved Hazel and Ethan’s chemistry and banter, watching them get to know each other and fall in love while pretending they aren’t had me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. I also love love loved Harry the dog but cranky cat Kevin stole my heart (although I don’t know how I would cope with a cat that hot and cold with affection).

Love From Scratch, was heart warming and had so many laugh out loud moments it had me eating up chapter after chapter! Now I need to read the first book in the series since I didn’t realise it was a sequel 😂 didn’t impact my experience at all though!!

I also felt that the third act breakup was totally realistic for both characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an eARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book!

Something about this book caught my eye when a random email from Netgalley came through one day. Perhaps it was the Jack Russell on the cover, but I was instantly drawn to this book and felt like I had to read it. I hadn’t read the first in the series but I feel like this stands alone anyway. It was a fun romance, with two spunky main characters and of course a dog thrown in the mix.

Both characters have been unlucky in love, and both are trying to make good in their chosen careers with mixed success. Without knowing it, they need to become each other’s biggest cheerleader and support to become who they want to be, and not just work wise. There are a few misunderstandings before the HEA, as there should be!

If you’re after a quick and fun romance, this one might be your next read! I’ll definitely be looking for more from this author now. Five stars.

Sticking to my usual nonsense, it wasn’t until I was a few chapters into this book before I realised that I have read another story in this world. We met Ethan in “Sit, stay, love” when he was on the losing end of a love triangle. I was glad to see him get his own story and find his own HEA.

I liked Hazel and her specific brand of quirky. She wasn’t all that impressed by his celebrity or his dimples. That’s a lie. She was definitely impressed by his dimples.

I always froth on a book set in Australia, mostly because you don’t see a lot of them going around on Insta/tiktok. This one was even better as it was set in and around my home town! Tough they didn’t really mention anything local so it really could have been set anywhere 😂

Thanks to #NetGallery and publisher for a copy of this book.

Genre: Romance FM
Format: Digital
POV: Dual
Tropes: Actor/Dog minder, quirky animal characters, Aussie setting, we promise not to fall in love, it’s just casual.
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ /5
Age suggestion: 18+

A funny rom-com about Ethan, a heart-throb actor, and Hazel, a grumpy dog sitter. Ethan's focused on his career-defining movie, but Hazel, who just lost her job as a sous chef, takes on the gig to make ends meet. She finds Ethan annoyingly charming, but her aloof cat, Kevin, is oddly smitten with him. Their banter is witty and fun, and Kevin’s antics add a unique twist. This light-hearted read is perfect for anyone who loves a good laugh and a sweet, unexpected romance.

4 Stars

This was a super cute follow-up to Sit, Stay, Love about movie star, Ethan James, trying to move on from Sera and take the next step in his career.

Hazel, an out of work chef, takes up the position of Ethan’s dog sitter whilst he’s on set and the two become friends, confidents and lovers. But their lives start to move in different directions and Ethan and Hazel have to decide whether their love is worth taking the chance on. Is it?

This was sweet, romantic and cosy. A perfect read for lovers of rom-coms and especially for fellow Aussies looking for some closer to home scenery. This was a good time!

Ethan is filming his next movie and needs someone to look after his very anxious dog, Harry. Hazel takes the dog minding job after losing her position as a sous chef. Whilst not a fan of the film star, Hazel’s grumpy cat Kevin is.

This is a cute, light hearted romance with adorable furry companions and lots of Aussie romcom moments. Whilst not a huge of Hazel (lead FMC), it is a somewhat realistic look at two adults chasing their own dreams and ambitions in life after struggling with past demons. It may be that Kevin and Harry (dog and cat) are the real show stealers!

The book is told in third person and mayhap dual POV would have worked better. A slow burn romance, grumpy-sunshine story, with a touch of spice and much banter.


‘We all get a bit wrapped up in ourselves sometimes. I’ve spent most of the last year like that. You’ve got big stuff happening and I understand it’s important.’

I am not normally a romance reader but this one hit the spot.

Love from Scratch is a cozy little read. It focuses on a movie star and a chef who need each other in more ways than one. Not only does this novel contain romance, but it hit on topics such as facing your fears, being alone and being honest with yourself. It has a moderate pace making it a very enjoyable read. The best thing for me was it was relatable. Without giving spoilers, the characters felt relatable and easy to like. You understood at a gut level the situations they found themselves in.

This book ticks the opposites attract and forced proximity tropes with a sprinkling of animal cuteness, mouth watering food descriptions and amazing beach scenes.

I gave Love from Scratch four stars. It hit in all the right places but lacked that 5 star wow factor for me.

Second in the series but fine as a stand-alone story, Love From Scratch gives actor Ethan Jmes the happy ever after that he missed out on in Sit, Stay, Love. Ethan is a likeable guy, down-to-earth and genuinely nice despite his celebrity status. I loved his relationship with his rescue dog Harry and his dedication to being his very best at his craft. Chef Hazel Connor pairs beautifully with Ethan. She’s lost her cooking mojo after a bad experience which led her to leave her job in Sydney and move to Queensland, where she takes on dogsitting Harry for Ethan while he makes a movie there. I loved her relationship with Harry and with her cat Kevin. It was good to see how Ethan drew her out and helped her to believe in herself once again and lovely to watch these two falling for each other. This is a light, fun and quick read which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and Amy Hutton for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

WOW is my first word! From the beginning, this was a charmingly hilarious story involving Kevin and Harry, Hazel and Ethan's adorable cat and dog!
Kevin is basically my spirit animal. He reminds me so much of one of my cats and Kevin's warmness towards Harry reminds me of the way that my cat only seems to like me and my dad (whom she seems to like more)!
Any story that involves cats instantly has me hooked so I devoured this! I also enjoyed the connections to Australia, something we don't see as often in the book community!

I think my biggest critique would be that there could have been more layers to Hazel's character, It seemed she didn't have much of a backstory while Ethan did and ultimately resolved a lot of his issues,.

Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and would recommend it!

This book was marketed as “heart throb actor meets a grumpy woman” but I didn’t find Hazel grumpy at all, she was no nonsense but mostly optimistic and was a refreshing female lead. Ethan was a little bit too good to be true (even with his history/baggage) but I really liked him and he was humble enough to not come across as completely obnoxious.

The setting was great, I could picture the sunshine coast beaches and hinterland, nice to read an Aussie romance for a change. Both characters’ family dynamics were interesting, I didn’t like Ethan’s much.

My favourite character was Kevin the cat. Great name for a cat and his behaviour was so typical.

I haven’t read the author’s previous book but i don’t think that affected my enjoyment of this story. A good holiday read.

Thank you Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this book to review, opinions are my own.

I really, really enjoyed this one! I found the MC Ethan to be a much more genuine character in this book compared to sit, stay, love. It wasn't that I didn't like him, it just felt like in the race for Sera's heart, he just wasn't a very strong horse.

However, I really grew to love him and his kind heart in this one, he really shone. I also thought Hazel was a great FMC and I thought the dynamic between the two of them was great. The two of them together just makes sense, and the way they pushed each other to follow their dreams, even possibly at the expense of each other was actually really beautiful. There are far too many romance books in which characters give themselves and their dreams up just for love, but it's nice to know these characters got to have their cake and eat it too.
The side characters were great (we love Kevin, Kevin for MVP), the pacing was good and it was a very easy, engaging read


Overall, a book filled with many warm fuzzies that was super enjoyable, and I think any animal lover who enjoys a cosy romance with have a great time with this one.
My only gripe is that we had a perfectly good opportunity for an only one bed trope and IT WAS NOT TAKEN. Devastating.

A big thankyou to Netgally, Author Amy and publisher for allowing me to read the ARC of this book.

A enjoyable romrom. Loved the Aussie places mentioned as an Aussie. Definitely loved the male character and the female was good also, however I felt we knew less about her then that of the male character. The pets characters were a cute addition to the story. I enjoyed the book all the way through and was even smiling as I read the epilogue as it was such a happy ending for them both.

I will definitely be going to me bookshelf to read sit stay love very soon.

Recommend this to all rom com fans.

Thanks NetGalley for giving me a copy. However I did not enjoy this read. The plot was ok but it was far too long and drawn out. It was boring and I couldn’t wait to finish it. Sorry

When I read the blurb for Love From Scratch, I instantly fell in love with the idea of this flashy, confident, golden retriever movie star hero and this 'grumpy', reserved, black cat heroine. And I'm so pleased that from the very opening line, I fell head over heels for Love From Scratch and loved every moment of it. I was even more delighted to realise it was set in Australia!

After starting, I realised that this novel is connected to Hutton's debut, Sit, Stay, Love, however, you don't need to read that to completely understand Love From Scratch. It stars one of the main characters from that book, Ethan, but introduces Hazel, a down-on-her-luck chef who has had her confidence in her profession greatly shaken and has turned to pet minding while she recovers. When she agrees to an exclusive contract to dogsit Ethan's separation-anxiety Jack Russell terrier Harry while he films a movie, the arrangement isn't enough for Ethan, who has basically fallen in instalove with tall, glowering Hazel, who in turn doesn't seem at all impressed by his usual charms.

I love a golden retriever guy, so Ethan really worked for me. I wouldn't necessarily say that Hazel was grumpy, or that this was 'reverse grumpy/sunshine': to me this is definitely more that Hazel is the black cat to Ethan's golden retriever, and while he's used to dazzling people with his good looks, Hazel's 'type' is actually the complete opposite, which was really interesting to read about. I actually wondered if maybe Hazel was demisexual, since she really wasn't attracted to him at first (although she could see the appeal to others). I really enjoyed watching Hazel fall for Ethan, and overcome her prejudices, both about him being a celebrity and him being 'not her type'.

I also really loved Ethan's struggle as someone overcoming a dog phobia and working on a film set with three dogs. I enjoyed seeing his depths revealed, and his brutal honesty about not being the world's greatest actor and knowing that a lot of his fame has come from his looks, however he was still a hard worker, ambitious, and knew what he wanted. He felt the weight of the entire production on his shoulders as the lead actor, and he genuinely wanted to do a good job.

There's nothing angsty about this book. It's an adorable fluffy read with cute pets (shout out to Hazel's cat Kevin who loves Ethan but barely tolerates Hazel). The banter is cute, but I really liked the way Hutton wrote the growing attraction between the two leads, and how they definitely became friends first (this is part of my demisexual theory on Hazel), and how the book didn't just end once they got together, so we got to see them navigating the start of their relationship, too. There's also lots of food talk as Hazel falls back in love with cooking for others, so grab snacks while reading in case of hunger pangs!

A very cute story!!!
Loved the build up and the character growth.
Found the idea of him having a dog and her having a cat kind of like a ying/yang component of their relationship