Rating: 3/5
Sullivan (Alice) and Kia were each other's biggest competition in culinary school. Kia was overjoyed to hear that she received the highest grade in her class, beating Sullivan by 0.6%, and winning the prize money. She was going to use that to start her very own food truck business. Sullivan HATES food trucks. The night of graduation, they spent time with each other, teaching each their famous recipes they've perfected over the years. That night also included plenty of kisses between each other -- sparking romance. The two parted ways, Sullivan to train out in Japan and Kia to launch her new business. Fast forward six years later, Sullivan is a naturalist and is hoping to buy back some family land to preserve the area. However, a buyer is hoping to purchase that same piece of land to further grow her food truck business. When the two appear at the city council meeting to defend their cases, they realize the opposition is their long-ago lover.

This was a cute, second chance reunited, somewhat enemy-to-lovers story that is LGBTQ+ friendly! I thought the writing was intriguing and showed the banter between the two main characters. I haven't read a lot of books that showcased two chefs, so that was intriguing. I really enjoyed how each of the main characters were showcased by two different narrators. But I did feel like the story rambled on for too long.

Overall, worth a listen!

This story had a promising start. I liked the cooking premise and the conflict between the characters as well as the characters versus large corporations. However, I couldn't connect with the characters and the story lost me halfway, the plot was a little too meandering for me.

🍽️ Bookish Thoughts
Overall this was a cute sapphic romcom. The first 50 percent had steady pacing and I was enjoying it. But the second half dragged for me. Some scenes felt repetitive and didn’t really move the story forward.

I liked both FMCs, but they were truly terrible at communication and came off emotionally immature at times. That said, it was a solid slow burn and I’m always a sucker for a marriage of convenience.

The narration was great. Both narrators brought strong performances.

🧡 What to Expect
• Rivals to lovers
• Second chance
• Marriage of convenience
• Culinary setting
• Sapphic romcom
• Slow burn
____

📖 Final Score: 3.5 stars
🎧 Audio Score: 4 stars
🎙️ Narration Style: Dual
📅 Pub Date: July 15, 2025
Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the advanced listening copy. All thoughts are my own.

This was a fun WLW romance that didn't take itself too seriously. The audiobook performances were strong.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

I was really hoping to like this book bit sadly it just didn't work for me. I liked this authors previous books and I usually love romance that has a food aspect so this should have been a slam dunk but it wasn't. I was really disappointed

With an audiobook, it’s always exciting to discover what the narrator’s voice will be like—and in this case, there are actually two voices. It always takes a moment to get used to a new voice, but both narrators truly supported the story. I wouldn’t have chosen anyone else—5 stars for the narration!

At over 11 hours long, the audiobook is quite a commitment, but luckily, you can do all sorts of things while listening!

The story kept me engaged, and I couldn’t wait to keep listening. The main characters are enjoyable, and you really get to know them as the book progresses. The supporting characters add a nice layer and make the story even more compelling.
The two main characters met at a prestigious culinary school and ended up taking very different paths in the culinary world. Still, they both strive for excellence and bring out the best in each other. Their relationship develops naturally, without feeling rushed. Without giving too much away, they stand by each other through every setback they encounter.

I would have loved to feel more of their passion for cooking reflected in the intimate scenes—that part didn’t come across as strongly for me. But overall, this was a 5-star story.

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

3.75⭐
PLEASE! This was such a cute book!
Thoroughly enjoyed, & Je Nie Fleming & Jordan Cobb's voices made it all the better! *chef's kiss*

If you like:
* LGBTQ+ Romance
* Fake Engagement
* *technically* Second Chance Romance
* Fighting the Big Corporate Guy
This is For You!

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

It took me so much longer to get through than it should have - I’ve completely loved all of Karelia’s other books and I devoured Karelia and Fay’s first co-write… but my honest truth? I hated this book (yes, I still have it three stars because they can still form sentences and so on, and I can’t bring myself to give lower). It didn’t keep my attention and I kept putting it down because I wasn’t interested in the plot.

I didn’t like the plot or storyline in any way, I didn’t like the characters, there was zero chemistry - and I truly hated the one narrator!

If I didn’t have both the ARC and ALC copies, I would have DNF’d at 25%, but I struggled through to the end - it took me 15 days when I normally should have finished in 1-2.

I received early read and listen copies from NetGalley, Forever, and Hatchette Audio, and this is my honest opinion. I’m sorry!

I'm working my way through the third season of the show The Bear right now and I am all about learning more about chef culture and lifestyles. I was excited to jump into this one!

I liked this romance between Sullivan and Kia. Their history made their fake marriage an interesting situation. I felt like the drama with the restaurant took over a bit too much of the plot, but overall, I enjoyed this book.

Some of the food porn in this book made me salivate!

The narration for the audiobook was great!

This was an enjoyable audiobook. The story follows two chefs with opposing goals and undeniable chemistry, and it touches on topics like environmental activism and the balance between sustainability and profitability.
I did find myself checking at the 50% mark, surprised I was only halfway through. There were multiple conflicts that popped up, and while some were predictable given the overall plot, I was generally surprised and pleased with how things turned out. The dual narration was definitely a highlight and made for a great listening experience.

Overall, it's a cute story that I would recommend.

I had the opportunity to listen to this sapphic romance through Netgalley. Sullivan and Kia’s story is a would-be enemies-to-lovers tale of two chefs who were rivals in culinary school who went their separate ways after one night of amazing connections and cooking after their graduation. Their reunion leads to a marriage of convenience as Kia’s attempt to buy land is upended up by a mega corporation. But, as Sullivan is a legacy land owner of the area who was wanting to buy it once she had the money, if they get married Kia can have the benefits of the legacy status and they can save the land from the disrupting development and destruction on the land by the mega corporation. While Sullivan agrees, is it winning when the trees will still be cut down? When habitats will still be destroyed? And all to make way for food trucks that destroy the environment with disposable trays, cups, and utensils while further polluting the air with all of their driving around. Sullivan just keeps reminding herself that Kia is the better of the two options.
Sullivan’s friends keep reminding her that, if Kia were anyone but the person wanting to change the land, Sullivan would be fully ready to dive head first into their love story. Kia has been enamored with Sullivan since the beginning, describing her culinary school rival as a quintessential 20’s masc lesbian who makes all the guys fall in love with her. Finding Sullivan's bisexual identity as just another piece that makes her so cool. The two banter and get to know each other again. They cook together, and ask all the what-if questions. But they ask them in their own heads, and not to each other.
At the start of their story was concerned that it would follow a path like that of You’ve Got Mail. And as it is no longer the 90’s it is increasingly difficult to root for a love story that is rooted in deception and the destruction of something so personal to the other (despite Joe’s suggestion that it’s just business). My secondary concern was that it would be impossible for the pair to find a middle ground when it comes to the way in which food trucks negatively impact the environment, not when the matter is so important to Sullivan. I was worried that this important factor would go unaddressed. Thankfully I was wrong on both counts.
I do think that Sullivan’s change of attitude towards social media was incredibly quick. I also think her friend and lawyer Nina was often too dismissive of Sullivan’s own desires and feelings. I had mixed feelings about the narrators. Sometimes enjoying them, sometimes having trouble distinguishing who was speaking during the conversation.
Overall, Kia and Sullivan’s story was fairly light hearted. Told through dual view points the pair is able to rekindle the flame they never fully let grow while being true to their values and priorities. While I was skeptical at points, the pair and their story are quite likeable and a fun read / listen.





Tropes
Marriage of convenience
I can teach you
Opposites attract


Major themes / Topics
Opportunities for small businesses
Food trucks
The environment
Influencer / Social media
Racial disparity in opportunities

Thank you to Forever Publishing for the eARC and Hachette Audio for the ALC.

Did Not Finish.

You're telling me that a chef who is basically a type-A overachiever wouldn't open her mail and pay attention to the very legal document telling her about her family's land? Add in that I didn't connect with either main character, and I moved on.

I wanted to love this book. I really really did..
The setting was good, the story was great, but I just didn’t believe that the to leads had a connection.
It was well written, the narration was great. Just let down by the believability from those two leads.

I absolutely loved how the love story and the subplot of the lawsuit all connected. The characters were well-rounded, likable, and relatable with their love of nature, conservatism, cooking, and many other subjects. I loved their passion for things that were important to them.

The narration wasn’t my favorite (voice and pace)…. It was hard to get into at first and I honestly couldn’t even tell that there were two narrators for the longest time. But my dislike for the narration didn’t take anything away from the book and I was still able to enjoy it and picture every scene!

Super cute romcom!! I didn’t get into it as much as I thought I would but I think that’s mainly because second chance romance isn’t one of my main tropes. I definitely recommend to those who do enjoy it though!!

Kia and Sullivan had a cute love story. Once thought to be school rivals to a marriage of convenience in order to preserve a local green space.

I'm finally DNFing this. I made it 38% and I'm so bored out of my mind. the AI was the last straw.

My actual biggest qualm with this book is the elitism of one of the main characters. this book has two female chef main characters who both went to the same fancy culinary school and one of them decided to open a food truck and one of them opened a super fancy restaurant. The one with the fancy restaurant has this horrendous view about food trucks and I just was put off by it from the very beginning. as someone who has worked in restaurants specifically back of house for the last 14 years I have seen this attitude and it is disgusting. The fact of the matter is that food trucks create some intensely unique and amazing food and no one is less than for working at or owning a food truck versus working in a brick and mortar establishment. The stereotype about food trucks being dirty is just that a stereotype. A lot of the time food trucks and food stands are places where people can get their foot in the door or they are run by immigrants or people just want to travel and move around and share their food.

so I was originally going to DNF just because of that and then on top of that the food truck owner is also not a great person and that was annoying. she is an influencer which I have recently found out that I just don't like books where the main characters are social media famous. I don't like it I think that it's unrealistic and ridiculous and often extremely problematic. so anyway this food truck owner has made a bunch of dollars essentially and now has an assistant and AI system responding to comments on her posts and that's what really sealed the deal for me. this general normalization of using AI for things that people can do is problematic.

on top of me not liking either one of our main characters I just didn't care about the story at all. The one super elitist character is also like extremely elitist when it comes to the environment and is of the belief that individuals with single-use plastic are really the cause of the climate crisis and not billionaire companies and billionaires which again is another problematic take. I just don't understand where or how shaming individual people for using plastic cutlery or paper plates is helping anything. let's put some pressure on the people that are actually contributing to the climate crisis.

I also felt zero chemistry between our characters. The book starts in this graduation ceremony for their culinary school and they're the only two women and I guess so the speaker makes some sort of joke about their rivalry and so one of them decides to just kiss the other, no conversation no consent no nothing, on stage in front of all of their peers and it's looked at as a positive experience. that is wild to me. wild.

anyway, I'm calling it quits. I don't think that there's necessarily a single thing about this book that I liked in the 38% that I finished and that is unfortunate.

Thank you Hachette Audio for access to the ALC.

2,5 ⭐️ / DNF after 7 chapters
Taste the love has a lot going for it and as an avid sapphic books reader I was so excited to read it when I saw the cover and the book’s premise and got accepted for the audiobook. Unfortunately it didn’t grip me from the beginning and after reading 7 chapters where I still didn’t feel differently I decided not to finish it.

While the premise is everything I want in a sapphic book, when I heard the actual story the romance fell flat for me. Narratively there were things that didn’t make sense or that were dragged out, and it certainly didn’t help that I didn’t love the narration of the audiobook either. It was ok and I feel like if I had liked the book more then I wouldn’t have minded the audio as much but in combination with each other there was too much about it i didn’t like to ignore.
It’s a shame because in the beginning I thought the book was promising and I was curious to see where things would lead to between Kia and Sullivan but later on I found myself not caring what happened with them and even quite bored, and those are the determining factors that make me certain it wouldn’t improve if I had read the book rather than listened to it. For me personally there was too much focus on the conflict between Kia and her food trucks and Sullivan wanting to keep the location to the point where I didn’t feel the romantic + sexual tension between the characters like I hoped I would. The writing is really good in some places, beautifully descriptive which is another thing I look for in a book/love but the writing style alone unfortunately isn’t enough to keep me interested, which is what made me decide to rate it 2.5 stars. While I can see the appeal of the characters and the plot, Taste the love doesn’t deliver when it comes to chemistry and rooting for the characters and I can honestly say, while others may enjoy it a lot more than I did, this book just wasn’t for me.

THIS IS MY KIND OF BOOK! As a foodie, an environmentalist, and a lesbian, this truly was the perfect book for me. This gorgeous slow-burn, second-chance romance features Kia and Sullivan, who I adored by the end of the book.

Kia is an outgoing food truck owner and influencer who is searching for a food truck lot location, which can provide a space for marginalised people to continue their businesses. On the other hand, Sullivan is a reserved restaurant owner and environmentalist who is working to raise money to protect the boi, a one-of-a-kind green space between her house and restaurant.

Sullivan and Kia went to school together and somewhat dramatically, parted ways. That is, until Sullivan hears word that the boi is about to be sold to someone and turned into a food truck paradise. Storming into the negotiation, she finds this person is Kia. Soon enough, it is clear that Kia is not the enemy - rather, MegaEats, a multi-million dollar corporation who also wants to build on the land. In a bid to stop MegaEats, Kia and Sullivan marry, which allows Kia preferential buying power in the land deal… if only that was where the drama ended.

I absolutely adored the all of the characters in this book, and I think that is in part due to the magnificent narrators Je Nie Fleming and Jordan Cobb. Their ability to give unique personalities, of course to the main two characters, but in particular, to the side characters really impressed me!

I was a huge fan of Satisfaction Guaranteed so I figured I would enjoy this, but it was much better than I could’ve guessed. Kia and Sullivan had such a beautiful connection, which was so well written from each of their point-of-views, no doubt reflecting the authors’ love for each other. Additionally, I always appreciate reading books that portray older (read: not YA or very early twenties) couples. Basically, if you want some good old sapphic yearning, butch/femme vibes with food, snakes and lots of love, I would HIGHLY recommend reading Taste The Love (especially the audiobook)! 💖

Thank you Hachette Audio and Forever Publishing for access to the ALC and e-ARC, as well as the physical ARC, in exchange for an honest review.
This was my first book by the authors, and it definitely won't be my last! I LOVED the relationship between Kia and Sullivan! Their chemistry was evident from the beginning, and their banter is top tier. I was not expecting parts of the plot and that only added more to the story, and even surprised me at times! *Minor spoiler ahead* the fact that there is no third act breakup makes me SO happy, as it was possible. But I love the way the authors went with it instead. Also, the found family was just lovely! I'm shipping Nina and Opal SO HARD. And the audiobook!!! The narrators did an INCREDIBLE job at bringing all the characters to life. I genuinely couldn't stop once I started. Definitely recommend this one!