I received this book as ALC from NetGalley and Hachette Audio. I really like this audiobook A LOT. The narrators, Je Nie Fleming and Jordan Cobb, were amazing. They really captured the Sullivan and Kia so well. The story was kind of an enemies to lovers, with a little grumpy sunshine mixed it - the perfect combination.

The story follow Sullivan (Sully) and Kia who met in culinary school years before but life put them on separate paths after graduation; however, not before sharing a kiss that sparked years long obsession's with each other that both of them were unaware of. This book has so much banter that had me laughing out loud quite a bit.

If you are in the mood for a feel good book with twists and turns that have you screaming at your (or my) headset, pick this book up. You will not be disappointed.

Taste the Love is coauthored by married couple Karelia Stetz-Waters and Fay Stetz-Waters, and it’s clear this sapphic contemporary romance was a labor of their love. The audiobook narrators add to the experience of reading this book.

The novel centers Alice Sullivan (who is called Sullivan by everyone) and Kia, who met in culinary school and competed for the top honors in their class. Sullivan is a white, bi woman, and Kia is a Black lesbian. Their rivalry is understood by the men in their program as hatred, but they see it as pushing themselves to be better. To prove that it’s not hatred, they kiss at graduation, and then they part ways to pursue their careers.

Six years later, Kia is a successful influencer and food truck owner bidding to buy land for a food truck park to provide opportunities for cooks from marginalized communities. The problem — Sullivan has family roots on that land and is deeply concerned about environmental preservation and climate change. A food truck court is the opposite of environmentally friendly. When a massive food corporation threatens to out-bid Kia on the land, Kia and Sullivan enter into a marriage of convenience so that Kia has first rights to buy the land before it’s bulldozed for a corporate chain. Rekindling and deepening their friendship is healing for both, and the lines between their fake marriage and real feelings blurs. Considering this is a slow burn, I was hoping for more sexual tension and yearning.

One of my favorite parts of the book was seeing how Sullivan and Kia’s separate passions become slowly aligned as they understand each other’s motives and life experiences more. Kia begins to appreciate Sullivan’s love of the environment, and Sullivan sees how much Kia cares about creating opportunities for those who are great cooks but don’t have the advantages she had.

The narrative style does quite a bit of telling, rather than showing, which is not my preferred kind of storytelling. There are some beautiful metaphors and phrases that incorporate food and environmental imagery, however. I recommend this book for readers wanting a sapphic romance that centers food culture.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for an Advanced Reader Copy.

Taste the Love is pitched as an enemies/rivals to lovers trope with a marriage of convenience. this in itself should’ve made this book my favourite sapphic book of the year. and yet. I didn’t like the main characters very much, I thought I would warm up to them but even at the end I can’t say I even know much about them apart from their past dating life and a short glimpse of their childhood. additionally… they’re not actual rivals, one could’ve said they used to be rivals in culinary school but they even say themselves they never considered each other rivals. I’m always happy to ignore whether the reason for a marriage of convenience is 100% realistic and while this one was somewhat realistic … I feel like we needed a little more closure about the lawsuit.

I had the luck to be able to review the audiobook, which truly was luck for me considering I am much less likely to dnf an audiobook! In general I don’t have actual criticism for the audiobook production. There were times where I felt like the narrators‘ tone didn’t mirror the emotions of the characters perfectly but overall they did a great job at giving the characters a voice.

this book had RVERYTHING: rivals/friends/colleagues to lovers, a fierce legal battle, and so much happening in the background. There are a lot of books where i've left feeling like I know the characters well, but with this bad boy? i have such a clear picture of who these characters are, not just because of what they say and do, but because of the food they create and the challenges they overcame. This was gorgeous and very sexy and i loved it

rep: Black lesbian, white bisexual, sapphic love story

spice: a couple vivid sex scenes

I was super excited to listen to this as soon as I saw the cover. The description immediately drew me in. Fake dating/ marriage of convenience is one of my favorite tropes. The second chance romance also had me 100% interested in this title. The whole friend group in this book was to die for! If you are looking for good lgbtq+ rep, this is definitely a good choice. Thank you so much net galley for ALC of this delightful title. Can’t wait to pick up a physical copy.

Well written queer romance between an interracial couple in a second chance romance and marriage of convenience. The plot was good. I love the voices of the narrators!

3.75⭐️s : The narrators were good & added to my enjoyment of the book. It was easy to get invested in the characters and cheer for them.

This is more than just a romance novel. It’s about what’s important in your life, being open to new ideas & experiences, and communicating with those you love. The discussions & experiences with social media are interesting, both good & bad parts. Both main characters learned & grew throughout the story. I enjoyed their quirks, and their enjoyment of each other. It was nice to watch them grow individually, and really want what was best for the other person. Talk about relationship goals! And their friends & family were quite the cast of fun characters.

I enjoyed this upbeat, uplifting story. Thank you to NetGalley & Hachette Audio for a free ARC of the audiobook.

♡🍒 THIS BOOK WAS CHERRY SWEET 🍒♡

✩°｡⋆ Thank you to Forever ~ Hachette Audio for providing the ALC of this book for an honest review via NetGalley! ⋆｡°✩

♡ MY REVIEW:

The positives:
I’ve never read a book that was written by a couple, and now I’m wishing that was on my 2025 Reading Bingo Card because it’s iconic! That aside, let’s start with the characters Stoney Sullivan and Kinetic Kia. These characters had a past that provided a nice introduction to the six-year-later time jump we readers find ourselves in past the first chapter. I enjoy when characters have a little bit of romantic history because it makes me want to cheer them on even more to rekindle that old flame or past feelings.

In terms of the execution of this book, I did enjoy the writing. There was not a point where I thought there was repetitive writing or confusing connections between the two authors. I’m not sure if Karelia Stetz-Waters wrote Sullivan’s POV and Fay Stetz-Waters wrote Kia’s POV, but if that’s the case, it felt like a complementary tennis match. Each chapter transitioned into the other nicely, which is something I appreciated! As weird as it sounds, sometimes you read books that feel like the two are written so similarly, but in this book, it felt like Kia and Sullivan were two different people with two different personalities and tones.

The negatives:
Somehow this book just felt long. I think it had something to do with the pacing of the day-to-day interactions of Sullivan and Kia. Even though they didn’t start as a married couple, they definitely slid into the slight monotony of life. I just wanted more excitement and freshness in their relationship. I found myself rooting for them beating the antagonist of the story rather than the motivation of the romance.

☆ Overall, I'd give this book a 3/5! ☆

I had the audiobook accompany the book for this one. I think the audiobook good but it was a bit difficult distinguishing the two voices in the beginning (this may also be due to the writing).

Taste the love was a cute, sapphic romance that took place in beautiful Oregon. Kia and Sullivan go to cooking school together and have a competitive relationship. They have a moment during graduation, but then go on to lead different lives. Years later they meet again under rather stressful circumstances. This is a somewhat messy second-chance romance.

What I liked:
~Kia and Sullivan are imperfect, but they are willing to learn and compromise for each other.
~Sullivan's love of nature and animals and the way we got to read how she thought of the bois. As someone who deeply cares about the environment, I really loved her passion and feelings towards nature.
~Kia was a complete sweetheart (chaotic and imperfect, but sweet). While she was a little off the mark at the beginning of the story, I loved how she really heard Sullivan out and did things for her, even camping (which was not her thing).
~The conflict resolution at the end was a bit rushed, but I did think it was a good solve.

What could have been better:
~This wasn't totally believable and the characters were both a little naïve for being 30 and 35 years old (ie. throwing away important paperwork, livestreaming about a project still in the works)
~There were parts of the books that were a little long winded and didn't feel necessary to the story.
~I did not particularly like the mention of AI to respond to emails. I know AI is a thing, but we know it is problematic and honestly, it didn't add anything to the story. She could have simply said someone else responds to her emails and it would have gotten the same point across. Especially seeing as this book touches on the environment; I think Sullivan would disapprove of Kia using AI.

Overall, I still really enjoyed this book and would gladly recommend it. I do think it would benefit from some editing and small tweaks to make the writing more seamless.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever Publishing for the ARC.

From loosing the person you loved 6 years ago, to having your own restaurant, to having an arranged marriage with said person you loved…


This was a fun and delicious ALC to hear. I loved how the authors would describe the recipe in such details that would make my mouth water. And I found exquisite how they describe how Kia’s finger smelled like certain herbs in one scene lol.

The narrators did a good job with each character and was easy to distingues.

Funny, playful and just a dash of spice. Beautiful.

A pretty cute second chance romance.

I wasn’t super into it…I think you do have to suspend quite alot of reality like just don’t think about how this would really work just vibe with the tension and good descriptions.
but if you are looking for an easy tropey sapphic romance it’s not bad just kinda dull…

The narration was good for the audiobook.

Thanks to netgalley and hachette audio for an alc.

3.5⭐️

A marriage of convenience gone wrong... and then it goes right?

I enjoyed this story for the most part, but the characters didn't seem to have all that much chemistry on the page. The spicy scenes were fine, but nothing to write home about. It left a lot to be desired in terms of their relationship.

The pacing was great at the beginning and the end, but it felt like it slumped a bit in the middle.

The narrators for this audiobook did a fine job, though I feel like the narrator for Sullivan's POV could have given a little more personality to the character.

I have pretty mixed feelings about this book. On paper, it had everything I usually love (a culinary setting, sapphic leads, and a rivals-to-lovers premise) but in execution, it didn’t quite land for me.

The romance is definitely a slow burn, with some spice, but it moved so slowly that by the time things picked up, I’d already lost interest. There’s not much actual rivalry, and the “forced proximity” element post-marriage helped their relationship develop, but the emotional buildup just didn’t feel strong enough to keep me engaged.

Character-wise, I struggled to connect. Kia felt more like a starry-eyed fan than a fully developed character, and Sullivan’s constant bitterness made her tough to root for. Their communication was frustratingly poor, which didn’t help build chemistry. That said, I did like how the story addressed consent and how the characters worked through their insecurities over time.

The dual POV is written in third person, and the switches sometimes happen mid-chapter, which could be jarring. I read along with the audiobook, which made it easier to track who was speaking, but just listening on its own could get confusing. The narrators, Je Nie Fleming and Jordan Cobb, did a decent job, though the delivery was a little flat at times and didn’t help with the pacing issues.

Overall, this was an okay read with some highlights, but it didn’t fully click for me. I'm hopeful the author’s next book will build on the good parts and iron out the rest.

i so wanted to love this one :( it has all the ingredients (ha, get it?) of a book that i would adore: a culinary setting, sapphic characters, and a rivals to lovers romance. unfortunately, it just fell flat for me.

there's slow burn, and then there's slow enough to make your readers lose interest. at about the 70% mark, i found myself liberally utilizing the skip button on netgalley's audiobook player. i was bored! this was partially due to the two narrators tendency for monotone, and partially due to the lackluster writing. unfortunately, i just stopped caring about what happened with our two leads.

Kia was too eager, and unwilling to acknowledge Sullivan's flaws - more like a puppy dog than a well fleshed out character. Sullivan was bitter to the point of annoyance on my part. and communication between the two characters was generally abysmal.

i did appreciate how discussions surrounding consent were handled and i did like the culinary aspects. but, unfortunately, the negatives outweighed the positives for me with this one. i hope i enjoy the authors' next novel more.

ARC and ALC review

3,5 stars

"Taste the Love" is a contemporary sapphic romance with a marriage of convenience between two chefs.

Thank you Forever for the advance reader copy and Hachette Audio for the advance listener copy.
Opinions from this review are completely my own.

I have mixed feelings about this book.
The story was interesting, but I could not connect with the characters.
There is a dual POV, but it's written in 3rd person and it changes in the middle of the chapter.

The audiobook is narrated by Je Nie Fleming and Jordan Cobb. They did a good job overall.
When I read and listened to the audiobook, it was easier to keep up with which POV it is, but only with the audio I got confused sometimes.

The romance is a slow burn with some spice.
There is no actual rivalry and the forced proximity after they got married helped the relationship develop.

I liked that they managed to get along well and slowly got over the insecurities they both had.

Overall it was a good read, but there were parts that I did not enjoy.

4.25/5⭐

Kia and Sullivan are so sweet! Their romance had a really good mix of opposites attract elements and things that the two had in common as chefs. This romance felt dreamy, steamy, and somewhat unrealistic, but the characters themselves came off as relatable and earnest. The plot was very entertaining with the themes of a marriage of convenience, eco-consciousness, and of course the love of food. I really appreciated how this book referenced the authors’ previous novel; it had the perfect amount of new romance with a few callbacks to the previous book’s romance. Perfect for someone new to the authors or someone who has read their other book! Additionally, the narration of this audio book really made the story for me! The narrators do an excellent job of emoting, differentiating character voices, and reflecting the style of the writing through their voices. Overall a really fun romance read with great audio book production. Very excited to see what this captivating wife duo writes next!
Thank you to Hachette Audio for providing me an ALC of the audio book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What I liked:
-I love a trope. Did it make sense that they "had" to get married? No. Do I care that it didn't make sense? Also no.
-a dapper, bisexual butch. We love to see it.
-they've spent all this time apart, but they are still so drawn to each other. I already told you I love a trope.
-the audiobook narration, particularly from Kia's POV.

What I didn't love:
-I don't think I need any more books with an "influencer" protagonist unless there is a really interesting take on that presented. Your mileage may vary with this.
-the wishy-washy environmentalism that occasionally got called out (but not a character using ai?)

This is probably a decent pick if you're looking for a fun, tropey romance novel, but I don't think it's one I will be thinking of in six months.

Thanks to Hachette and NetGalley for access!

I absolutely loved this! Combine cooking, weird flavor combs, environmental activism, strong female lead and just all the things that make my heart happy and you get Love the Taste! I will say, I'm siding with Sullivan on some of the flavor combos because I really can't even fathom what mint and cilantro taste like in a simple syrup but I will definitely be trying a marshmallow in my coffee! It's a beautifully sweet story about a second chance at love that is put to the test and I'm living for it!

This was fine! Loved Kia and Sullivan’s friends and the plot line of what pressured Kia and Sullivan into a marriage of convenience but then I don’t think the author did enough to show us why they were falling in love. They had zero in common imo? And Kia was literally trying to destroy Sullivan’s family’s land that meant a lot to her? I have to assume it was just all of their time in culinary school together but we didn’t get any of that other than graduation day so.

And the spicy scenes are superrrrr tame and short if a reader is not a huge fan of those.

Karelia e Fat Stetz-Water had done it again! The book is so funny and sweet and spicy and everything. Really everything! There are anti-capitalism, queer rep, black rep. And obv there is a fake marriage. A. FAKE. MARRIAGE. I’m so feral for this, you have NO IDEA.
I loved this book so damn much and I believe I cannot be able to think about anything else in the next few weeks. I’m so obsessed with this story and with Sullivan and Kia.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.