I enjoyed this. Ben is in a boring job at a media company and gets the opportunity to edit a video for his favourite magazine. Pete is an excellent chef who is terrified of being in front of a camera and it shows in the video Ben is asked to edit. The result of Ben's editing, however, launches the video and a whole series is commissioned. As Ben and Pete get to know one another a wonderful friendship starts to develop and leads on from there. Dylan Morrison seems to have the knack for creating an interesting character who's insecure and very much on their own case, with long internal monologues which are, at times, hilarious. Will, in Fall Into You, was brilliant, and Ben, in this story, is just as good. It's wonderful to see the character grow and gain confidence and pride in themselves. A lovely story!
Thanks to Netgalley, Storm Publishing, and Dylan Morrison for the free ARC. All opinions are my opinion.

Recipe for Trouble was deliciously cute! I never read anything by Morrison, but I will get my hands on his other work if it's even a little as sweet as this novel.

Plain and simple: Dylan Morrison writes books I like to read. I cared about the MCs and enjoyed pretty much every minute of this story, and I was willing to skim right past the fact that some of the details didn't really add up (<spoiler>neither of the Big Secrets seemed all that big to me, for one thing, and why would everyone at the company have let the devil woman—Miranda?—keep playing her vicious games so long?</spoiler>). I suspect a stronger developmental edit would lift Morrison's books from four to five stars, but even as things stand, I'll gladly be looking for more from this author.

My thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

I wasn’t expecting this book to be so light and warm. Really spoke to me on a personal level. It’s a real slow burn romance. I fell for the characters before they even noticed each other in a romantic way.

If you’re looking for a light mm romance. This book is for you. Great read a cozy fall night.

Once again, Dylan Morrison delivers an utterly compelling, emotionally layered, highly original romance, which manages to be both laugh-out-loud funny and heartache-inducing, as well as incredibly satisfying to read. I really believed in the protagonists, Pete and Ben, but there is also so much joy to be found in all the secondary characters, who are fully realised and engaging in their own rights. Morrison's writing is truly distinctive for the genre – intelligent and assured, it really makes this book stand out. He takes much-loved romance tropes and makes them sing by putting his own spin on them, not to mention his mastery of tantalising food descriptions that will make you salivate. Recipe for Trouble balances being heart-warming and thought-provoking in an unusual and impressive way, and it's a book that will stay with me for a long time.

3.5 stars! Grumpy x sunshine romance with a fun food theme and plenty of cute awkwardness.

This story follows Ben and Pete.
Ben is a video editor who has been tasked with helping a disastrous chef film cooking videos.
Pete is the disastrous chef in question, who is helpless on his own.
Off the bat, Ben is no fan of Pete and his annoyingly happy-go-lucky attitude.
But, as the two start spending more time together, a forced work relationship blossoms into something more.

I love the dynamic here.
Ben is grumpy and a little mean, but nothing in the world seems to be able to dampen Pete’s mood.
I simply cannot help being obsessed with an opposites attract relationship, so this brings me so much joy.
Watching the character with the harsh, downer personality slowly change and open up as cheerful, happy character rubs off on them? I think that is so cute. This provided that!

This may be weird, but I also loved Pete’s awkwardness. It was absolutely so endearing.
Throughout the story his primary struggle is how nervous he gets while recording.
He has a great personality, and is a great cook. But, he just can’t seem to do anything right when the cameras are rolling.
This brought in a lot of humor, and made for some cute, light-hearted moments.
I also have to say that I find this so incredibly real- which is probably why I liked it to much. As person that is also incapable of doing anything while someone is watching me- I see him and I relate to him.
Relatability always makes things more enjoyable!

Unfortunaltey, I have to say that I found the writing a bit hard to follow.
I didn’t feel like it read super easily, and there were a several points where my mind ending up wandering off.
I think this might just be a me thing, but I just wasn't hooked the whole time.
There seemed to be a few plot holes, and moments where I wasn’t sure how we got from point A to point B.
This very well might just be a result of my disconnection from the writing style, so perhaps other readers might not experience the same issue!

Overall, it is a fun and light story. I think it is worth the read if you enjoy MM romance, along with food/cooking themes.

Thank you to Netgalley, Storm Publishing and author Dylan Morrison for providing me with the eARC of “Recipe for Trouble”, in exchange for my honest review!
Publication date: October 16, 2025
Reviewed on Goodreads: September 08, 2025