Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

This is billed as a laugh out loud romantic comedy. Ummmm rather it was a slightly amusing slow burner with no real depth or fleshed out characters. The story revolves around Katie who has lost her restaurant and the love of her life. She is working in a retirement home and couch surfing at her friends place.

She then enters a cooking competition run by the formidable and scary chef of the moment Jean Michael. Her main rival is Ben her ex.

Although the descriptions of the food were delightful and made me hungry the story left me wanting more. It was all just a little formulaic.

This is the first book that I have read by Colleen Coleman and it's safe to say that I have clearly been missing out. I loved the hopeful and determined Katie, she was such a likeable character who I was rooting for all the way through. Even the minor characters played an important part especially Martha. There is a lovely dose of emotion but also fun moments as Katie tries to navigate her way through trying to follow her dream but also keep her friendships and family life intact.

If you love food then this is the story for you I really enjoyed all the descriptions of how everything was created and you can clearly see Katie's passion shine through. I loved the journey that Katie went on, there was a lovely combination of themes within the story such as love, family and friendship that just made reading this book such a wonderful experience.

One Way or Another is perfect for showing us that it is never too late to follow our dreams as you never know what will happen or where the journey will take you. A truly uplifting and hopeful story!

Five stars from me!

With thanks to Kim at Bookouture for my copy. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.

This was a gorgeous tale about overcoming adversity, pursuing your goals, and reaching for the stars. I adored how strong-willed Katie was. Though she had had the most major of setbacks, she rose from the ashes a stronger, more determined woman. she learnt from her mistakes and grew. I loved that she had someone like Martha backing her and pushing her to realise that she needed to get out of her slump, and that she was the only one to do it.

It was also a story about 'the one' and fate and making your way home, about mending relationships with family and forming strong bonds with colleagues. Ben was gorgeous and totally Katie's ying to her yang - they were perfect for each other. But this story was less romance and more an uplifting story about a brave young woman who I, as a reader, felt a great kinship with.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book by new-to-me author Colleen Coleman, and I look forward to reading more of her work.

4☆ A Scrumptious Story!

One Way or Another is a scrumptious story about New Beginnings, Competitive Spirit, delicious food, Family, Friendship, laugh out loud moments and potential love.

Katie dreams of owning her own restautant. But unfortunately things don't always go to plan.
She finds herself drifting, living on her best friends sofa deciding what to do with her life.

She finally gets the wake up call she's been needing.
An opportunity too good to miss out on..... A Cooking Competition..... ' Grand Chef '

Ohhh I love cooking competitions so once I got to this part I was so engrossed.
Cooking/baking can be brutal. So many things that can go wrong from start to finish.

Chef Jean Michael is the one running the competition. He is a very complex character who gets things done. But wouldn't want to work for him.

What Katie wasn't expecting was for her Ex boyfriend Ben to appear.
Can Katie put her feelings aside and win the competition and gain the employment of her dreams.
Or will Love Prevail and possibly ruin her chances of succeeding.

One Way or Another is full of mouthwatering food that will leave your tummy rumbling.
Colleen definetly Captures the spirit of a cooking competition, the ups and downs, the competitive spirit, and the drive to succeed.

It's a deliciously heart-warming story that inspires the reader to follow your dreams, it was a sweet romance, that made you Feel Good and laugh out loud along the way!

If you love cooking and competitions, scrumptious food, are looking for a fun, warm, feel good read with a dash of romance. Then you will really enjoy reading One Way or Another!

4 entertaining food fiction stars to One Way or Another!

I’ve been working my way through several delightful Bookouture-published rom com reads for the past month. They’ve been great palate cleansers between heavier novels, and I always feel uplifted after. One Way or Another was most definitely uplifting and fun.

Katie’s ex, Ben, breaks up with her and moves away, leaving her broken hearted. The perfect opportunity arises for Katie to forget about Ben when she is invited to be on the show Master Chef; however, chaos ensues when she is competing against none other than Ben! I wasn’t fully expecting the reality tv edge to the book, but it added a fun layer!

Bottom line, Colleen Coleman has written an engaging, endearing, empowering, feel-good romance with tons of laughs and some fun foodie fiction flair.

Thank you to Colleen Coleman, Bookouture, and Netgalley for the ARC. One Way or Another is available now!

One Way or Another is a warm, witty and lively story of ambition, love and determination with all the right ingredients for a wonderful romantic comedy. Colleen Coleman writes an interesting mix of characters and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep even the most seasoned of romance readers on their toes.

A great book with a strong female lead - perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella.

My expectations rise when I see a cover that boasts a "laugh-out-loud" romantic comedy. As in, I'm actually expecting myself to laugh, or even slightly chuckle to myself. But I didn't get there with this book. Sure, there were parts that were silly or funny, but not to the point where I was doubled over with laughter. I think it is a much deeper book with heavier emotional undertones than the synopsis or one-line reviews would have you believe.

I thought the characters were written in a descriptive and realistic fashion, with relatable struggles and a sort of "every-man" feeling about striving to find one's purpose and the rollercoaster of pursuing one's dreams. I did like the main character, Katie Kelly, but I thought that Martha really stole the book in terms of character likeability and uniqueness. Ben wasn't really my favorite. I didn't FEEL his connection with Katie, and I really struggle with shipping a couple when I don't feel any chemistry between the two. Sure, Katie's overall growth was a main theme of the book, but I wish that more depth would have been given to Ben and his relationship with Katie.

I liked Colleen Coleman's style of writing, super descriptive with impeccable attention to detail. However, some parts were TOO descriptive, and I admit that I did skip over several paragraphs that seemed to go on and on about something that was already described (AT LENGTH) earlier in the book.

Overall, the book was paced well and had a complete ending that was satisfactory. I thought it was a little rushed, as everything came together so perfectly with a neat, tidy bow, but I digress. I rate the book a solid 3.5/5 with detractions for redundancy, lack of chemistry, and the absence of 'laugh-out-loud' moments.

*I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Colleen Coleman is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors for several reasons, but one of the things that I enjoy the most about every single one of her books is that she writes stories about female empowerment with such positive messages, you can’t help but feel ready to conquer the world by the time you finish one of her books! Her books are so well rounded, you get the hopeful messages but you also get some romance and humor and this time around you get food, how does it get any better?!

Katie is such a likable person, she’s totally relatable, she has moments where she’s kick ass and fearless and then others where she’s down in the dumps and hard on herself. We all have highs and lows of course so it’s extremely easy to empathize with Katie’s woes. I’m such a foodie so naturally I adored that aspect of this book, although it did make me super hungry! Add in some amazing secondary characters who ranged from the hilarious and inspiring to the nasty and rude and you have a fantastic, emotionally charged plot that made for such an enjoyable read.

Grab this one when you’re in the mood for a super fun read that offers lovely messages of hope but not in a pushy way, Coleman gets her point across in an easy and non confrontational manner that leaves you happy, smiling and wanting to make your own mark on the world.

One Way or Another in three words: Encouraging, Delightful and Positive.

OMG, OMG, OMG I love this book! I am a massive fan of Colleen having read all of her books, so I couldn't wait to get stuck into One Way or Another. This is another author I never bother to read the blurb because I know that I am guaranteed laugh out loud,entertaining read and this book is just that!

Sometimes life throws some unexpected things at you which put put you on a downer. But this book certainly snapped me out of that when we meet 29 year old Katie Kelly my problems were nothing compared to her's. The author takes us on an hilarious and exciting journey. Which will have your mouth watering when we follow Katie on her adventure to become the world's best chef competition that she enters. Things are really hotting up with the competition when Katie's ex boyfriend, hottie Ben Cole turns up and finds herself having to compete against him....Bosha!

I loved all the characters in this story I felt like I actually knew them. I have to say that Jean-Micheal reminded me so much of Gordon Ramsey he is one of those people that pushes you to bring out the best in you. So the competition scenes were very Hell's Kitchen for those of you that have seen it. You could feel the tension and anxiety in the author's writing.

One Way Or Another certainly wet my appetite going and my stomach rumbling.I absolutely adored everything about this book and devoured it in no time at all.
This is a must read for fans old and new which I highly recommend giving it all the 5 massive scrumptious stars.

Thank you to Kim Nash for inviting me to take part in this fab tour

I have read a couple of books by Colleen Coleman and I have loved them. When I read the synopsis for ‘One Way Or Another’, I just knew that I would need to read this book as a matter of urgency. Oh my days, what a fantastic book it turned out to be and for me, it’s easily Colleen Coleman’s best book to date. I absolutely flipping well LOVED it but more about that in a bit.
I just adored the character of Katie Kelly and I began to feel as though she was a friend right from the beginning of the book. I really did feel for her. She is one tough cookie, who has been through a lot but instead of crumbling as many would, Katie gets up, dusts herself down and carries on. Katie is one of those women, who has learnt from her mistakes. Katie was the owner of her own restaurant but for one reason and another the business failed. Katie is aware of the fact that she needs a job to bring some money in and the first job that Katie can get is working as a chef in a nursing home. She doesn’t like the fact that she has to cook tasteless gloop. Any attempts by her to liven up the food, make it firstly edible and secondly tasty, are crushed by the nightmare management. I must admit that this bit of the book had me laughing out loud. I have worked in a nursing home or two and the tasteless gloop comment perfectly fits what was dished up. Katie sees an advert to compete for the chance to work with a chef who sounds like a Gordon Ramsay type. She applies but she doesn’t think that she will get very far. It was moments like this that I wanted to give her a pep talk and tell her that she is an ace chef, who deserves to go far and why shouldn’t she have a go? After all you have to be in it to win it. In a way I sort of identified with Katie a bit and drew parallels between her life and mine. Katie has been at rock bottom and it’s about time that she found herself on the way back up. Will Katie win the competition? Will Katie find love? Will Katie get her happy ever after? Will Katie finally say goodbye to the nursing home job that she dislikes so much.
It is not an understatement to say that once I picked this book up, I couldn’t put it down. It wasn’t glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it came everywhere with me. I was hooked from the first word on the first page and the book didn’t release me from its grip until the moment I closed the back cover so to speak. I took to most of the characters and I started to care about what happened to them. I just had to read on and on to find out how the story developed and to find out how Katie got on in the competition. As I was so ‘into’ the story I didn’t notice how quickly either the time or the page numbers flew by and before I knew what happened, I had finished the book, which I was so disappointed about. I was enjoying the writing style, the story and the characters so much that I just wanted the book to continue. I picked up this book at a good time for me, as I was desperate need of a distraction from my chronic back pain. Oh my, what a distraction this book proved to be. More than once, I found myself laughing out loud at something that I had just read, which got me a few strange looks on the bus. Ooops. ‘One Way Or Another’ is one of those books that does what it says on the tin and by that I mean that ‘One Way Or Another’ really is a laugh out loud, romantic and feel good book.
In conclusion, I have to say that I loved ‘One Way Or Another’ and as I mentioned above, this is easily the best book by Colleen Coleman that I have had the pleasure of reading and reviewing. I wholeheartedly recommend this author and her books to other readers. Believe me, you won’t regret picking up one of her books. I so can’t wait to read the next book by Colleen Coleman and here’s hoping that we don’t have too long a wait in store. Hint, hint. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Katie has pretty much hit rock bottom - she has always loved cooking and had her own restaurant which didn't work and she had to close it down......and she lost her boyfriend Ben.......and so ended up working in the kitchen of a care home......hardly the glamorous job she envisaged! So when she realises that she can win a place to work with her idol top chef Jean-Michel suddenly things are looking back on track......except Ben is going for it as well!

A lovely easy reading book - some great characters....good and bad - Jean-Michel typical chef material, but Katie was a lovely character and so you were definitely rooting for her

A breezy quick read the combines romance with a cooking competition! Katie's lost her restaurant (she really didn't think through the business end of things), she's lost the love of her life, and well, things are generally rotten when she seizes on the chance to win work with Jean Michel. First, though, she must make it through a competition with some rotten opponents AND her ex. You know that once Ben appears there's going to be some back and forth. Coleman handles this well. She also gives Jean Michel a nice human side. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of all those TV shows.

4.25 Fun Foodie Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟.25

This was a fun read that made me quite a bit hungry at times.... The book had a little bit of a lot of things I like humor, wonderful characters, food, reality television, did I mention food? This really was the story of Katie finding her way and herself....

Katie has always wanted to be a chef, she went to chef school, and opened her own restaurant... but as I’m sure most of you no the restaurant business is tough.... so when Katie finds it necessary to close her dream restaurant she ends up taking a job at a care facility as a cook... then she sees a casting call for a reality television show called Master Chef.... The winner gets to work with a very famous yet temperamental chef Jean-Michel... now I have never had the desire to be a chef... in fact my idea of cooking is putting something in the microwave and heating it up.... however this Jean-Michel character has only made me realize I’d never want to work in his kitchen... really what a complete jerk!

Katie was an extremely likable and relatable character... flaws and all... yes she was a bit selfish when it came to her father’s needs, but as children even as adult children we all probably are a little bit.... I really loved Katie’s relationship with the elderly Martha... Martha was such a spunky older lady with such fabulous advice we really all need a Martha in our lives.... Alice Katie‘s BFF was also a really likable an interesting character, I wouldn’t mind a book about her.... then we have Ben Katie‘s ex boyfriend who also ended up being her competition in the reality show.... Ben seemed like a nice enough guy, and they had a few moments that were cute... but he did have a girlfriend.... I guess I would’ve maybe liked some of their history? I really didn’t always understand the attraction... but that is my only minor complaint about this book... otherwise it was a pleasure to read... I loved seeing all the growth in Katie throughout this book....

Strongly recommend to anybody who loves fabulous characters, a pleasant plot, and food....

*** thank you too Bookouture and Net Galley for a copy of this wonderful book ***

A predictable chick lit novel. It’s cute but did not hold my attention, though I like a good chick lit read. Looking at other reviews I see I’m in the minority with this opinion.

I am quite sure that a lot of you reading this review, have had to change direction with their best laid plans, yes? Maybe even putting your dream on the back burner, crossing your whole body that you can pick up where you left off sooner rather than later, whilst also embarking on a journey merely to 'pay the bills'. Of course you have - you're human! We may feel like we have our five year plans done and dusted, refusing to believe that nothing will come and ruin that. But of course, it's life and something is guaranteed to turn your whole word upside down a lot quicker than Frankie saying 'Relax'!

Katie Kelly is just like you and I. For as long as she could remember, food has been her creme de le creme. Her Je ne sais quoi if you will. Whilst some people sit and daydream about Channing Tatum or Tom Hardy as they sip their morning coffee, Katie sits and daydreams about putting foam with scallops. Unfortunately for Katie, life didn't go to plan and not only did the love of her life go off and pursue his dreams in a different country, Katie was left to close the doors of her restaurant one last time and go to work in her local retirement home.

Now, what with being a Colleen Coleman novel n'all, it wouldn't be right if the storyline didn't contain some sort of fairy godmother antics from the author herself, right? Hell, I want Colleen Coleman as my own personal fairy godmother, stuff Cinderella, she's had her moment!!

Ohhhhhhhhhhh this author doesn't disappoint! Her characters may find themselves walking on a sheet of ice for a large portion of the book, yet Colleen Coleman always manages to find a way to point her characters in the right direction without her readers thinking 'ugh, predictable'. Seriously, Katie Kelly's journey is far from predictable! If it was, there would be a lot of unemployed people running down the Job Centre to apply for jobs like Katie's everything Thursday, that's for sure!

What I loved most about this book was how energetic, exuberant, and delightful the entire storyline was. We saw Katie grow before our very eyes, feeling as though her life couldn't get any worse yet still managing to find something deep inside which enabled her to fight...for the right....to paaaarty. Or something to that effect! 

Colleen Coleman truly is a real life fairy godmother. I know I've probably said it more than once already, but she really is. She knows how to get her readers thinking and feeling with their hearts, bringing them characters who would hold their hand as they step inside the storyline like a chapter in their own life. I was able to lose myself in every word Coleman wrote and for me, that is what a story is all about.

I loved everything about 'One Way or Another', and I even managed to surprise myself by becoming a little emotional later on the storyline. This book has such a fun and energising vibe with multiple thought-provoking tendencies, I really didn't expect my eyes to prick with tears because of that. But they did and I wouldn't have changed it for the world. It just goes to show that Colleen Coleman knows her audience and how to capture their hearts, because she certainly captured mine.

I always thought that following your dreams was cliché, maybe even selfish. But, after devouring 'One Way or Another' and feeling my heart soar with unexplainable joy, I knew that following your dreams was paramount in one's journey to happiness. Anything is possible as long as you're actually trying. The only time it becomes impossible is if you're just choosing to sit and moan about it instead of grabbing it by the youknowwhat's.

Colleen Coleman's novels always make me feel like the Queen of the world, like I can achieve absolutely anything and, whilst that is often hard for me to materialise, just the thought of knowing that I can do something because an authors eye-opening and beautiful storytelling showed me how, is such an incredible feeling.

'One Way or Another' grabbed me by the heart, the soul and everything else in between. I laughed, I cried, I put my hand to my chest like a dramatic old soul more than once, whilst also wanting to shout 'YOU CAN DO IT KATIE!'. As far as I am concerned, this book is everything I could want from a book and more, deserving a rating of the entire amount of stars in the universe. Truly - five ain't gonna cut it at all, this book is pint-sized perfection - 3 Michelin stars if you will.

If you enjoy Masterchef, you'll love this story as Katie fights her way to the top spot in a brand new restaurant, run by a demonic but highly regarded chef.

It was an easy and enjoyable read, with a feel-good ending.

The book started with a bang, like one of the TV series where Katie, the last on her luck cook, sees the advert that Chef Jean-Michel is searching for the grand chef for his new restaurant, and she applies for it.

Imagine the next scene to be a total Masterchef-y with elimination rounds, 3 extremely critical judges, and the same exact tension that is seen in the television — the whole premise of this setting was just so enthralling. I was sitting at the edge of the seat to know who would win.

In the midst of the competition, Katie sees Ben, her ex, as one of the competitor and the nerves increase.

The book just seemed to burst with excitement. I hate cooking but I love masterchef. And this book just brought out the exact flavor of the show, the excitement of the competition, the various rounds, where the last 3 have to cook a 3 course meal for the various food critics, and the announcement of the winner!!

This part of the story had the right pace, the sizzle of the skillet, the aroma of the dishes, the aesthetics of plating, and lastly the criticisms of the judges. The author Colleen Coleman, has described the atmosphere of a cooking competition brilliantly where the scenes just came alive for me.

But then the story loses its fizz, goes through its various twists and ends. Katie as the underdog was great, she was emotional, loving, and passionate. But she thinks a lot.. a lottt!!! Sometimes even in the middle of competition, so the book loses its pace and I just flew through the rest.

On the whole the first half was very exciting and the second half was enduring.

A quick fun read , enjoyed it . Katie had to close down her dream restaurant , and now she works in a retirement home and sleeps on her friend's sofa. When life offers a second opportunity Katie decides to try her luck. Jean Michael one of the best chefs is running a competition, the winner will get to be grand chef in his restaurant. There she meets Ben, her ex boyfriend. Katie and Ben split up years back , as Ben wanted to see the world , and Katie did not want to hold him back
Will Katie win the competition ?
Will Ben and Kate be back together ?
Read to find out

Recommended for readers who love culinary romances . I love books which involve cooking so this one was right up my lane..

Everyone needs a dream and Katie thought she'd found hers. Her perfect partner, plans to open her own restaurant ... and then it all went wrong. Finding herself working in a retirement home she is encouraged by one of the residents, her friend Martha, to enter a competition to become the Grand Chef to perhaps the world's most infamous Chef, Jean-Michel Marchand. In a Master-Chef-esque environment Katie is forced to compete against dozens of other hopefuls for the coveted position. Now true to type, nothing in the life is ever straightforward Katie finds that once again, getting your dream isn't all it's cracked up to be. What the reader finds is a romantic, funny, occasionally high pressure story which warm the cockles, stir the soul and seer the heart a point of near perfection. In other words, it's a pretty dang fun book.

What I love about picking up a book by Colleen Coleman is that I know I am guaranteed to find a character I can immediately get behind, one who isn't perfect, who had her fair share of trials and tribulations, but ultimately is a person you like. Very much in this case, and not just because of how down to earth Katie is. Her easy-going friendship with Alice and her kind way with Martha all add to the warmth you can feel radiating from her with each page turn (or kindle click). Colleen Coleman manages to blend and astute observation of human nature with a good dollop of humour and the result is always a joy. There is a moment of sadness in this book too, some poignant scenes which will make your heart break, but they only add to the story.

Now, I will admit, at one point I thought I knew where this book would lead. Oh, that'll teach me to make assumptions. While perhaps the inevitable did happen, it wasn't in exactly the way I expected and I really did enjoy the journey I was taken on in the meantime. And Ms Coleman really did seem to capture at least my expectation (or perhaps my stereotype) of the world of fine dining and world-class chefing. From the ultra competitive Harry who perhaps needs some anger management sessions with a good counsellor, to the high pressure environment in which Katie was finally set to work, it all felt authentic. Apart from the fact that some of the food sounded edible. I find that rarely happens for me in a very posh restaurant ;)

It was great to watch Katie trying to balance family, friendship and ambition and not always succeeding. Did she ultimately do right? Well of course she did, but perhaps she learned some important life lessons along the way. And to be fair, the book gives out some sage advice in its own way about following your dreams, taking risks and pursuing your ambition as life is always fleeting, but never do so at the expense of happiness or family. 

The ending to this book ... Well a fitting tribute paid and a perfectly positive way to end. A fun foray into the world of food with a side helping of comedy jus and a Michelin star romance. Fans of Colleen Coleman are in for a treat.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This story was a delicious read and was thoroughly satisfying (food puns intended of course). I loved the novel’s well balanced blend of action packed food and cooking scenes with the poignant vignettes of friend and family relationships. I appreciated that this was a second-chance story for a single woman in her early 30s, as well as the opportunity to travel amongst London’s culinary culture and Ireland’s idyllic countryside.