This book was just fun from start to finish!

We follow Nazeli and Vanya, whose families run rival Armenian food companies, as they compete for a prize at a national conference. They like each other straight away, but they have to enter a sequence of increasingly intense contests to see whose food comes out on top.

I really enjoyed both their romance and the food contest storylines. The sparks really flew between them, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing in a way that felt very true to life. I also really liked how the food storylines were intertwined with themes about their families and their heritage. In particular, the way the idea of authentic culture and food was explored felt very nuanced and was handled really well.

There were a couple of things that I didn’t enjoy so much. Sometimes the writing style was a little clunky, and especially towards the end the plot became slightly too contrived. There was a also a small tendency to over-explain within the text, which often felt unnecessary and slowed the story down.

Overall though, this was a very enjoyable read, and a great sapphic romance!

I received a free copy for an honest review.

Lavash at first sight is the bisexual rom-com I didn’t know I needed. Nazeli is unabashedly bi, but this novel is not about questioning her sexuality, or her queer validity. The Armenian heritage featured in Lavash adds a great texture to the novel, and the clash between generations allow for much head-nodding and commiseration. And some comedy, of course.

The majority of Lavash is set at a packaged food convention, and involves a foodie-competition-slash-cooking-reality-show, which is a lot of fun, even for a non-foodie like myself. I love the way the MC and her main love interest are described, and the giddiness of early dating is so endearingly told. Really a fantastic queer book (and author)!

Taleen Voskuni writes another Armenian bisexual romcom - these are so great for representation and have been long-awaited! Voskuni's writing style just wasn't for me, but I'd really recommend it to someone who wants to learn more about Armenian-American culture, specifically queer culture.

As always, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.

Lavash At First Sight is the latest romance novel from author Taleen Voskuni. After reading and loving her first novel Sorry, Bro last year I was highly anticipating the release of Lavash At First Sight but unfortunately it missed the mark for me.

To start by discussing the aspects of the story I did like, as with Sorry, Bro I enjoyed the bisexual rep and the exploration of both Ellie and Vanya’s parent’s attitudes to them being queer. It was also nice to see the celebration of Armenian culture that's briefly sprinkled throughout the story but I really wanted more of this as it was the thing which would really set this book apart from others.

Unfortunately, that is where my praise for the book ends. The plot primarily takes place over the course of a weekend but it was very slow paced and I felt like I was crawling through it by the end. Although the book is marketed as a romance novel it really actually lacked any proper romance plot. The plot was primarily just about Ellie attending a food packaging conference with her parents, taking part in a competition to win a free Superbowl ad and then gradually realising she wanted to leave her corporate job and join the family business. Any romantic aspect was quite flat and felt like an after-thought by the author. This was ultimately really disappointing as I loved the romance story in Sorry, Bro so had high hopes for this book too. I did also get quite tired of the conference setting very quickly. The competition element added a bit more excitement but it felt very repetitive in the end.

Ellie was a fundamentally unlikeable protagonist. She had no likeable qualities, little personality outside of her corporate job and very little character development over the course of the story. Vanya also felt like quite a two-dimensional character whose only discernible personality trait was being sexually attractive to our protagonist.

I didn’t find myself rooting for Ellie and Vanya at all, they really lacked chemistry and we didn’t get much relationship building. The fact that their relationship was forbidden due to their parents being enemies added a bit of an interesting element but it wasn’t enough to stop the romance feeling quite flat. This is a closed-door romance which meant that the author almost needed to work harder to write relationship building scenes which have us buy into the chemistry but this wasn’t achieved at all.

Unfortunately Lavash At First Sight was a disappointing read for me.

Rating:⭐️⭐️/5
Spice Level: 🌶️ 🌶️ / 5 (Closed Door)

I have posted my review on my blog www.yourschloe.co.uk

*Thank you to NetGalley, Taleen Voskuni and Pan Macmillan.

this book was fun! i loved the concept of the cooking competition and the family dynamics, and the rivalry between both families.

however the romance didn’t work that well for me, it felt very rushed and i didn’t understand what drew them together. i also struggled to like the mc at certain points so that put me off

This was a super cute romance - set around a theme of pride in your culture and love for your family despite their flaws. I loved the character growth, and also the opportunity to learn about a culture you don’t see often in books. The romance was believable and captivating. Don’t read if you don’t want to endlessly crave food!!

A fun easy read, perfect for summer! Want to eat all the Armenian food now and visit Chicago! Such a perfect summer escape.

i like romcoms but the writing in Lavash at First Sight made me despair. truly painful. just cringey and clunky and all over the place.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

Sadly, this one fell flat for me and I ended up DNFing pretty early on.
I absolutely loved Sorry, Bro, it was so charming and it made me fall in love with Armenian culture, so I was really excited for the author's second book.

The main character felt very 'not like other girls', an impression I got literally in the first sentence when she stated that her water bottle is navy blue to signal that she's not a 'girlie girl', which might have been because she is working with a lot of men, but I still didn't like it.

Then we go into a scene of the MC at her job and I just couldn't deal with the hyperbolic descriptions of her coworkers as 'tech bros', like what do you mean one of them starts doing squats in the meeting? It just felt so clunky, you can illustrate that someone works in a very male-driven environment without having someone do squats in an important meeting.

As I continued, there were more things that just had me raising my eyebrows and felt a bit exaggerated.
It also just felt very similar to Sorry, Bro, yes, sure, there is a different setup, but the main character felt like a copycat version, some of the dynamics were the same and when I went to read some reviews to help my decision to DNF, I saw that there also wasn't much romance in this one. I was fine with that in Sorry, Bro, because I just loved the rest of the book, but since I was already struggling with this one, that ended up being the nail in the coffin.

I am definitely willing to give the author another chance in the future, but I was sadly disappointed by this book.

There's lots to enjoy about this book! I enjoyed an insight into Armenian culture and food, and the interactions between the main characters and their parents is so wholesome.

The romance element however didn't grip me. I didn't feel like I really knew the main characters outside of work and their families. The pacing seems odd and it felt at times like we were leaning into a few u-hauling stereotypes.

Happy Book Birthday to the amazing Lavash At First Sight by Taleen Voskuni✨ Thank you so much to the lovely Chloe at Pan Macmillan for my beautiful copy! 💖

I absolutely loved reading Sorry, Bro last year and have been so excited for Taleen’s new book! I love her writing style so much and jumped at the opportunity to be able to read an early copy of this sapphic Romeo & Juliet-esque romance!

This was so freaking CUTE!! I loved the chemistry between Nazeli and Vanya, my heart was swooning all throughout this book! Their easy banter and instant connection was so beautiful to read! I really loved how they discovered that they they had so much in common and also made each other realise the important things in life whilst also trying to get to the bottom of the mysterious family rivalry! Both Nazeli & Vanya’s parents were so funny and really great side characters, I loved how this story highlights the importance of family!

The challenges for the food competition throughout the story were so much fun as well! I love a reality cooking competition (some of my favourite reality TV, especially Masterchef!) and all of the food sounded absolutely delicious! I love it when a book makes me snacky and I definitely want to try some Armenian dishes now because they sound so GOOD!

Lavash at First Sight is a funny and beautiful read that you’ll want to eat right up! This is the perfect book to read as we’re heading into summer! 💖

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the advance reader copy.

I think I went into this expecting more romance and less food competition.
I enjoyed seeing the Armenian cultural aspects and food.

This feels like it should be marketed as another genre and not a romance. There is a lot of food references and you definitely will feel hungry reading about all the cooking.

3 stars

Here's the thing... this book was fun.
I love the Armenian culture at the center of the story. It was beautiful and it left me so hungry because everything sounded so good😫
I also love the family aspects and how much our mcs care for their families.
The side characters were interesting, and for once, I was really interested in the workplace "drama" because it felt like something it could (and sadly does) happen.
Now... what this book was lacking - at least for me - was chemistry between our main characters. It was too fast but also too slow at the same time. Like the "I love yous" were too fast, but the actual building of their relationship was too slow, or it happened off the page, and that's why I didn't buy their relationship.
Still, this was a highly enjoyable read, and I recommend this.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book has two things I love, sapphics and food. For some reason, this didn't become my romance obsession of the year. The single POV felt limited and Nazeli's time at the company and her ex-boyfriend felt very rushed. No character felt particularly well developed and, honestly, the only part I enjoyed about this book was the food.

First and foremost, I can't agree with this book being advertised as a romance.

I liked the food competition, the rivalry between their parents, the Armenian culture. But the romance was such a let down, Vanya almost seemed like an after thought and not a genuine love interest. It was mostly about Nazeli's journey from a corporate job to working for her parents.

There was no intimacy between Nazeli and Vanya, very little chemistry, it seemed like their relationship developed way too quickly. There were only a few kisses, and they all seemed so rushed and came out of nowhere. This was closed door, and there was one instance of Nazeli suddenly talking about what happened the night before - but there was no built up to it whatsoever, and I was confused why the author chose to write it that way.

I also wasn't a fan of the writing style. It was first person POV, but very simple and informal, almost a word dumping, journal/diary style? It read a little like a memoir, which is not my thing.

Sadly this book just didn't work for me at all.

I devoured it & relished every single moment! (Like the puns? lol)

Stunning book with beautiful writing and gorgeous characters including the parents who are adorbs!

Vanya & Ellie are amazing. How they meet, the progression of their romance and so many beautiful interactions that made me smile, laugh and say “aww” a lot.
Again, I loved getting a tiny glimpse of Armenian culture. The language, food (of course) and family. It fills the story with so much love & warmth.
I also love the journey of self discovery Ellie goes on. Fully embracing who she is and understanding the need for the perfect work/life balance.

Look, I could go on but I don’t write reviews giving away everything that happens, I prefer saying how it made me feel and simply put, I LOVED IT! This books is *Chefs kiss* 😉

Favourite aspects:
♥️ Adorable (kinda) Meet Cute (chapter 3) 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩
🧡 Nazeli’s Parents especially her Dad 😂
💛 Bi/Pan Representation 🏳️‍🌈
💚 Armenian culture 🇦🇲
💙 Competition 👩‍🍳⏲️
💜 Everything! 📚

There is a line about mouth bones that is cute & reflects how you feel about someone when you are falling in love but I’ll let you find that sweet moment 😁🦷

Think Masterchef meets Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly! 🍕♥️

My only issue … I prefer the US cover to the UK! lol
Taleen is an auto buy author. Whatever she writes next, the moment it’s announced, im preordering.

Thank you so much, NetGalley & Pan MacMillan, for inviting me to read an arc.
This is my honest review.

This book wasn’t quite what I was expecting. It felt less like a romance and more like a story about the importance of family and culture where there just happened to be a little almost ‘forbidden’ romance on the side.

I really enjoyed the completion aspect of it and it did leave me feeling a little hungry. I also really liked that it highlighted Armenian culture.

The romance aspect of it was lacking for me. I struggled to find any chemistry between Nazeli and Vanya and I found their conflict to be a bit unnecessary. The last section of the book also felt a little bit rushed as it tried to wrap everything up.

Overall, I thought it was a pleasant read.

thank you to the publishers for the arc.

I adored Lavash at First Sight and I do tend to be picky about romances, mostly because I find a lot of chemistry hard to buy in them but Ellie and Vanya were hilarious and adorable together. The dynamics between their families were also hilarious and I appreciate the fact that it didn't come across as a cliche 'rivals to lovers' plot. Lavash at First Sight also made me frequently hungry with the food descriptions so I'm going to blame it for me craving Armenian food for the next century.

I loved Sorry Bro, so I was excited to read Taleen Voskuni's next book. Unfortunately, the only thing to recommend it is Voskuni's charming style. The plot unfolds exactly as you expect. I just read the same story but with competing bakeries. I wish there had been something a little different about this book because in a few weeks it'll be muddled with all of the other versions of this same plot.

Expect to want to eat all the food!

Nazeli (known as Ellie to her American friends) loves a high-stress job, but after being dumped by her not-quite-boyfriend she agrees to go with her parents to a food packaging conference. There she meets Vanya, another Armenian women who she's instantly intrigued by.

I enjoyed reading about Armenian culture - there was lots about the food, but also some bits of history and other cultural references. It's a part of the world I know very little about so this was great.

Although this is described as a romance, for me it was a story about Nazeli that happened to include a romance plot. Things that played a bigger role than the romance included her parents' rivalry, her ridiculous workplace, and the bizarre competition setup. The single point of view really supported this feel.

This is a closed-door book - other than kissing there is nothing more than a reference of what Nazeli and Vanya get up to physically. I wish I'd known this going in, as it felt a little disjointed with where the story left off and joined back in.

To stick with the food theme, this book very much had all the ingredients that I like. For my personal taste the balance and presentation wasn't quite as appetising as expected. But everyone's taste is different.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.