Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to receive and review this ARC.

Why Cheese? After reading I'm still not exactly sure why.

My first note is simply that I think this book is far too long. It's drawn out like the cheese off of a slice of pizza when you pull it from the pie. It keeps stretching, growing thinner, and you want it to break off so you can actually eat!

Also what is up with the veins in this book- I know that a lot of romance authors have certain descriptors that they latch onto and repeat but oof did it really have to be veins?

The other thing that makes the humor of this all dampened is the daftness of the protagonist. Violette could not find her way out of a paper bag if you told her there wasn't a way out. Less charming, more I'm internally screaming at a fictional character to put some braincells into a potential thought.

There's also the author's attempt at OCD representation that is unfortunately presented. It seems insensitive to consistently refer to the serious compulsions of a mental illness as a brain gremlin.

It's simply not the right setting for that presentation. It makes it seem less genuine by placing it alongside such a ridiculous premise. It can't carry emotional weight when it holds little to no relevance to the overall plot.


There is a level of ignorance that is funny, but Mint overdoes it.

Don't get me wrong, there are funny moments through, it's just a bit disappointing that I find a lot more swiss cheese sized holes where humor should be.

Onto the actual why choose romance, it (hopefully) is hyperbolic to the point of hilarity. The cheese men each embody a common archetype in the Why choose genre. The shy one, the grump, the flirtatious one, and the himbo.

Each is for the most part a funny take on the tropes save for the himbo. Sir Chedward is about as artificial as Kraft cheese. Nothing he does seems remotely natural or all that funny because its so jarringly presented. Find your own organically sourced himbo from some other free-range why choose farm.

The moments of romance have a significant flaw that I find can break a book. Confusingly written physicality is a major problem with the romance genre in particular. Readers should be able to understand movement and positioning through the text. This book struggles in several moments with this and lacks clarity of description to the point where I felt like I was having an aneurysm trying to conceptualize placement of people.

If you're not reading intensely as I do maybe this read can be funnier and more wholesome. A better experience than what I had. Maybe it's just too campy for my tastes, and that's alright.

For now though? I can't tell if this cheese needs to age and mature- or simply be sliced into more edible chunks.

this book was absolutely INSANE in every way but i couldn’t get enough. silly books like this are exactly why i read. loved every minute.

huge thanks to netgalley for the arc!

DNF at 34% in.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ellen Mint for providing me with an arc.

I like reading ridiculous things and I thought this would be a fun time but it wasn't for me. I didn't connect to the characters and the humor wasn't working for me. I understand why some are enjoying this, truly it is just that this didn't work for me.

Holy cheese! these cheese men were delicious! (especially Roquefort and Brie)
This book was so much fun most of the time and I loved the OCD rep! I will say the mother was horrible and made me want to throw my kindle but the HEA makes it all worth it 💛
all in all I would definitely recommend this book because it was really cute and unique and its a cheese man why choose?? who doesnt love cheese?? YUM

*Thank you NetGalley and the author for providing an arc copy, this honest review is my own

3.5 ⭐️

Why Cheese is exactly what I expected it to be, and I loved every cheesy ridiculous moment of it

Look, I'm not recommending this. But it's a 3.5 rounded up. The only critique I have is the fact that Cam's nickname is spelled three different ways. If you like cheese and make questionable life choices, this book does indeed have cheese and questionable life choices.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS! I had a serious case of FOMO and just had to participate in the trend of reading about shifter cheese romance. I did not think it would be as amazing as it was. I was absolutely on the edge of my seat as I kept turning pages and needed to know what would happen next.

This is the book I didn't know I needed but definitely enjoyed more than a single review can convey!