This reads like a fanfiction written by a fledgling 15 year old… girl needs an editor. It falls into the trap that is Mary Sue as heck and suffers telling the story vs showing it problem. I would not recommend, however I did finish so it gets 2 stars.

Knives, Seasoning, & A Aash of Love gives you all the sweet rom com feels. With two chef mcs this book mixes grumpy x sunshine and workplace romance so perfectly. The dynamic between Eden and Alexander made this book so fun to read and nearly impossible to put down.

I love the development of these characters. Not only are they facing their own challenges while supporting eachother, they truly build together. Their chemistry is so beautifully written. The friendships from the supporting characters added so much to their story.


Kwan address some harder topics with such grace and sensitivity. You are really shown some struggles in the culinary world, including racism and burn out. One of the best aspects to this book is seeing the mcs and the supporting characters supporting eachother through these issues.

Katrina Kwan’s debut novel is a satisfying and spicy novel filled with lots of delicious tension!

The book focuses on Alexander Chen, one of the most talented chefs in the industry and his newly hired sous chef, Eden Monroe. Eden… maaaay have embellished her resumé a bit (ok a lot) to get the job, but she was desperate. Alexander is extremely hard working and expects nothing but perfection in his kitchen and quickly finds himself butting heads with Eden more frequently than anyone else. There’s definitely something spicy cooking up between them, but is it loooove?

The writing style is just so witty and fun in this book! Katrina does an excellent job of setting up the plot and it shows in how well the story flows. Plus, the chef-y details are accurate which makes me, a culinary management graduate, quite happy.

Eden and Alexander have EXTREME amounts of chemistry. Like, woah. Spicy!!! I was expecting my kindle to catch fire at points. The pair of them work SO WELL together both on the line and off.

Plus, the side characters are all very well fleshed out and add to the overall enjoyment of this book! I just love this book you guys. It’s soooo good.

If you want a fun, engaging romcom that features food (and who doesn’t want that!) and spice then I HIGHLY recommend you check this book out! It’s amazing. You won’t regret it!

Thanks to Penguin Random House, NetGalley and Katrina Kwan for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.

RATING AND OVERALL THOUGHTS:

3.75 stars. This book is like a dessert that has lots of sweetness and spicy topping but suffers from a pinch too much salt.

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD

---

“Just because things are hard right now, that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up on you. You were there for me, and now I’m going to be here for you.”

“In the end, it didn’t even matter how much he sharpened his knives or how well he seasoned his dishes. He realizes now that he was a secret ingredient all along: a little dash of love.”

WHAT I LOVED:

- I did actually really like all the characters. They were played off really well. I love how the MCs were two sides of the same coin in both personality and their trauma.
- I love how they both took care of each other at their lowest. Some of the best moments were during these scenes.
- I always love found family and this cast was amazing.
- Loved the descriptions of food. It made me *so hungry*.
- Alexander/Shang’s pinch point was given the proper attention except for the uncle. The dialogue on that was a bit weird I think. The sentiment was there though.
- I loved that they opened up their own restaurant and that it was featuring all their comfort foods. I am proud of myself for calling it early that they would open a restaurant together.
- The descriptions of depression and the feelings of being worthless hit hard. Really both of their emotions during their lowest moments were so raw.
- The multiple epilogues and the bonus chapter were just so cute!

WHAT I DISLIKED:

- The instalove is fine, its the lack of the plot afterwards that was a problem. It was like a mozzarella stick that half the cheese filling fell out while cooking. Empty pockets of cheese filled with air. I also thought the progression of their relationship had happened over a longer period of time but it was like less than two months. I think it could’ve benefited if there had been more time that passed even if it was mentioned in passing.
- There was absolutely no reason to have that many scenes with the doctor to talk about STI’s and contraceptives. Honestly none of that was needed. More time was spent on this than Eden’s own backstory coming to a head.
- There were more sex scenes than needed (again empty air), the dialogue during it was cringe.
- Eden’s pinch point could’ve been solved for muchhhhhhhh cheaper and faster. Like girlypop didn’t think to put out ads in the newspapers in her town, do an Ancestry test, social media scouring, actually go to her hometown, *anything* before hiring a hot shot PI? Like Hector did some sleuthing on her without hiring a PI and dug up dirt. On top of that it was so anti-climatic during it.
- I didn’t like Eden deadnamed him not once but *twice* during an argument. Sure there is the argument that he truly didn’t want to be called Alexander but at the time he didn’t *know* that and not respecting his wishes was too much. I feel like she was forgiven to quickly for that. Maybe I took this personally since I struggle still with people not making the switch to call me by my middle name, a name that has always been there.
- There were a lot of chapters that were just mindless padding and added nothing to the story.
- Can authors stop with the redhead disses? Its 2024. I am not even a redhead.
- I also need all authors to remove *mewl* from their lexicon.
- As much as I love Sebastian and Hector getting their just deserts, the confrontation with them had the same energy as trying to be explosions in the background as the MCs walked off.

WHAT I AM NOT SURE ABOUT/WANTED MORE OF:

- This had just as many health code violations as Ratatouille.
- The MMC smokes. Just ew. This is just a personal ick.
- It needed editing. Especially with transitions to a new scene. It was abrupt several times and I had to reread just to reorient myself. Like one moment they were in the car and then it jumped to him being in his own bed without even a simple, “And they walked into her apartment where she explained xyz to him before he went home.” It happened multiple times.
- Not sure how they spent a bunch of time without jobs after quitting La Rouge with no income coming in and then being able to just buy a restaurant and fix it up but sure, okay.

High end restaurant story. High energy is needed to keep the kitchen in good working order. But Alexander is burnt out, tired of the stress. The owner is demanding and uses ultimatums to keep the kitchen is upheaval. Lying is immediate dismissal. The new sous chef adds calm to the kitchen and let a romance begin. A cute story, good setting and interesting interactions.

Rating: 3.5 (rounded up)
Did you catch up on all the episodes of 'The Bear' and need to get your next fix with a "little dash of love?" Gather here!

“𝐸𝒹𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝒿𝓊𝒹𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝑜𝒹... 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎'𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝓌𝑜 𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓇𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝒹𝒾𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒.
𝒮𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓇𝒶𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝓅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑒𝓃𝓉, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹.
𝒜𝓁𝑒𝓍𝒶𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓈--- 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁--- 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝒹𝒾𝒸𝓀, 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓉.”

As someone who wants an IV drip of grumpy x sunshine every day if I could, this story did the trick. I enjoyed the tension between the two main characters from the beginning to the point I wish it lasted a bit longer (but I also understand the direction since this story wasn't just about the romance, there was so much more to unpack here). Also, I would NOT classify this book as an enemies to lovers (in case you are going into this book excited about that trope). I enjoyed the workplace in the romance in the restaurant setting to the point I think I will be seeking out more books with that trope to itch that itch again. There is also a lot of spicy talk between the two characters so if that is your thing, extra points. The play on "hunger" for food and each other was played so beautifully between them.

The details the author put into selling the setting with the food descriptions had me feeling like I was watching a behind-the-scenes documentary of a haute cuisine kitchen always maintaining that balance of chaotic harmony. Honestly, I am warning you about reading this at night without a snack because I was absolutely in pain from craving everything they were making. The cultural cuisine references also made me so happy! So much of our culture is in the food and the author did an amazing job representing that while making it fun to read about.

Aside from the romance and food, the story also hits on some heavy topics related to cultural identity and abandonment issues. The book represents thought topics to focus on, but I felt like some of the issues just got rushed and resolved towards the end. I would have appreciated more focus on these heavy topics rather than feeling like it was being swept to get to an ending. Also, this is more of a personal reading preference, but having dual POVs that alternated often with a 3rd person POV was a bit jarring to start. Eventually, I got used to the writing, but it was an interesting take.

Overall, this was my first read from this author and I'm looking forward to more things from her! And thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC.

If this book were a dish, it'd be white rice with plain chicken breast. Healthy, nutritious, but profoundly bland and unexciting. No salt, no seasonings, no flavor. Food but not a meal.

The book was structed in alternating POVs between Eden and Alexander, our two main characters, and written in 3rd person in such a way that I could hear Sir David Attenborough in my mind narrating everything in his world-famous nature documentary style. Needless to say, I struggled to get into this book.

And going back to my culinary analogy, just like chicken and rice can be plain and tasteless or insanely flavorful and mouthwatering depending on how they're prepared, this book too had the ingredients for a delicious meal but failed on the execution of the dish.

First, it went too hard on the insta-love. Second, it presented serious issues that were barely explored—just exploited as plot devices and promptly swept under the rug once they'd served their purpose. Third, it was simply not properly set up to provide the emotional journey it intended to deliver. And fourth, and least important, there were some seriously outdated pop culture references (which could have been fun in the right context, but felt cringe here).

Eden had some abandonment trauma that was seriously deep seated but conspicuously ignored. Alexander had his own emotional issues that got barely acknowledged until it was needed for the plot to move forward. They both had significant baggage and needed some real help from a therapist, but their struggles came and went and never got properly addressed.

I like lighthearted books, I like angsty books, but they're distinct and separate for a reason. You can't make light of emotionally heavy experiences that leave behind deep wounds just as you can't cheapen serious experiences just to throw in a little drama into an otherwise cheery and cute story. You end up with something weird and unpleasant, like adding salt instead of sugar to a cup of coffee.

More time should have been dedicated to explore and delve into the events that'd scarred our protagonists and how it'd affected their adult lives, since their own personal struggles were the one thing that negatively affected and almost ended their relationship. I needed more insight into their psyches, so that when it finally came time for them to confront and overcome their issues, there would have been a sense of victory and accomplishment. Either that, or a lighter obstacle should have been picked for them to conquer if it wasn't going to be developed properly.

In the end, there were knives, there was love, but the seasoning was sadly missing.

I enjoyed the spice in this one. Workplace romance always adds an air of taboo to the story. Making out in the walk-in freezer and sneaking around on their day off. I definitely enjoyed those scenes.

Other than those scenes, the story felt inconsistent. It seemed like the main characters changed personalities and motivations frequently. The MMC definitely had the “grumpy for everyone but her” thing going. But even that didn’t last. And the FMC had a lot of unresolved trauma that seemingly just resolved itself in the end. The ending was very rushed.

I wanted to enjoy this one, and I really liked the setting. But it ended up not being my favorite.

Thank you to Netgalley for my review copy.

3.5 ⭐ 

This was quite good. I got a really Kdrama-esque feeling with endearing characters, Asian representation and cutesy romance

* Grumpy x sunshine
* Workplace romance
* Restaurant setting: Lots of food descriptions
* Taking care of sick FMC
* Who hurt you
* If you loved Pasta Kdrama
* Asian representation
* Spice 3/5
* Small mystery subplot
* Talks about Racism 

It was so good from the beginning, I really enjoyed the whole workplace setting and heroine being innately talented and the food descriptions. Their banter and chemistry was also good. But I didn't like the hypocrisy that Shang showed, even though they themselves recognize that, still it doesn't make it justifiable.

Thanks to netgalley and PRH for the eARC

I loved this book so much! The banter! I didn't know chefs could be so hot! I love workplace romances and Katrina Kwan did an amazing job at writing this one! I also love the whole black cat v golden retriever energy between Alexander/Shang and Eden! 10/10 recommend!

Having read some pretty hefty fantasy books recently I decided I needed a palate cleanser (pun fully intended), and what popped up on my feed but this spicy workplace romance. Lovers of The Bear are absolutely going to want to check this book out and, apart from the romance being a little too quick for me, I was absolutely fed... I'm sorry, I promise I will stop with the puns!

The story follows Alexander Chen, celebrity chef whose known to have a hot temper and not be the most fun to work with, and Eden Monroe, his newly hired Sous chef who may have fibbed slightly to get the job. These two characters are carrying a whole boat load of baggage with them. Alexander is dealing with a crisis of identity, not only to do with his job as a chef, but also his cultural identity, and Eden is searching for the parents she lost as a child. Alexander is your typical brooding, hot headed... and plenty hot under the collar love interest, but he was also so incredibly well developed as his own character. It may take him a while to open up, to reveal his issues, but once he does it's easy to empathise with him and the situation he finds himself in now. Eden on the other hand is bubbly and personable, someone that knows how effective positive reinforcement can be in the workplace. She desperately needs this job to pay for an investigator and will do whatever it takes to keep it.

Any other foodie's out there. Honestly the descriptions of the food in this book had me slavering at the mouth, and Kwan really nails the tension and absolute precision chaos of a haute cuisine kitchen. She shows the expectations, not only on Alexander, but on the staff below him as well, how one bad review can end a kitchen and it's chef forever. As someone who has binge watched The Bear more times than I would like to admit I was absolutely loving the vibes from this one, and I really think that Kwan did her research into the industry and just how cut throat it can be.

It's a story that's romance heavy, but it's also one that deals with some pretty hard hitting topics, such as identity, racism, abandonment. Her two main characters have some pretty heavy triggers and are carrying boat loads of baggage between them. Alexander dealing with his identity, not really knowing who he is anymore, where he fits, and Eden dealing with some pretty heavy abandonment issues, both of these come to a head in their own ways, both add strain to the relationship, almost break it apart, but Kwan allows them to work through the issues, separately and as a pair, showing that some things you just need to do on your own before you can be ready to share.

And now for the romance. Whooo boy was it steamy and filled to the brim with tension... you could quite literally cut it with a knife. Peak grump/sunshine where he is an absolute simp for her and calls her sweetheart in the most endearing and hot way. Honestly I adored these two together, the workplace tension bleeding into something more was so well developed and my only gripe was they got together too early because I just wanted more tension and drama. They really were perfect for each other, Eden never needing Alexander to be anything other than himself and him knowing that now he's had her, he could never leave. They really compliment one another, not only in the bed, but also in the kitchen and I really enjoyed the peak almost erotic domesticity they bring to the workplace once they get together.

This was the absolute perfect read to pick up after so many heavy fantasy's. It's not a truly lightweight read, there's plenty of depth to the characters and their lives aren't what I would call easy, but it was still such a fun read, one that had me grinning like an idiot at our two MC's antics. I polished it off in one sitting and will absolutely be checking out Kwan's other works because I think I may have found a new romance author who I love.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Knives, Seasoning and a Dash of Love by Katrina Kwan is a third person dual-POV interracial workplace romance novel. Alexander Chen is a well-respected young chef in the French haute cuisine scene and struggling to find his spark for cooking again. Eden Monroe needs a job as a sous chef to help fund her search for her missing parents. When Alexander hires Eden, sparks fly as her bubbly nature sands down his edges and he gives her the positive attention she’s been missing.

The novel is more Alexander’s story and I was really happy about that because I haven’t read a romance genre novel that had more of a focus on the man’s POV in a while. I love exploring the rich inner world of both characters and seeing how characters from different backgrounds might deal with stress. Alexander’s vice is the occasional cigarette and a friends-with-benefits situation with another chef in the area. Beyond his job, Alexander has also been dealing with racism in the haute cuisine community, including from his boss and mentor who convinced him to take a stage name instead of using his given name, Shang.

Eden’s inner world is also explored through her love of fusion cuisine, her shared past with Alexander, and her friendship with several coworkers. In culinary school, Alexander and Eden were in the same class, but Eden had to drop out, completely stalling her career and her mission to find her parents. Despite all of that, Eden tries to keep things positive and is incredibly kind to the people around her until they push her too hard.

I am always a sucker for female characters being attracted to the large hands of their male love interests and that did indeed show up. So did a large size difference between Alexander and Eden and very spicy talk between them. This is probably a 3.5 or 4 on the spiciness level and will appeal to readers who enjoy those tropes in their romances.

Content warning for depictions of racism and sexism
I would recommend this to readers of romance looking for an exploration of racism and sexism, fans of spicier workplace romances, and those looking for a romance with an interracial couple that calls out racism.

This book is perfect for fans of The Bear!

Alexander Chen is a moody and mysterious celebrity chef that can have a bit of a temper at times. Eden Monroe has a passion for cooking, but an embellished resumé that helped her land a job at La Rouge. However, Eden would stop at nothing to make enough money to save up for the private detective she so desperately needs to hire even if it means telling a few little lies. Her and Alex’s clashing personalities find them butting heads a lot in the kitchen. Is that just the name of the game, or is it something more?

I think we got touches of the grumpy x sunshine trope with Alexander and Eden’s relationship, especially in the kitchen. Eden was able to balance out Alexander’s outbursts with compassion and encouragement to keep the staff going. I think the both of them do share that desire to reconnect with their family, but Eden was the first (and most willing) to open up about it. However, once Alexander/Shang did it was really great to see him rekindle his relationships. I love Eden’s dedication and willingness to work hard!

I requested this book because I knew it was a reylo fanfiction first, and if you know me you know that I LOVE reylo. However, I found that it was sort of very obvious that this was reylo. The side characters all had the same first letters as the original characters from the movies, and basically the same personality traits. I’m not saying that’s necessarily bad! It just had me thinking of the Star Wars movies the whole time and of all the similarities hahaha.

The third act conflict seemed sort of forced and rushed in my opinion. It kind of came out of nowhere and resolved super quickly.

Overall, I thought this was a fun easy read! If you love cooking, shows like The Bear, and cute romances, you’ll love this book!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC!!

A mixture of The Bear and your favorite romantic comedy, this book had it all. I loved the characters, especially the sarcastic humor of Eden. It was well-written and a ton of fun to read. I devoured it in 2 days.

Wow! Wow!! Wow!!!
Heaven knows I am a sucker for sweet romance.
Head chef, Alexander Chen is a perfectionist and a control freak in the kitchen, everything must be in its place and one step out of line? All hell breaks loose.
Haven won three Michelin stars for La Rounge, he is a king in the kitchen and he knows it. But right now he is in a tight spot and needs a sous chef desperately so in comes Eden Munroe, a total opposite of his personality and the sparks are flying.
Both have their personal demon though, which they need to confront, Alexander has been estranged from his family for good ten years and Eden has been saving every penny to be able to hire a private investigator to find her parents who had not showed up to pick her up from school when she was five.
Will they get the answers they seek? Grab a copy to find out!

Knives, seasoning and a dash of love had my toes curling and my heart racing the entire time.
I simply loved it.

Eden puede replicar cualquier platillo después de verlo 2 veces y ademas tiene un paladar excelente. No terminó sus estudios como chef por lo que miente en su currículum y cuando entra a trabajar al restaurante de un viejo compañero de la escuela culinaria, piensa que la despedirán, pero la suerte está de su lado y Xan no la recuerda.

Alexander es un famoso chef que ha perdido su pasión y amor por la comida, cuando Eden es contratada, empieza a sentir de nuevo esa chispa que pensaba estaba estaba perdida.




Ambos tienen actitud inmaduras, sin embargo, se dan cuenta, piden disculpas y aprenden de sus actos.






Spoilers ⚠️ ⚠️
Él está con otra persona o mejor dicho tiene un acuerdo para satisfacer sus necesidades y hay una escena en donde tiene sexo con ella, pero cuando se da cuenta que le gusta Eden inmediatamente termina la relación y la chica le desea que todo le salga bien.



Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Knives, Seasoning, and a Dash of Love by Katrina Kwan will satisfy any need for a grumpy/sunshine chef romance. If you’re like me then you’ve been always binging shows like Top Chef and the Bear. This book really hits the spot for those vibes with me. We have Alexander and Eden as our MMC and FMC, both of whom are chefs. Alexander is a celebrity Michelin star chef who was in need of a new sous chef, and in comes Eden.

Throughout this book we see Eden thaw from of Alexander’s grumpiness and coldness. Alexander is kind of the stereotypical mean chef boss, but by working with Eden in the kitchen, a new sense of sunlight is brought in. Alexander’s character shows a lot of vulnerability in the story, which is a nice shift from a stereotypical male chef character. Watching Eden learn to trust was really great to see in the story as well. Both characters have their own traumas to work through and I really enjoyed how the author brought us the readers through that.

I’d say anyone who is looking for a Chef romance should give Knives, Seasoning, and a Dash of Love a try!

The author cooked with this one!!!
First of all I loved the setting I never read a book that takes place mostly in a restaurant and between two chefs so that was fun.
I really liked how strong willed eden was and how she didn't let people walk all over her and how she always spoke up for herself and how caring and thoughtful and Shang was,like when he took care of her when she was on her period🥹and also reading this while I was on my period and had no one to take care of me :(((.
I wish we explored our characters more tho I felt like they were kind of fleshed out and that made it kind of hard to connect to them but overall this was such a fun and easy romance I think I read it in like two settings and also please please please I needed a book about Peter he is so funny I love him!!!
Thank you netgalley,the author and the publisher for a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!!

What a great story! I loved meeting Eden and Shang, along with their friends Freddie, Peter, and Rina. The characters were very well described and drawn out. The scenes were very vivid. I enjoyed learning about their lives and how Eden and Shang got along.

This was a great read with an awesome ending!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Canada for allowing me to read this story. This is my honest review.

Alexander and Eden wrap you up in a big comfort food infused love sandwich. The characters go through their personal and professional challenges to finally land up with their happy ending. If you have ever watched any cooking shows and know how spicy and passionate things can get in a hurry mix that up with a love story and you have a perfect balance of delectable delight. Always happy to see my Reylo, rats succeed (IYKYK). Totally recommend this for anyone who enjoys love stories, and good food. Thank you Netgallery, Random House Canada, and Katrina Kwan for choosing me to be an arc reader for this book.