Clever, emotional and layered 💖

Kieran is a chef with ADHD and dyslexia. He’s just won a cooking show competition and scored a cookbook contract. Ellie is a ghost writer and needs the job. She’s also widowed and living with her in-laws. The title is a lovely pun on the way they cook together and the pace of their relationship. They’re at cross purposes from their first meeting where they start off really fighting - both being judgy and obtuse and my heart ached for them both - then the pace changes and it really started to get interesting ...

Kieran’s family dynamic is laid bare at the celebratory party - but they move on. Ellie's familial relationships are more complicated and harder for her to shift. This is a really thoughtful rumination on grief, obligation, family and gratitude and mental health and navigating expectations. Ellie is overwhelmed by the burden of her in-laws’ grief and they hold her so close.

There are tropes everywhere (fake dating - forced proximity - short king - plus sized - he falls first) and most of these are genre in-jokes so ultimately unimportant to this delicious love story.

There’s so many beautiful moments and turning points that become precious signposts in their lives - his new suit, cooking duck confit, the spinach, her ridiculous cat, the set down of Kieran’s mother. So many things to navigate between extended families and friendship groups. I also loved the genesis of the cookbook as they tested and developed recipes and found Kieran’s voice. There’s layers here and time passes as they do all the hard work on themselves so that when they finally, finally get together, it’s real and authentic. They are everything to each other - the language around food and sex overlap and I loved how they use all their senses to express themselves. Describing a level of steam feels a bit reductive because their emotional connection is so amazing.

Yes, I’m prattling on, but this book is a lot. It’s layered and textured and just so beautiful. There’s Jewishness and San Francisco and food words and grief stages which altogether bring comfort to them and to me. New author Sarah really lets the characters set the pace as they work through everything and we just have to keep up. The cover is beautiful and gives all the vibes you need to read this gorgeous debut.

Thank you NetGalley, Sarah Chamberlain and the publisher for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

Amazing. Thank you to netgalley and publisher for the early release.

Very sweet book. Love the characters

WARNING: There will be some minor spoilers.

The Slowest Burn is essentially 'The Bear' crossed with your typical romantic drama. I have a new found love for the 'chef' romance genre and its all thanks to this book.

Kieran and Ellie are both complex characters but so incredibly loveable. Kieran's struggled with ADHD are very relatable and perfectly written. There are so many elements that Sarah Chamberlain explores so expertly. The same goes for Ellie's innate sense of people pleasing; Hank's ineptitude is very typical of a second child who views the other sister as a pseudo-parent! I also truly felt Diane's grief throughout.

I love the story, the romance, the tropes... I do have to say, however, that I was not a fan of the references to Ellie being overweight. There were a few comments made without a lot of depth or conclusion to them. It's also worth noting that the woman on the cover of the book is not overweight, or in keeping with the comments made within...

That being said - I would happily reread this book and definitely recommend to others!

Many thanks to @LittleBrownBookGroup_UK , @sarahchamberlainauthor, and NetGalley for this ARC, which is published in the UK on 24 September. It's the author's debut novel, and the plot goes like this:

Ellie is a young widow who hasn't fully recovered from the sudden death of her husband: she's still living in her in-law's garden and cooking a celebratory dinner for her husband's friends, for example. She's a cookbook ghost-writer, who meets the client of her nightmares in Kieran, a sous-chef at one of the country's best restaurants and the recent winner of a television cooking show. Kieran is dyslexic and has ADHD, so despite having agreed to write a cookbook, he also wants to avoid all the work that goes with it. This leads to a lot of friction between the two, which leads to the duo being sent by the publisher to his country cottage...

And if you think you know where this is going, you would be both right and wrong. The book is titled The Slowest Burn for a reason, so there aren't any scenes with just one bed (thankfully - I always hated that trope). Instead, the characters slowly become friends, and the story develops from there with lots of personal development along the way.

I really enjoyed this. It's heart-warming, both characters are sympathetic, and the character development was realistic. Also, the author has herself written cookbooks, so the descriptions of food are wonderful. My mouth was watering most of the time as I read, and I wanted to make so many of the dishes (I'm definitely going to have a go at duck confit with orange and radicchio salad at some point). The only thing that could have made the food talk better would be having some of the recipes included at the back of the book. I hope that if you choose to read it that you enjoy it as much as I did.

The Slowest Burn
4⭐️

Publication date - 24th Sept

* Dual POV
* Workplace romance
* Enemies to lovers
* SLOW burn

Cooking contest winner, Kieran O’Neill, is on a high. He’s on track to open his first restaurant before he’s 30 and he’s also landed a high-paying cookbook deal. With his ADHD making planning and organising impossible, he’s struggling to communicate with his ghostwriter, Ellie Wasserman.
Ellie is a 30 year old widow, living in a guest house in the garden of her in-laws. She needs this ghostwriting job to be able to buy her own home and release her own cookbook.
Will the 2 of them be able to see eye to eye and make their dreams a reality?

It’s got a great plot, good character building and a lot of micro tropes popping in and out. The secondary characters are just as good as the main.

There’s a lot of pain and grief on both sides but Kieran and Ellie make it through the other side together (eventually 🙄)

This is definitely a SLOW burn where the characters only start to heat up about half way through but it’s definitely worth the read if you want a cute and easy palette cleanser.

Thank you @littlebrownbookgroup_uk & @netgalley for send me an early release.

THE SLOWEST BURN- SARAH
CHAMBERLAIN - ARC
The slowest burn was exactly that, the tension was built so tight. I really enjoyed the different aspects of the 2 MC's thoughts and how their brains work. The adhd side really spoke to me and I do love to see that representation in books. Makes me feel as though I'm not alone in my struggles.
The spice was there although minimum which is perfect for me!
I love how the storyline built up more walls, knocked them down and then built them even better than before.
I also love a book with a proper ending and I felt like I got that with this book. Although I wouldn't say no to Jay and Nicole's story!
@rachaelmcreads

The Slowest Burn follows the story of Kieran, an up-and-coming chef, and Ellie, the ghostwriter of his highly anticipated cookbook. After their first meeting leaves Ellie thinking that Kieran doesn't really care and Kieran thinking that Ellie is the most uptight woman on the planet, to say they are dreading having to work together is an understatement. However, after the publishers force them to spend a week together working on recipes, they forge a friendship that slowly, as the title suggests, turns into more. With both of them dealing with their own personal issues, they must learn to trust, love and most importantly, get the book finished by the deadline.

I loved this! I went into it expecting a cute, quick rom com, so the level of emotional investment I developed by as soon as the 20% mark caught me off guard! There is so much wonderful representation in this book for things including ADHD, grief, dyslexia and complex family relations which added to the already well-thought out plotline and truly made me root for the characters' success. I loved the way cooking was at the core of this book; it became a universal love language between the main characters when talking failed and this only added to the enjoyment I felt when reading. I was kicking my feet and giggling at points. I also am obsessed with Ellie as an FMC. I'm always here for real, outspoken, independent and brave women on my shelf. 100% recommend for all lovers of enemies to lovers, workplace romances, forced proximity, slow burn romances and acts of service.

thank you for the arc! i hope everyone runs to read it when it releases on the 24th September! xxx

This is a combination of my two favourite things: a beautifully written slow burn romance and gorgeous writing about food and cooking. Kieran and Ellie's relationship felt realistic, loving and they both clearly worked to be the right person for each other.

I loved Ben, Diane and Jay; I could quite happily read about them for hours. I loved that over the course of the book Ellie realised she had grown and changed but that it didn't invalidate her past or her choices. I loved the growth they showed together and my only complaint was that this book isn't part of a series, because this was a truly beautifully constructed and written world.

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for giving me this ARC to review.

As heart warming as your Grandma's secret cookie recipe, The Slowest Burn follows Ellie who joins with Kieran to be a ghost writer for his new cookbook after winning a Reality TV cooking show. The pair could not be further apart on the personality scale, or so their assumptions seem, where Kieran views Ellie as uptight and Ellie views Kieran as downright chaotic. But as time goes on and their inspirations for Kieran's cooking book slowly begins to appear, it would seem their assumptions of each other weren't so right after all and soon it is not just the kitchen that is cooking up a storm.

I rated this a 3-star as for me personally, I wanted something deeper to connect with the characters and the story line. But, I would still recommend this as an easy, heart-warming read that others would enjoy.

This just wasn’t my cup of tea at all. I didn’t feel anything for Ellie or Kieran, so when the fake dating idea came up, and they shared a kiss, I couldn’t care less about it. My interest in the story waned quickly after that.

The only good things I have to say about the story is it’s good to see ADHD and ace people represented in fiction, even if one of them is a side-character. I felt they were handled well, but I’m neither so I can’t tell for sure.

The plot had tons of potential, but fell short for me. If I had been focused more around the book throughout, then I might not have been put off, but the whole fake dating thing in the middle irked me.

I’m not the biggest fan of slow burns yet as soon as I found out about this book, it became one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I loved these characters and seeing them find their happy ending.

With both Kieran and Ellie having had a traumatic childhood, and with Ellie still recovering from the death of her husband a few years before, it’s fair to say both characters had a lot going on. Though they didn’t get along from the start, as soon as they started talking and getting to know and understanding each other, things quickly changed. All of this took a while but it was so nice to see it all happen and see them grow closer and fall in love. Not only did they have great chemistry, but their communication was also pretty good and after a while, I felt like they really understood each other.

I really liked both of their character developments. Ellie was an incredibly strong character; she was always there for her people and put them first, which unfortunately this meant the often forgot about herself. Seeing her grow more confident throughout the book (with the support of Kieran and her best friend Nicole) was so heartwarming and I loved that by the end of the book she was finally putting herself first and fighting for what she wanted. It can’t have been easy but she knew she had people around her who loved and supported her and thought it was painful to get to that point, it was 100% worth it.
Kieran’s struggles were a bit different (though not less valid); underneath the persona he created were a lot of insecurities and self-doubt. As he started opening up to Ellie and she adapted to his needs instead of berated him (as lots of people had done in the past and were still doing at that point), he realised he deserved better and I loved to see that. They truly made each other better.

Overall, this is a solid debut by Sarah Chamberlain and I look forward to seeing what she does next.

I throughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend others to read as well.

The story starts off when Ellie (FMC), who is a ghostwriter for cookbooks is tasked with writing a cookbook for Kieran (MMC). At first meeting they don’t get on. Ellie is organised and stickler for rules whereas Kieran is a free spirit. You follow the journey of them tackling the book together and throughout it learning about each other and slowly falling into a friendship and then something more.

I liked how this wasn’t just a romance, both MCs had their own baggage and were working on being better. Some of the characters (particularly her mother in law) did bug me. But this book showcased how grief isn’t linear and everyone copes in different ways.

I’d give it 3.75 stars ✨

Thank you Netgalley for providing the ARC!

This really was a slow burn which I realised is not one of my faves but it was still cute and fluffy! I prefer books with a bit more of a quicker pace with a lot going on within the story. However I did still enjoy this book and the characters were sweet. This was more of a cozy read to enjoy slowly, I did have the ARC copy through betgalley so thankyou netgalley

Thank you to Sarah Chamberlain and Little Brown Book Group for giving me a Netgalley digital arc of The Slowest Burn in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really enjoyed this slow burn romance of two enemies to lovers while navigating the complexities of loss.
The characters Ellie and Kieran are well written and you grow to admire the strength they both have as the book progresses. If you enjoy a slow build romance and the build up of a relationship then you will enjoy this book.

This book is what is says in the title and is a slow starter however I enjoyed this and felt that it was nessassary due to the relationships that the main character Ellie has and her need to care for those around her.

Thank you NetGalley, Little Brown Book Group, and Sarah Chamberlain for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Ellie and Kieran and I’m always up for an opposite attracts, enemies to lovers, and workplace romance.

Was it the best book I’ve ever read. No not even close but it sure as hell was entertaining

Thank you Netgalley and Little brown book group for my ARC copy.

When I first started this book I wasn't sure I wad going to like it but I ended up absolutely loving this book and binge reading it in a day. I loved the relationship between Kieran and Ellie and the growth of the characters in the book

I wasn't a lover of this book and ended up skim reading from about 50%. I feel like the burn wasn't as slow as the title implied and, unfortunately, following the description of Kieran, I could only picture him as Ed Sheeran, which.... Not a fan.

I liked the general storyline but didn't feel the chemistry between the two MCs and got bored halfway through.

Thank you to Sarah Chamberlain and Little Brown Book Group for giving me a Netgalley digital arc of The Slowest Burn in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Slowest Burn is a very sweet, entertaining opposite attract romance with great inclusive representation and a healing journey for the main characters who carry raw wounds of loss and being outcast. Sarah Chamberlain’s style of writing is engaging, well-paced and crafts a sweet, heartwarming romance around well-developed characters who complimented each other with personalities bring nice tension to the plot. Her description of the food was divine – I would have loved some of the recipes to be included in the book.

The romance is sweet, sizzling and slowing steaming the sexual tension between Kieran and Ellie. I think the character journeys were a little disappointing as I didn’t think the issues with their families were resolved but I did like they found acceptance through each other. The ending comes rather quickly leaving a couple of loose ends for me.

Overall, a sweet, tender read that is nicely written and perfect for a summer read to joy a slow pace of a day.

A fantastic slow burn, as the title implies, simmering as deliciously as a pot filled with the most fragrant ingredients. A book that made me hungry on every page, eager to jump into the kitchen. Chamberlain deals with difficult topics, addiction, grief, self-worth, with delicate hands. Ellie and Keiran spend the book circling each other, the pot stirred until they overflow.
A heartwarming love letter to cooking, and to the love food can bring a family.

As soon as I read the premises for this book months and months ago, I know I wanted to read it. So when the chance came to request it, you’ve never seen me move so fast and I’m so glad I did.

This is such a sweet and sensitive read. I adored both Kieran and Ellie. They complemented each other so well and to see their love story progress through out the book fed my very soul. To see such love and patience and acceptance between the two was a privilege to read.

I wanted to speed through this and savour it at the same time but the story won and I sped through it. The author of this novel has gone straight on my auto buy list.