ARC Review:This is Ruby's second novel, and I read this ARC before I read the first one but now have read both. I was pleased to realize as I went back and read Hot Copy that one of the MCs in this sapphic romance was a side character in it. I'd advise reading them in publication order just to have an introduction and a bit of backstory on Amy, but you don't need to.
Amy owns a restaurant on her own after her business partner left. She has hired a celebrity chef who is not only a great cook and a draw to restaurant goers because of her previous experience on a cooking show, but is also a distraction because of how attractive she is. Little does she know that the chef, Sophie, is longing for her too even though they currently don't really get along. Sophie is just now exploring the fact that she is not straight like she always thought she was. They decide to call a truce and be a team when the opportunity to film a new food-based show presents itself, even though Sophie doesn't want to be back in the spotlight. As they spend more time together the tension grows, and so do feelings.
I really enjoyed this book, both for the LGBTQ+ rep and the careful exploration of sexuality in mid adulthood vs as a teen or young adult. I think Ruby did a very good job with these characters, and oh boy can she write a steamy scene! Ruby will definitely be a must-read for me moving forward and I already pre-ordered my own print copy of this book. Bonus: she is Canadian like me and a lovely person!
Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. Make sure to watch for this book when it is released July 12/22.

Reread: I love this book. It means so much to me. Held up wonderfully as a re-read. Here were my thoughts the first time around: "I really enjoyed this book, both for the LGBTQ+ rep and the careful exploration of sexuality in mid adulthood vs as a teen or young adult. I think Ruby did a very good job with these characters, and oh boy can she write a steamy scene! Ruby will definitely be a must-read for me moving forward, and bonus: she is Canadian like me and a lovely person!"

Reread 2025: I first read this as an arc, and this is now my third reading, and it's still just so good! I wasn't out when I read it the last times and couldn't really say why this book means so much to me. Now I can, and that in itself has me tearing up. One MC, Amy, is running her restaurant, confident in herself and her sexuality but hiding exactly how much the restaurant is struggling. The other MC, her head chef Sophie, has just realized/acknowledged/embraced that she is bisexual, has broken off her engagement with a man she met while filming a cooking competition show. Both women are trying to stay in denial about their crushes on the other, eventually fail at it and spicy time and feelings take place. I liked the restaurant setting, the side plot of them potentially being on a new show, and the realistic struggle of figuring out being together while being business partners, etc. But what I loved the most, was Sophie's character and journey. I read it while I was also a "later in life queer" person and the thoughts Sophie had about herself were affirming to me that yes, I am queer and it's okay that I'm just figuring it out in my 30s. Those words, read during a time that I hadn't really told many people and was still very much in that internal identity crisis spiral, made me feel less alone; for that, this book will always mean a lot to me and will be one that I continue to reread. Even the fact that normally I can rip through a romance book in a day or two but I took four days to read it this time because I felt so immersed and wanted to savor it, speaks volumes. Thank you, Ruby Barrett, for this story.