The Romance Recipe

By: Ruby Barrett

Narrated by: Chelsea Stephens, Natalie Naudus

Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

A LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST

"The feelings in this one are dialed up so high you almost can’t look at them directly: It would be like staring into the sun... Like Rosie Danan or Kate Clayborn, Barrett has a way of making palpable the full journey of a relationship" –New York Times

“Simply put, The Romance Recipe is a treat.” –USA TODAY

Amy Chambers: restaurant owner, micromanager, control freak.

Amy will do anything to revive her ailing restaurant, including hiring a former reality-show finalist with good connections and a lot to prove. But her hopes that Sophie’s skills and celebrity status would bring her restaurant back from the brink of failure are beginning to wane…

Sophie Brunet: grump in the kitchen/sunshine in the streets, took thirty years to figure out she was queer.

Sophie just wants to cook. She doesn’t want to constantly post on social media for her dead-in-the-water reality TV career, she doesn’t want to deal with Amy’s take-charge personality and she doesn’t want to think about what her attraction to her boss might mean…

Then, an opportunity: a new foodie TV show might provide the exposure they need. An uneasy truce is fine for starters, but making their dreams come true means making some personal and painful sacrifices and soon, there’s more than just the restaurant at stake.

Carina Adores is home to romantic love stories where LGBTQ+ characters find their happily-ever-afters.

Book 1: Hot Copy
Book 2: The Romance Recipe

©2022 Ruby Barrett (P)2022 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Enjoyable story with excellent narration

I totally enjoyed listening to The Romance Recipe. Ruby Barrett is a gifted writer. Chelsea Stephens and Natalie Naudus are fantastic narrators.

Good lez romcom

First listen with author Ruby Barrett. It was enjoyable, realistic and steamy in the right places. The voices were indistinguishable between each other, but clear audibly. Recommend and looking for more from Ruby Barrett.

LOOOOOVE IT

Absolutely a good and easy read(listen) the setting was realistic and easy to imagine, the plot was thick and juicy plus all the "sexy" scenes had me at yes, yes and YES! Loved the voice actors, my only complaint is I needed a little more depth on Sophie's background but other than that i have zero complaints, can't wait for more from this author.

Unanswered questions

Overall the book was ok. I felt like in some parts it dragged on a bit. Amy in my opinion was a bit much but I also understand why she behaved the way she did. There are definitely some parts in the book I felt the author left unanswered but maybe she did that on purpose.

Sweet queer romcom!

Such a sweet queer romcom about opposites attracting and finding your perfect match where you least expect it. Sophie is feeling adrift after ending her engagement because he wasn't supportive of her coming out as bisexual. She takes a job somewhere new, only to find herself devastatingly attracted to the restaurant owner despite her abrasive attitude.

These two find their way to each other even though life seems determined to keep them apart. Listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it!

It was okay

There was nothing really bad about it, but it felt a little too basic for me. Just another gay romance kinda vibe. I wasn't over the moon about it. It lacked a bit of greater subsence or relatability.

It's not a bad book though. If you want a simple chef romantic smut story, then go for it.

Not really for me

The book started amazing, but ended up being way too focused on sex for my liking (I get that not everybody feels that way, obviously). There were so many instances when I wanted the characters to talk, to share emotions and feelings, but where they ended up in just another sex scene that I unfortunately had to skip (again, not my thing, but if you like sex scenes you'll find your happiness here)
One thing that I really can't get past though is the sheer frustration felt when the two characters get in a fight over something so SO stupid (looking at you Amy, for god's sake). I almost dropped the book for good one hour before the end because I'm sick of always having to expect a stupid fight/quiproquo instead of a sweet and cheerful account of the two characters finally accepting their feelings for each other. Which kinda ended up happening at the very, very VERY end, but it felt rushed, undeserved and unsatisfying.
Those fights make me feel utterly miserable, and maybe I'm getting too invested in the books that I read, maybe I'm being too empathetic or something, or maybe not, but those fights can genuinely ruin my day and definitely ruin a book for me.

But then again, everybody else seems to love this book so don't take my sole advice. Apart from these points, I found the characters to be very likeable and the writing was really good, so if sex scenes and fights/quiproquos are something that you enjoy, you'll love this book

Sweet

Story of finding your true self later in life and the courage to be exactly who you always were. Narration was 👍🏽

Cute Read

Some parts felt unrealistic to me, but the story was cute and the characters were fun. Would have liked more spice personally lol.

I absolutely adored this book!!

It took me a hot second to get used to the back and forth between the two lead characters. But soon I was craving it!! Great story, HOT writing!!