The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett

Thank you Harlequin for my gifted review copy of The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett. This post may contain links to purchase books & you can read our affiliate disclosure here. 

The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett is a must read! A grumpy-sunshine F/F romance featuring a reality TV star chef and a restaurant owner makes for a tender, emotional and sexy read!

You can read my author interview with Ruby Barrett here. 

Synopsis for The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett

A fiery restaurant owner falls for her enigmatic head chef in this charming, emotional romance 

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.

Book Review: The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett

First, I’m a sucker for any romance with a celebrity element. Add in the fact that I’m a Top Chef superfan and The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett is chef’s kiss. Amy and Sophie are both grappling with a lot. Amy is struggling to keep her restaurant running. She is depending on Sophie to help bring in the patrons. Failure is not an option for Amy. She is headstrong, steadfast, determined and laser focused. All my Type A babies (like myself) may find a kindred spirit in Amy.

Sophie is contending with her identity as a queer woman. Add in new found fame, navigating social media and attempting to make a name for herself within the culinary industry, she is trying to keep her head above water.

Ruby alternates between Sophie and Amy’s points of view. This fits so perfectly with the narrative because we get to know each other them intimately. We learn their struggles, their fears and really get to see everything they’re facing.

THE VERDICT

I am Really Into This book! I loved every word of it. The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett is higher on steam and has tender and beautiful open door romance scenes. You’ll root for these characters, just like I did. And you know what else? You’ll fall in love with Ruby’s writing.

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About Ruby Barrett:

Ruby Barrett writes steamy romances about big feelings, featuring but not limited to: soft boys, angry girls who are secretly soft, and hot sex. Ruby is inspired by the intimate details of everyday life and always being the thirstiest friend in the group chat. Mutual pleasure, pining, and healing are common themes in her romances.

Before she was a romance author, Ruby worked as a groom on a horse farm, a cigarette package warning label researcher for the Canadian Cancer Society, an essayist for a millennial parenting website, and a matchmaker where she was really good at meeting new clients but terrible at creating matches. 

When she’s not writing, Ruby can be found at the gym, lifting heavy things and battling toxic masculinity one gym bro at a time. And, of course, she is always reading romance. She is a bi woman who lives in Ottawa, Canada where she gets her own happily ever after with her husband and daughter.