A Taste For Love | ARC Review

Synopsis

To her friends, high school senior Liza Yang is nearly perfect. Smart, kind, and pretty, she dreams big and never shies away from a challenge. But to her mom, Liza is anything but. Compared to her older sister Jeannie, Liza is stubborn, rebellious, and worst of all, determined to push back against all of Mrs. Yang’s traditional values, especially when it comes to dating.

The one thing mother and daughter do agree on is their love of baking. Mrs. Yang is the owner of Houston’s popular Yin & Yang Bakery. With college just around the corner, Liza agrees to help out at the bakery’s annual junior competition to prove to her mom that she’s more than her rebellious tendencies once and for all. But when Liza arrives on the first day of the bake-off, she realizes there’s a catch: all of the contestants are young Asian American men her mother has handpicked for Liza to date.

The bachelorette situation Liza has found herself in is made even worse when she happens to be grudgingly attracted to one of the contestants; the stoic, impenetrable, annoyingly hot James Wong. As she battles against her feelings for James, and for her mother’s approval, Liza begins to realize there’s no tried and true recipe for love.

Review

This loose Pride and Prejudice retelling had me laughing, loving, and wishing I could bake all the food mentioned.

I didn’t realize this was kinda a loose retelling until about halfway through. Things began to sound familiar and that’s when I realized it kinda sounded like Pride and Prejudice. Like I said before, it’s a pretty loose retelling so there are still plenty of surprises and things that happen that I didn’t expect.

I really liked all of the characters in this book, but I think I especially loved all the baking contestants that were introduced. Some I didn’t get to know very well due to them being eliminated from the competition early or whatnot, but I like those I did get to know. They were all very different and a lot of fun to read about. I laughed out loud multiple times throughout the book due to them and their antics. I just really loved the competition portion of this book.

Along those lines, the competition (which I thought was kinda the main plot point of the book) doesn’t even begin until about halfway through the book. The first half, while important in getting to know some main characters, didn’t really seem to have a point? It wasn’t boring per say, but I kept waiting until the “real story” began.

Lastly, I should probably mention the romance. For the most part, I really enjoyed it. We get to see lots of main characters in relationships, both new and old, which is fun. I wasn’t completely sucked in by our main character, Liza’s, romance. It was cute and made me smile, but it wasn’t anything amazing.

Overall, I’d recommend this book for those who enjoy sweet romances especially when they involve food!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating

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