The Slowest Burn

LoveReading Says

Cookbook writer Ellie is trying to be efficient and independent, yet still living in the shadow of her deceased husband. Chef Kieran — aka ‘the Happy Leprechaun Pirate’ (quite a mouthful) — has just won a cooking tv competition, but hates his public branding, and worries his dyslexia and ADHD will make writing a book impossible. Together, they get off the wrong foot, but of course will end up being exactly the contrast the dish needed.

It cleverly combines many romcom tropes, including enemies to lovers, fake dating, and forced proximity, and romance genre superfans can enjoy the meta/self-aware references that the characters make — Ellie is herself a reader of romances, and I enjoyed the recurring joke about whether or not they have to share the ‘one bed’ on their writing retreat or in Kieran’s flat. Kieran does at one point literally Save the Cat. 

I really looked forward to reading on, and the characters have lingered in my mind a lot, even days after finishing the novel. Paul Hollywood would give it a handshake. 

Reviewed by Billy Lindon
Lily Lindon (Billy) is a writer, editor, and bookseller living in London.
More reviews by Billy Lindon

About The Slowest Burn

Business or Pleasure meets Evvie Drake Starts Over in this delicious opposites-attract romance from debut author Sarah Chamberlain.Ellie Wasserman's life is neat and tidy, and that's exactly how she wants it. Really. A top ghostwriter for celebrity cookbooks, she was widowed three years ago and has no interest in taking chances--not on writing her own cookbook, not on telling her still-grieving in-laws she wants to move out, and certainly not on dating, which is about as intimidating as a recipe with fifty steps. Kieran O'Neill isn't known for being organized. An up-and-coming chef who scored big on a reality television competition, he's been the guy who cracks jokes and makes messes--something his chilly family has never let him forget. The only place he feels truly capable is at the stove. But when he's paired with an uptight ghostwriter with cool blue eyes and distracting curves to write his debut cookbook, she shreds his class clown act like a paring knife cuts orange peel. As Ellie and Kieran are forced to work closely together in a hot kitchen for weeks on end, their sharp edges and harsh judgments slowly soften and sweeten into a wildly delicious attraction. Long, steamy days turn into even steamier nights, but they have to face their painful pasts to know if this tender new love can transform into something lasting.

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