Somewhere during the early few months of the year, I’ve been caught in the claws of the love bug and have been reading a ton of romances. While I haven’t been reviewing them here, they will make their appearances very soon. Here’s the first of many.
LOVE FROM SCRATCH
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Publishing Date: April 5, 2022
Synopsis:
This summer, Reese Camden is trading sweet tea and Southern hospitality for cold brew and crisp coastal air. She’s landed her dream marketing internship at Friends of Flavor, a wildly popular cooking channel in Seattle. The only problem? Benny Beneventi, the relentlessly charming, backwards-baseball-cap-wearing culinary intern–and her main competition for the fall job.
Reese’s plan to keep work a No Feelings Zone crumbles like a day-old muffin when she and Benny are thrown together for a video shoot that goes viral, making them the internet’s newest ship. Audiences are hungry for more, and their bosses at Friends of Flavor are happy to deliver. Soon Reese and Benny are in an all-out food war, churning homemade ice cream, twisting soft pretzels, breaking eggs in an omelet showdown–while hundreds of thousands of viewers watch.
Reese can’t deny the chemistry between her and Benny. But the more their rivalry heats up, the harder it is to keep love on the back burner…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kaitlyn Hill is a writer, reader, and sweet tea enthusiast who believes that all the world is not, in fact, a stage, but a romance novel waiting to happen. Her debut novel Love from Scratch comes out 4/5/22 from Delacorte Press/Penguin Random House.
Kaitlyn has a BA in Sociology/Anthropology and German Studies, which means that she can tell you way too much about the Communist Manifesto in Karl Marx’s mother tongue. Before landing on writing, she worked in roles from city government intern in a small German town to Haunted Mansion Maid at Walt Disney World, and most recently, at her hometown public library.
Aside from books, Kaitlyn’s favorite things are giraffes, ABBA, and excessively long naps. She lives with her real life romance hero in Lexington, Kentucky.
TOUR SCHEDULE
April 4th
The Candid Cover – Promotional Post
PopTheButterfly Reads – Review
Books We Lovee – Review
April 5th
Pages & Plots – Review
Book Notes by Athina – Promotional Post
Nine Bookish Lives – Promotional Post
April 6th
The Book Dutchesses – Interview
teatimelit – Review
Cindy’s Love of Books – Review
April 7th
Kait Plus Books – Interview
Phannie the ginger – Review & Playlist
Books With Michelle – Recipe Based on Love From Scratch
Books-N-Bullsh!t – Review & Mood Board
April 8th
Stuck in Fiction – Interview
Brinns Books – Review
Lost in Neverland – Review
April 9th
The Book View – Review & Mood Board
Midsummer Night’s Read – Review
Book Briefs – Review
April 10th
skavansieur – Review & Favorite Quotes
Book lovers book reviews – Promotional Post & Tik Tok
Jen Jen Reviews – Review
BOOK REVIEW
An e-ARC was provided by TBR and Beyond Tours Team, Kaitlyn Hill and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
As someone starting their internship soon, I’m so thrilled to be able to read this book.
I appreciate that as much as this book is a rivals-to-lovers rom-com, it focuses on feminism, women supporting women and misogyny in a workplace environment. I love the moments of banter and vulnerability and yet, sometimes I am filled with rage because of the situation they’re put in because of the suits.
Love from Scratch is definitely a quick read that I enjoyed every day for 4 days straight. There’s never a dull moment with Reese and her time in Friends of Flavor (which I always imagined as the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen). However, things aren’t great for Reese at FoF as she meets with misogyny in the upper management and cyber-bullies, all while competing with Benny for the fall culinary internship.
While her relationship with Benny is adorable, my favourite part is definitely the many settings in the book. I won’t give spoilers, but imagine what happens when a video shoot from an already famous platform of personalities goes viral. It definitely brought more to the storyline, and as someone who grew up watching a whole bunch of YouTube personalities, this feels so close to home.
I especially loved it when Reese called Benny (his nickname) as many “Ben” names as possible, Benjamin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benzoyl peroxide, Bento box, Ben… I would’ve started a riot at the missed opportunity. Overall, it’s an enjoyable, quick read but might not recommend it for those who have a past with cyberbullying.
5 FAVOURITE QUOTES
- “No, it was the voice of the troll that lives under the stove. He encourages you to feed me soon or he’ll kidnap your firstborn.”
- I wonder if there’s some kind of witness protection program for when the perpetrator is you and the crime is aggressive oversharing.
- “Good. When I win your affections,” Benny says, his displeasure at losing fading into a mischievous smile as he deliberately echoes my words from last week, “I want to know it’s fair and square.”
- “…But Katherine and I agree that most romance is actually, at its heart, about women asking for and getting what they want, whether it’s out of a partner, career, life in general.”
- “And I’m worried that when all the smoke and mirrors and cheesy lines are gone, you won’t like what’s left.”
SKAVANSIEUR 
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