The adage goes that the way to a person's heart is through their stomach and Ruby Barrett embraces that with this sizzling restaurant romance."
- Entertainment Weekly
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.
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A note on content warnings:
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The Romance Recipe deals with homophobia (experienced off-page), and emotional abuse from parents. There is explicit sex and bi and lesbian rep in this book.
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Praise for THE ROMANCE RECIPE
Included in Autostraddle's 49 Queer and Feminist Books Coming Out Summer 2022
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One of Popsugar's 101 Romance Novels to Spice Up Your Summer
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"Simply put The Romance Recipe is a treat." - USA Today, 4/4 starred review
"Sensual feasts abound, both in luscious culinary creations and detailed sex scenes, as Barrett masterfully portrays the sensation of infatuation growing into true love." - Book Page
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"A down-to-earth queer romance." - Publishers Weekly
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"Publisher Carina Adores never fails to deliver gems of LBGTQ+ romance, and we're certain The Romance Recipe will be another entry on your keeper shelf." - Entertainment Weekly
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"Simply delicious! Amy and Sophie’s chemistry sizzles across the pages. Barrett deftly balances high-heat with softness across a story about accepting every inch of yourself and being brave enough to let other people see beyond the surface." - Rosie Danan, author of The Roommate and The Intimacy Experiment
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"In her debut, Ruby Barrett wrote one of my favorite romance heroes of all time, but it's her heroines who shine in The Romance Recipe. A prickly restaurant owner butts heads with her new chef in this steamy f/f romance, which will be the perfect way to celebrate Pride when it publishes this June." - Meryl Wilsner, author of Something to Talk About and Mistakes Were Made