Love & Other Disasters

         

Title: Love & Other Disasters

Author: Anita Kelly

Publisher: Forever, January 18, 2022

Pages: 385

Genre: LGBTQ+ Contemporary Romance

Recently divorced and on the verge of bankruptcy, Dahlia Woodson is ready to reinvent herself on the popular reality competition show Chef’s Special. Too bad the first memorable move she makes is falling flat on her face, sending fish tacos flying—not quite the fresh start she was hoping for. Still, she's focused on winning, until she meets someone she might want a future with more than she needs the prize money. 

After announcing their pronouns on national television, London Parker has enough on their mind without worrying about the klutzy competitor stationed in front of them. They’re there to prove the trolls—including a fellow contestant and their dad—wrong, and falling in love was never part of the plan.

As London and Dahlia get closer, reality starts to fall away. Goodbye, guilt about divorce, anxiety about uncertain futures, and stress from transphobia. Hello, hilarious shenanigans on set, wedding crashing, and spontaneous dips into the Pacific. But as the finale draws near, Dahlia and London’s steamy relationship starts to feel the heat both in and outside the kitchen—and they must figure out if they have the right ingredients for a happily ever after.

I am flying high after finishing this book. I don't remember exactly what put it on my radar, but when my library hold came up I reread the blurb. A hot queer woman and a hot nonbinary person get together on a cooking show?!?! Sign me the F up! 

I was not prepared for how validating this book would be to read. I am a queer woman. My partner is a nonbinary person. It was my favorite thing this year to read a book about that particular type of relationship. It helped a lot that the book was smoking hot and really good on top of all of that. But I super appreciate the representation!!!

Dahlia, this queer woman, is a WRECK. Like this baby is having a time. But she quits her job and jets off to LA to be on this cooking show. There she meets London. This audio engineer from Nashville who wants to start a LGBTQ+ nonprofit. There are so many antics. 

I was hungry the entire time I read this book. Every single food item discussed sounded incredible and I wanted to try it immediately. There is also food sex, which was hot in the book and absolutely sounds terrible if you would try to translate that to real life. Luckily they were in a hotel. Can you imagine trying to clean that up in your own bedroom?!?! Not for me.

There are some heavy themes in this book. They talk about divorce and transphobia. They touch on dealing with strained parental relationships. They also talk about what happens when you realize that you don't want children, and I would definitely call it a content warning for anyone who is dealing or has dealt with any infertility struggles. Or even if you dealt with blowback regarding your own choice of whether or not to have children. 

Even with some of the heavy themes, this book is hilarious. A fun, quick read. It gave me all of the comfort that I get from watching cooking shows. So if that's your jam, you'll like this too.

ETA: This was just as good upon the relisten. London really is swoony as all heck. Dahlia is just as much of a wreck, but also just as hot. Considering the themes dealt with, it's a shockingly cozy read. And I look forward to the rest of the series! I didn't know we were going to get more of these lovelies!

Ratings

Stars: 5/5

Spice: 4/5