[Review] Love à la Mode - Stephanie Kate Strohm

Summary: Rosie Radeke firmly believes that happiness can be found at the bottom of a mixing bowl. But she never expected that she, a random nobody from East Liberty, Ohio, would be accepted to celebrity chef Denis Laurent's school in Paris, the most prestigious cooking program for teens in the entire world. Life in Paris, however, isn't all cream puffs and crepes. Faced with a challenging curriculum and a nightmare professor, Rosie begins to doubt her dishes.
Henry Yi grew up in his dad's restaurant in Chicago, and his lifelong love affair with food landed him a coveted spot in Chef Laurent's school. He quickly connects with Rosie, but academic pressure from home and his jealousy over Rosie's growing friendship with gorgeous bad-boy baker Bodie Tal makes Henry lash out and push his dream girl away.
Desperate to prove themselves, Rosie and Henry cook like never before while sparks fly between them. But as they reach their breaking points, they wonder whether they have what it takes to become real chefs.
Perfect for lovers of Chopped Teen Tournament and Kids Baking Championship, as well as anyone who dreams of a romantic trip to France, Love à la Mode follows Rosie and Henry as they fall in love with food, with Paris, and ultimately, with each other. (Pub Date: Nov 27, 2018)
 

3.5, rounded up to 4 stars, because Strohm's style is always worth it.

Rosie and Henry share a passion for cooking, although the two come from very different backgrounds. Together with kids from all over the world, they have enrolled into a famous cooking school in Paris for a whole year.

This is a little bit Anna and the French Kiss, but the romance isn't as involving. As I mentioned, it's the author's style that makes it all worth it. While the romance was basically needless drama when it was obvious they liked each other, all the rest made me fall in love.

First, all the cooking. I don't cook but the necessary to survive, and I'm not into cooking shows. Still, the descriptions made me even consider cooking can be something else. I remember there was one sitting I closed the book (well, put my kindle on standby) and went to the kitchen to make me something. So this part was definitely fun.

But if you haven't read anything by Strohm, you should know the way she narrates is always interesting. She knows to make great characters and jokes. This book was no exception, even if not her strongest.

The romance was nice, the two had chemistry and the love triangle wasn't that bad, just the conflicts that made the story drag a little. Which is strange, because they didn't seem forced, I could see where they came from. But they ended up in arguments I've seen too much of already and made me roll my eyes more than a couple of times.

You'll have lots of fun as long as your only thing is romance—then I'll have to say this book will feel underwhelming.

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.


Rating: 4 out of 5.