Tag Archives: food porn
Book Review

Donut Fall In Love by Jackie Lau

Donut Fall in Love

Content warnings: Loss of a parent, post-partum depression Donut Fall in Love is a funny, flirty, foodie romance which deals with themes of grief and family in a very honest and thoughtful way. I liked the way that it explored serious themes and messy family dynamics while still being a fun, sweet, and often light-hearted read. Ryan Kwok is an actor whose abs regularly trend on Twitter. His most recent film was a flop, and … Continue reading Donut Fall In Love by Jackie Lau

Book Review

The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu

The Donut Trap

The Donut Trap is a New Adult romance with strong coming of age themes. Jasmine’s parents sacrificed and suffered so that their children would have better lives, but at times, Jasmine feels like she and her brother are the sacrifices. They feel bowed down under a weight of expectation and obligation, and the result is that they both resort to hiding important parts of their lives from their parents. A year or so after finishing … Continue reading The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu

Book Review

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker

Battle Royal

When I saw that one of my favourite comfort-read authors was writing a story that featured rival pastry chefs baking a royal wedding cake while also being judges on a show that is essentially the Great British Bake Off… well, you guys know me by now. Suffice it to say, Lucy Parker could probably hear my squeeing from across the Tasman Sea (look, it’s not that far from Melbourne to New Zealand, and I am … Continue reading Battle Royal by Lucy Parker

A New BritBox Favorite: Nigellissima!

Nigellissima poster with Nigella in a vneck black wrapped stop grating something into a pot with a smile on ehr face

Recently I needed something to watch while painting my nails and dove into the cooking section of my BritBox subscription. Obviously I can’t touch things while the lacquer is drying so it has to be something I don’t need to fast-foward or skip around in. Rural Bucolic Murder Shows are right out. The documentary and lifestyle section, however, is lovely. BritBox, which we’ve written about before, is a subscription streaming service from the BBC and … Continue reading A New BritBox Favorite: Nigellissima!

Book Review

The Professor Next Door by Jackie Lau

The Professor Next Door

The Professor Next Door is the third book in Jackie Lau’s Cider Bar Sisters series, and it stands alone, though it’s a bit more fun if you have already met Nicole’s friends. Like all the other stories in this series, it will make you want to go to Toronto and eat your entire body weight in desserts. Seriously, the food porn in these books is next level. Jackie Lau appears to subscribe to the idea … Continue reading The Professor Next Door by Jackie Lau

Book Review

Her Pretend Christmas Date by Jackie Lau

Her Pretend Christmas Date

Her Pretend Christmas Date is a novella comprised almost entirely of Catherine catnip. I am an absolute sucker for White Christmas settings, I love me a Fake Relationship (especially when they come with Only One Bed), I adore a buttoned-up hero who gets completely unravelled by a messy heroine but do you know what I really love? A Christmas gathering that devolves into a gingerbread house making competition that is run, commentated on and judged … Continue reading Her Pretend Christmas Date by Jackie Lau

Ready Set Go: Best Food P0rn Romance

Featured image for Ready Set Go: Best Food P0rn Romance

Time again for one of the most challenging recommendation features we have: READY, SET, GO! Here are the rules: We pick a specific sub-genre, trope, or type of romance, and we have to make ONE recommendation for that type. And no more than two sentences as to why. Just One. And our theme this month? It’s Thanksgiving in the US today, a complicated day that in the beforetimes might have been filled with complicated family … Continue reading Ready Set Go: Best Food P0rn Romance

Book Review

All Stirred Up by Brianne Moore

All Stirred Up

Content warnings: Everyone in this book is reacting, one way or another, to the death of Susan’s mother at the start of the book. There is a character with disordered eating and she plays a large role in the book. Another character has untreated anxiety which manifests itself as hypochondria. There is also an enormous amount of snobbery and classism. 2020 seems to be the year for food-themed, contemporary re-tellings of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, and … Continue reading All Stirred Up by Brianne Moore

Lightning Review

Love’s Recipe by Mila Nicks

Love’s Recipe

Content warning: Manipulative / borderline abusive families; heroine was married at 17 to a man in his mid-twenties and that relationship was also manipulative and possibly more than borderline abusive, though we see very little of it on the page. This is a fun, gentle romance that will make you hungry. Rosalie is a young, recently divorced, single mother who returns home to live with her own mother because she is out of options, and … Continue reading Love’s Recipe by Mila Nicks

Book Review

A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian

A Duke in Disguise

This book was like a warm hug. The characters were people I would love to know in real life, the relationships (romantic and otherwise) were tender, and gentle emotional healing was a major theme. In other words, my crops are watered, my skin is clear, my checkbook is balanced, etc., etc., etc. Let us start with our protagonists, Verity and Ash, who felt very real and immediate. Verity is clever, ambitious, and practical, and these … Continue reading A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian

Book Review

Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim

Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune

Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune is what I’d describe as women’s fiction with magical realism. It also has pages upon pages of yummy food descriptions. While the writing is evocative and every foodie’s dream, the weak romantic subplot, haphazard emotional resolution, and frequent repetition of phrases diminished a majority of the shine of the atmosphere and writing. Natalie Tan returns to her childhood home in San Diego’s Chinatown following the death of her … Continue reading Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim