Name: lea.'s review of Love from Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill
Item: Love from Scratch
Rating: 4
Author: lea.

Kaitlyn Hill

This delectable debut romantic comedy about two rival interns with the recipe for love is perfect for foodies, feminists, and fans of aspirational YA romance like LOVE & GELATO and AGAIN, BUT BETTER. 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...

Love from Scratch

Shanthu

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

“𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮.”

lea.

4 stars ⭐️

“𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮.”

Ireland Compton

Deliciously, syrupy sweet romance with adorable characters—what more could you want? It was everything I needed, from the discussion of real-life issues for women in the spotlight to Benny’s grand gesture and all of the food puns between the two of them. Tens, tens across the board!

Shelving this under fantasy bc there is no way a man like Benny exists in real life.

In all seriousness, it's cute, fluffy, foodie, and feminist. Reese definitely was frustrating at times, and I was screaming "please go to therapy!!!!!!" throughout, but I get where she was coming from. 

Benny though... I wasn't sure how I was gonna feel about him but he is the ultimate supportive golden retriever boyfriend with emotional intelligence. He is the blueprint. Argue with the wall.

If you need me I'll be crying over Benny and the fact that I have never had someone declare their love for me through a livestream and cake metaphor.

Holly

Shelving this under fantasy bc there is no way a man like Benny exists in real life.

In all seriousness, it's cute, fluffy, foodie, and feminist. Reese definitely was frustrating at times, and I was screaming "please go to therapy!!!!!!" throughout, but I get where she was coming from. 

Benny though... I wasn't sure how I was gonna feel about him but he is the ultimate supportive golden retriever boyfriend with emotional intelligence. He is the blueprint. Argue with the wall.

If you need me I'll be crying over Benny and the fact that I have never had someone declare their love for me through a livestream and cake metaphor.

Crystal L

Disclosure: While I do not know Kaitlyn Hill personally I do know her sister and was excited about this book from the first time I heard about it. To that note, I have also pre-ordered the book. 

Love from Scratch is the romance I didn't know I needed. Set in a world I am very familiar with, a famous cooking network that wasn't not BA, Reese and Benny are spending their summers interning for the network in hopes to get the coveted fall position. Reese is a strong young woman who knows what she wants and has been supported by those around her to go after her dreams. Benny, we learn over time, is a boy struggling to figure out who he is as he emerges from a close family where seemingly his life was planned out for him. I absolutely loved the evolution of friendships, of female empowerment, and discussions of the damages that can come from social media. I can't wait to see more from Kaitlyn Hill in the future! 

5/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

thea lockburn 

** spoiler alert **
           honestly this book wasnt up to my expectations. I got bored of it within the first few chapters and I didn't like it as much as I liked The Hating Game or The Spanish Love Deception. There are better contemporary romance books that you can find. This just isn't it.

sydney

** spoiler alert **
           I think Benny might be one of the best ya male heroes I've read in a while. Everything he did was just so perfect and all he wanted to do was make Reece happy. Every time he called her Reece's pieces I melted a little. This book also had a bit more of feminism girl power than I expected but it worked really well. Benny's speech at the end made me cry, I need someone to livestream their thoughts about me.

I received a copy through netgalley.

rylee m

reese hurt so bad, the fact she was constantly overlooked but she was still strong made me love this book

Super cute read. Idk why it took me so long to finish it but it was super cute
Benny and Reese too have my heart ahah <33🤪

What’s frustrating is that I read somehow all the books where it’s the softest of boys and it’s not real🙂

Ana m santos

This is a fun light novel, i think is refreshing and im always all about fun and cute novels, it has points that were well made , and i like that it got some things across without having to be intense, it still stay light and lovable

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher.  Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Love From Scratch

Author: Kaitlyn Hill

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 4/5

Diversity: Anxiety MC, non-descript people of color side characters, queer side character

Recommended For...: young adult readers, cooking, contemporary, romance, food

Publication Date: April 5, 2022

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Age Relevance: 15+ (language, racism, sexism, sexual harassment, religion, religious trauma, romance)

Explanation of Above: There is an occasional curse word used here and  there and a rant with a few used at the end. There is racism mentioned and sexism shown. There is also one scene where there is some small sexual harassment. Religion is mentioned once and some religious trauma is mentioned in regards to how a side character was kicked out of their church for being queer. There is also romance in the book, but nothing beyond kissing.

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Pages: 368

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...

Review: Overall, I liked this book. I loved the intern cooking show romance and how the romance was rivals to lovers. I loved that the MC was a foodie and I loved all the anti-purity culture talk. The book shows what it’s like for females who are in social media/media presence and it highlights the sexism and misogyny that women constantly face in that presence. The book does good to show how men could literally be doing the same thing women do, but yet the women are shamed for their position while the men are congratulated. It was a great show on how women could take back their own power as well. The book had good world building and good character development as well.

However, I did feel like the pacing was a bit too slow for the book and I would have liked to see more of the competition and less of the characters being flirty with each other. I also didn’t like the full resolution to the book and how sexist bosses were kept in power. While I get it’s realistic, it was maddening to me.

Verdict: It was good!


Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
Love from Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &Love from Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill

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Join the club

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
Love from Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill