A modern Romeo and Juliet for foodies.
~ UNDER THE COVERS BOOK BLOG
A modern Romeo and Juliet for foodies.
Tessa is in charge of her family’s bread bakery, although her mom won’t completely let go of the reins. Leo and his family own the Italian restaurant next door. Their families have been sworn enemies for 100 years due to a slight that’s not completely clear to anyone. However, their businesses are struggling, so Leo propose a new business arrangement: get married for 6 months so they can be taken seriously by their parents, allowing them to implement some modern changes at both shops. But lines start to get blurred and maybe it’s not so strictly business after all.
First off, I love both foodie romances and marriage of convenience stories, so this book is right up my alley. Both families are pretty overwhelming, but it’s clear that they really love Tessa and Leo, even if they don’t always show that in the best ways. Tessa and Leo manage to be there for each other and build up each other’s’ self-esteem, which was really great to read about. Even when they were verbally sparring, they managed to ultimately be helping each other. I loved to see their passion for food as well (although it also made me hungry for sure!).
There were definitely some downsides to this book though to go with the good aspectsl. The third-act break-up was super annoying. I know that a conflict needs to happen and I expected that, but there were so many other ways that this story could have gone. You also know exactly what’s going to happen by about the 20% mark when reading so it feels very contrived. If you as the reader can see it coming, why can’t the characters? (I realize this isn’t always possible, but come on!) All the growth that Tessa and Leo were working on over the course of several months just completely disappears when we get to the conflict. Perhaps knowing this is going to happen going into the book will make it less frustrating when you get to reading it.
Overall, if you enjoy marriage of convenience and enemies-to-lovers stories, then this is a fun choice to try out. You definitely get the feel-good vibes you’d expect from reading a rom-com. Although I have to recommend that you first find a good source for chocolate croissants before you start reading.
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Series Reading Order
[about-author name=”Miranda Liasson”]
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Thanks for the review.