contemporary romance
I love to read about food, so I
was happy to get an advance copy of Grace Reilly’s
Yes, Chef - a
romance between Jack, a high-skilled but troubled chef, and Poppy, an influencer who
can’t seem to get out of her own way. Jack and Poppy are both trying to
outrun mistakes and bad decisions, and after an evening of
commiserating, Poppy follows Jack to Florida where he has inherited a
restaurant and a houseboat from his former foster father and mentor.
Jack and Poppy believe that if they can bring the restaurant back to
life and turn it into the fine dining destination they know it can be, they can win their way back into the NYC dining scene they've run away from.
I
liked Poppy and Jack most of the time, though I thought that Reilly
spent way too much time having Jack be absolutely rude to Poppy, and
frankly Poppy spent way too much time putting up with it. For two people
who clearly liked one another, I found that often what was supposed to
be banter felt a lot like elementary school kids throwing rocks at
each other on the playground. Fortunately, they got over that sooner rather than
later. When Jack and Poppy were talking about the restaurant or food or
actually cooking, this book was at its best. They were cute and fun and
the dishes often made me want to reach for a snack because they were
described so well. I absolutely loved the way they encouraged and believed in each other.
I also really enjoyed the cast of side
characters in this novel. The found family in Florida was incredibly
sweet and almost unnaturally patient. More than once I found myself
thinking that Jack better recognize how lucky he is before it’s too
late! Poppy’s family was an excellent plot device, and we intentionally
didn’t get a chance to know or like them very well for much of the book.
Rarely though, have I read a romance and thought, “this book would be
improved with less sex,” but it’s happened before and this is one of
those books. What works for one doesn’t work for all and I just didn’t
find Jack and Poppy’s sexy time very enjoyable. Unfortunately, it was kind of cringy for me.
But others of you will love it, so to each their own.
Still,
it’s a fun read if you like romance in a restaurant setting. Reilly did
an excellent job of representing how an adult with ADHD feels as they
navigate the challenges of work and general life tasks and it’s good to
see that represented on a page.
Yes, Chef will be published on
July 21, 2026. Thank you to Avon Books, NetGalley and Grace
Reilly for the advance reader copy.
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