Series: None
Author: Kaitlyn Hill
Published April 5th 2022 by Delacorte Press
Goodreads 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...
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
For the summer before starting college, Reese Camden has bagged the internship of her dreams - working a marketing internship at Friends of Flavor. Friends of Flavor was there for her during a difficult period in her life, and she dreams of being selected for the fall job, to run alongside her degree. However, the other intern, Benny, also really wants the position, and soon a competition is created. Working together to host cooking videos, it's not long before the fans are shipping it, and Reese is finding it difficult to keep her feelings at bay. But soon it seems that the execs are favouring Benny simply because he's male, and Reese begins to realise that the comments online, and at work, are targeted to her.
This book simply blew me away. I was expecting a cutesy YA contemporary - and while it was that, it was also so much more! Reese was a little too perfect for me at times, but she was vulnerable too, and had dealt with a lot in the past, particularly around social media and sexist comments. Friends of Flavor was something she relied on her to keep her going through the dark times, and landing the internship was everything she'd ever wanted - except perhaps a real job there. I loved the camaraderie there was around the workplace, especially between the main 'Friends' and how they embraced Reese and Benny as one of their own. The secondary plot line of the sexism and misogyny was unexpected, but honestly perfect for the book, and the characters. Benny and Reese's relationship wasn't the easiest at times, but it worked, and I loved the ending so much! This was a fantastic debut, and I look forward to Kaitlyn's next book!
Dates Read:
March 18, 2022
Rating
4 Stars
