As January is always freezing where I live, I turned to a heartwarming contemporary romance: Taste the Love by (to my delight) wife duo Karelia & Fay Stetz-Waters.
On the day they graduated from culinary school, Kia Jackson and Alice Sullivan’s rivalry culminated in a kiss. Their careers led them down separate paths, but six years later, those same careers bring them back together in a dramatic conflict of interests. Kia, a food truck owner, wants to set up a food truck pod to support struggling small businesses. Meanwhile, both Sullivan’s home and her sustainably run Portland restaurant border the land Kia is trying to buy, a green space Sullivan intends to conserve in her grandfather’s honor. When a mega corporation pulls the rug out from under both of them, they end up in a marriage of convenience so that Kia can share Sullivan’s status as a legacy landowner. But not only does their fake marriage bring up old feelings, the corporation isn’t going down without a fight.
The book manages to establish a vibrant community while keeping the focus on the main couple. I enjoyed both Kia, a spunky traveler whose signature dish is the tursnicken (a turducken that replaces the duck with a Snickers bar), and Sullivan, a handsome and principled woman who would never stoop to replacing the sage in her butternut squash risotto with marjoram. While the situation is high-stakes, the characters have a caring relationship. Their rivalry was always of the friendly variety, with them pushing each other to try new things and be their best selves, and they work through their differences despite being in a conflict where one seems doomed to stomp on the others’ dreams. If you’re looking for a romance that emphasizes healthy communication while still having plenty of drama, this is a good option.
Personally, I sometimes wished the characters were allowed to be more flawed. One of the book’s main messages is that messy things can be beautiful (literally, some of the most romantic scenes involve the characters wading through muck), and yet I felt like I was never really supposed to blame the characters for anything, which can be limiting. This also made it feel a little contrived whenever the characters made negative assumptions about each other’s intentions, as it was clear that they were unfounded. It didn’t help that the writing is sometimes too on-the-nose for my taste, leaving little room for interpretation regarding the characters’ feelings or the book’s messaging. If the writing had been trimmed down in places, that also would have made the pacing a bit snappier, as this book’s concept requires a lot of setup.
I did appreciate the aforementioned message about the beauty in imperfection. Both protagonists’ lives have been heavily affected by their history with social media, making it especially important for them to see each other’s uncurated selves. Kia and Sullivan’s love feels all the stronger for how it only grows as they get to know every side of each other. The acceptance of imperfection carries through to the decisions the characters make, both big and small, as they try to live according to their principles while restricted by unjust systems. Whether it means supporting people in a way that harms the environment, or facing down the loaded barrel of corruption, they have to contend with how often some sort of compromise is required–as well as decide what compromises they’re not willing to make.
The theme of authenticity also ties into the fake relationship trope, with the characters aware they’re putting on a show even as they grow closer. Though they are in a fake marriage, it often feels more like fake dating, as there is less emphasis on their domestic life than there is on going on fun public dates to convince people of their relationship. While I was hoping for a bit more domesticity, I know fake dating is a popular trope and recommend this book if you’re a fan.
I also enjoyed the specificity in the writing, with food, nature, and the characters’ backgrounds all portrayed distinctly. Kia, Sullivan, and their friends feel simultaneously quirky and real, a group many readers will want to have a drink with, and when cozying up with a contemporary romance while snowed in, that’s all I can really ask.
