Review, A Taste For Love, Jennifer Yen

A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen
Published by Razorbill on February 2, 2021
Genres: young adult, contemporary
Format: ARC
Source: Penguin Random House INTL, NetGalley
Buy on Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, Publisher, Bookshop, Blackwell's
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For fans of Jenny Han, Jane Austen, and The Great British Baking Show, A Taste for Love, is a delicious rom com about first love, familial expectations, and making the perfect bao.
To her friends, high school senior Liza Yang is nearly perfect. Smart, kind, and pretty, she dreams big and never shies away from a challenge. But to her mom, Liza is anything but. Compared to her older sister Jeannie, Liza is stubborn, rebellious, and worst of all, determined to push back against all of Mrs. Yang's traditional values, especially when it comes to dating.
The one thing mother and daughter do agree on is their love of baking. Mrs. Yang is the owner of Houston's popular Yin & Yang Bakery. With college just around the corner, Liza agrees to help out at the bakery's annual junior competition to prove to her mom that she's more than her rebellious tendencies once and for all. But when Liza arrives on the first day of the bake-off, she realizes there's a catch: all of the contestants are young Asian American men her mother has handpicked for Liza to date.
The bachelorette situation Liza has found herself in is made even worse when she happens to be grudgingly attracted to one of the contestants; the stoic, impenetrable, annoyingly hot James Wong. As she battles against her feelings for James, and for her mother's approval, Liza begins to realize there's no tried and true recipe for love.

I received this book for free from Penguin Random House INTL, NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

☂️ TRIGGER WARNINGS:

mentions of cheating, kissing without consent, comments about weight, microagressions.

☂️ DIVERSITY: Taiwanese-American MC, side characters, love interest. Chinese-American & Bisexual side character.

There are no spoilers in this review.

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I ENJOYED…

☂️

• If you’re looking for a beautiful, heartwarming romcom, look no further than that: A Taste for Love was made for you. This story has an adorable romance, great characters and baking to make your mouth water. I loved it all.
• In a gist, this story’s about Liza. She’s dreaming of culinary school, but her parents, owners of a restaurant and bakery, wants bigger for her. Her mother’s also set on setting her up with the kind of boy she deems acceptable. She schemes a lot about it, to the point of turning her annual baking show into a Bachelorette event for her daughter. I mean, don’t you want to read this??
• This story is carried by a fierce, incredible main character and I immediately rooted for her. Her own dreams and ambitions are faced with her parents’ expectations and I really liked seeing her fighting for what she wants.
• With a title like that, you expect a lot of romance and, while you do get some, it’s wonderful to say that it’s surrounded by A LOT of other things. Friendship, family, siblings, baking…It packs a lot of things, but does it masterfully.
• The family was absolutely wonderful and I loved seeing Liza’s relationship with her mother. She can’t help meddling into her daughter’s life and wanting the best for her and I really liked seeing their relationship grow. I just wanted them to hug already, to be honest.
• Even if it’s small, Liza’s older sister makes an appearance and has a minor part in the story, as well. You know me, I’m all for good siblings relationships in stories and I just loved how close they were and I liked seeing her sister grow and fight for what she wanted, too.
• I fell for the friendship between Liza and Grace as well. A girls’ friendship with no drama or backstabbing, just understanding and care and a lot of boba tea, I loved them!
• The romance was so soft and heartwarming, it made my heart so happy. It’s a bit of a hate-to-love kind of story, with a lot of feels growing slowly and I really enjoyed it.
• If you’re a fan of baking competition shows, you should love this. Also, don’t read while hungry. It will make you hungry even if you’re full, anyway.

I HAD A HARD TIME WITH…

☂️

• I unfortunately found A Taste for Love to be a bit slow to start? I was eager to get into the heart of the story, filled with baking and romance and it was a little slow to pick up, at first.

OVERALL

☂️

Romance, baking, family and friendships: A Taste for Love has it all in this lovely, heartwarming contemporary I’m definitely recommending. It made my heart happy and that’s all we need, right?

FINAL RATING : 4 drops!

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Did you read A Taste for Love or do you want to? What’s the latest YA contemporary you read and enjoyed? Let me know in comments!

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