Review to come. ( )

This is the third book that I've read by this author. I like her books because her storylines usually have a cool twist to them and are a bit more original than other books. This one was about cooking show and reality tv. Two things that I really enjoy so I thought this book would be perfect for me. Alas it was not. I was quite disappointed by it. At the beginning the love interest Max is portrayed as a complete jerk. Like over the top terrible. There's no excuse for acting like that and treating people the way he did. I felt like the author made him too unlikeable at the beginning.
I felt like the romance progressed way too fast and was too out of the blue. It didn't really have time to get going and all of a sudden halfway through the book they were making out. I actually had to go back and re-read part of it because I was so confused and it came so out of the blue. I thought maybe it was a dream sequence or something.
I also thought the chapter names were very strange. It almost seemed like it was a recipe you were following but they didn't seem to make sense and I was trying to figure out if they had to do with what was happening in the chapter. It was very distracting and I think unnecessary.
There was one quote that I loved though "I just want to keep getting into the room. getting into the kitchen. And I don't want to be invited in because I threw such a fit that it was all men in there that they had to invite me. I want to be invited because I deserve to be there. And I want all the other women who deserve to be there to be invited in."
It was a clean book but not my favorite of this authors.
This book was reviewed on the Literary Club Podcast Season 2 episode 24
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1984185 ( )

“Hadley Beckett's Next Dish” was an unexpected and well received Christian romance novel that took me by surprise with the character development, heavily culinary focus plot that is typically pushed aside to focus on the romance aspect in other culinary romances and the thoroughly researched behind the scenes food industry details the author included that made the reader feel like they were right there alongside Hadley and Max on Renowned.

This was far more impressive than I initially thought it would be. It was a charming and riveting read filled with second chances, forgiveness, romance, humor, friendship and of course mouthwatering food! The believable characters and gripping storyline made this an instant page turner and a must read for 2020.

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This was a super cute rom com. It is laugh out loud funny. This is the first book I have ever read by Bethany Turner, but it will definitely not be the last! ( )

This story was a fun, unique setting in the culinary, television network world. I liked how the author pitted the two main characters against each other in the beginning. It seemed like there was no way they could ever be around each other let alone work together. The characters definitely had a lot of banter back and forth, and some of this banter had me holding back laughter. The author definitely has a great sense of humor. The characters each showed some growth throughout the story; although, Max definitely had more room for growing than Hadley. I thought this story read like a good clean romance from the Hallmark Channel... not cheesy, but a fun romantic comedy.
I was surprised that there was only one reference to Jesus in the whole book. So for being a Christian fiction novel, there really wasn't all that much in this book about faith. There is a theme of forgiveness, but the author doesn't come right out and connect it to Hadley's faith. The reader is left wondering if Hadley is a Christian and where does Max stand? Max went to rehab and quotes his counselor, Buzz, but I wish Max would of had a heart change because of seeing his need for Jesus.

So while I wish there would of been more of a connection to Jesus with Max's turn-around, the story was still enjoyable to read.

***I received this complimentary book from Revell. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.