TW: Implied misgendering, enbyphobia, transphobia

Dahlia Woodson and London Parker are two contestants on season eight of the cooking show Chef's Special. As with any reality TV show, drama and romance ensue. Dahlia is determined to prove herself to be an excellent cook, despite her recent divorce and life crumbling around her. London is fighting to support the queer community from their first moment on the show in coming out as nonbinary. Dahlia and London are attracted to each other but know that either one could leave just as suddenly as they've met. Will romance or chaos prevail?

Anita Kelly has written characters that jump off the page from the quick banter to the almost stream of consciousness inner monologues. They wrote the book flipping between Dahlia's and London's point of views in a near seamless fashion. Both Dahlia and London represent some of the bigger struggles of the Millennial and Gen Z generations, from not being able to adhere to the strict path that people expect others to follow to being their authentic and true selves. Dahlia is queer and London is nonbinary and it is still rare to see a novel where the two main characters are both portrayed with LGBTQ+ identities, and for that reason, I cherish this novel even more.

The sexual scenes were written tastefully and I greatly appreciate that Anita wrote them so that the reader understood Dahlia's anatomy but left London's (assumedly intentionally) vague. Many nonbinary and trans folks are asked rude and intrusive questions about "what's underneath". In keeping that part of London private, they were able to convey the privacy and respect that every nonbinary and trans person deserves.

All in all, this was a delicious read that hooked me from the start. If anything, I wanted more from some of the delightful side characters who, in my opinion, deserved more than they got.