One Old, One New - The Cooking Edition

One Old, One New features two books - one old, one new, which are connected in some way. Today, I am sharing two books that feature teen chefs. Both books talked about cooking and food often, and both left my a little hungry, but in a happy state.

Love à la Mode
Stephanie Kate Strohm
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Take two American teen chefs, add one heaping cup of Paris, toss in a pinch of romance, and stir. . . .

Rosie Radeke firmly believes that happiness can be found at the bottom of a mixing bowl. But she never expected that she, a random nobody from East Liberty, Ohio, would be accepted to celebrity chef Denis Laurent's school in Paris, the most prestigious cooking program for teens in the entire world. Life in Paris, however, isn't all cream puffs and crepes. Faced with a challenging curriculum and a nightmare professor, Rosie begins to doubt her dishes.

Henry Yi grew up in his dad's restaurant in Chicago, and his lifelong love affair with food landed him a coveted spot in Chef Laurent's school. He quickly connects with Rosie, but academic pressure from home and his jealousy over Rosie's growing friendship with gorgeous bad-boy baker Bodie Tal makes Henry lash out and push his dream girl away.

Desperate to prove themselves, Rosie and Henry cook like never before while sparks fly between them. But as they reach their breaking points, they wonder whether they have what it takes to become real chefs.

Perfect for lovers of Chopped Teen Tournament and Kids Baking Championship, as well as anyone who dreams of a romantic trip to France, Love la Mode follows Rosie and Henry as they fall in love with food, with Paris, and ultimately, with each other.

Paris is a city associated with lights, love, and culinary delights. Henry and Rosie were both making their way there to join an elite high school culinary program, which was an important stepping stone for them both. For Rosie, it was a way for her to discover the world outside of her small town. For Henry, it was a way for him to prove to his mother, that he had the talent and the ability to succeed in the culinary world. But, would there also be room them to find love?

As always, Strohm provided me with an adorable story. The banter was on point, and I laughed quite often, but this was also a little different from her previous three books. Those leaned heavily on the comedy part of rom-com, and this book, while quite funny, featured more tender and heartfelt moments.

Many of those moments starred Rosie. She really tugged at my heartstrings. Her backstory and the interactions with her family were all quite touching. The texts from her brothers always made me laugh, and her mother's endless support and love never failed to deliver some feels.

This book incorporated many elements I love, and together resulted in a great reading experience.

• The setting - I love Paris, and Strohm did a great job taking us into the city. Not only did she bring us to some popular places, but she gave us a pretty immersive eating experience too. 
• Boarding school - I have an affinity for stories set in boarding schools, and we get that dynamic combined with the fervor of a reality cooking show and high school antics. 
• The food! - This was a culinary school, and there was a LOT of cooking, baking, and eating going on. Strohm must be a foodie, because the descriptions were quite vivid and mouth-watering. 
• The characters - What a fun group of characters! Each one had their own little quirk, and combined to form one fantastic friend group.
• The friendships were strong in this one. They may have been competing against one another, but they were still always there to lend a hand or a shoulder to cry on. They supported and encouraged each other, and there were a lot of awww-worthy moments shared. 
• The romance was adorable. Yes, there was some miscommunication, or rather, a lack thereof, and also some misinterpreted signals, but there were also a bunch of tender and sweet moments, and I thought Henry and Rosie were precious together. 

Overall: This book was a tasty treat stuffed with an adorable romance, fantastic friendships, lots of heartwarming moments, and tons of food!

The Art of French Kissing
Brianna R. Shrum
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Carter Lane has wanted to be a chef since she was old enough to ignore her mom's warnings to stay away from the hot stove. And now she has the chance of a lifetime: a prestigious scholarship competition in Savannah, where students compete all summer in Chopped style challenges for a full-ride to one of the best culinary schools in the country. The only impossible challenge ingredient in her basket: Reid Yamada.

After Reid, her cute but unbearably cocky opponent, goes out of his way to screw her over on day one, Carter vows revenge, and soon they're involved in a full-fledged culinary war. Just as the tension between them reaches its boiling point, Carter and Reid are forced to work together if they want to win, and Carter begins to wonder if Reid's constant presence in her brain is about more than rivalry. And if maybe her desire to smack his mouth doesn't necessarily cancel out her desire to kiss it.

This was Carter's shot at her future. If she won the competition, she would have a full ride to culinary school, which was an important step towards achieving her dream. The only problem came in the form of an extremely handsome teen chef, who was bent on challenging her every step of the way.

I am a fan of hate-to-love romances, and the pranks were sort of funny. However, I will admit that the story really picked up for me when Reid and Carter were forced to work together, and the angst was turned down a notch.

I actually loved Reid and Carter together. They shared a great dynamic, and I enjoyed the way they played off each other. There was one moment in the book, which stood out to me. It was depicting a sexual encounter, and there were so many things done well. We are starting to see more and more explicit consent in books, and I was glad to see it here, however, there was also this point, where the character checked herself, and made sure she wasn't getting caught up in the moment. There was something about the way it was done, which made a real impression upon me, and I think it's great for teens to see examples like this.

Now let's talk about Reid. He kept winning me over again and again. He would do these little things to show Carter that he cared, and I may have swooned or let out an audible "awww" here and there. He didn't just shower her with affection though, he supported her, and built her up, when she really needed it. Carter wasn't the most confident about her skills, and felt like she didn't belong in the competition, but Reid reminded her, that she earned her spot and deserved to be there. This helped her with her self-growth, and who wouldn't want a guy who not only makes you swoon, but also builds you up?

This was a pretty intense competition, and Shrum threw in a mix of challenges along with all the signature drama commonly found on any cooking reality show. That's why I loved the group of friends she assembled for Carter. Her core group was quite diverse, and they formed a bond over their love for food, never letting the competition sully their friendship.

It was great that Carter was able to find her "people" at school, but she was also lucky to have such an awesome family waiting for her at home. We only get bits and pieces of her family via phone calls, memories, and messages, but they are definitely a good bunch of people, who I would have liked to get to know better.

Oh! It was so hard reading the food scenes, because I just wanted to taste it all. Shrum paints a rich picture, and describes each dish in such detail, that my saliva glands were working overtime. I don't even like to cook, and I was sort of inspired to go make something.

And the ending! It left me in a really elated state. I mean, with an ending like that, it doesn't even matter what happened at any other point in the book. But seriously, this was a fun teen Top Chef, which made me hungry and left me with a smile. 

**ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

Do you like cooking shows?

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