Chef's Choice

March 27, 2023
Alexander’s swoony sequel to Chef’s Kiss follows Luna O’Shea, a trans woman who finds herself suddenly jobless and scrambling to pay rent in New York City. To make ends meet, she accepts a precarious position fake-dating laconic trans man Jean-Pierre Dominique Gabriel Aubert-Treffle, reluctant heir to his grandfather’s culinary fortune. To claim his birthright as a male heir, per his transphobic grandfather’s outrageous list of demands, Jean-Pierre must successfully prepare “The Menu” (the Aubert-Treffle family’s signature dishes) on camera for an audience of millions with a girlfriend at his side. To fill this role, Luna must figure out fast both how to cook and how to feel about the blunt and stubborn but also charming Jean-Pierre. The banter between leads is addictive with Alexander balancing fish-out-of-water linguistic comedy with achingly sincere emotional beats to excellent effect. The plot itself occasionally needs nudging along, but the exploration of the characters’ gender identities makes many well-trod romance beats feel fresh. As long as Jean-Pierre and Luna are on the page together, readers will be delighted by their odd couple dynamic. Agent: Larissa Melo Pienkowski, Jill Grinberg Literary.

Starred review from March 31, 2023

Classic romance tropes are deployed to charming effect in Alexander's follow-up to Chef's Kiss. Luna O'Shea and Jean-Pierre Dominique Gabriel Aubert-Treffle are thrown together by chance and agree to a very short-term fake-dating scenario. Complications ensue when Jean-Pierre's grandfather, a celebrity chef, enlists Luna in a couple's cooking challenge that will determine Jean-Pierre's inheritance. High jinks, training montages, and a night of forced bed-sharing provide the backdrop to a convincing strangers-to-begrudging-teammates-to-lovers romance. While Luna is low on funds, she has a loving and supportive friend group; Jean-Pierre is a classic poor little rich boy who comes to understand the power of trans friendships and T4T (trans for trans) love through his developing relationship with Luna. Even though Luna is a whiz at languages, readers may not be completely convinced by her facility with conversational French from three weeks of podcast listening, but the heart of the story is more convincingly drawn. Simone and Ray from Chef's Kiss reappear in strong supporting roles. VERDICT Like Luna's beloved cheese plates and charcuterie spreads, this appetizing romance has something to delight a wide variety of readers. A first choice for contemporary romance collections.--Katelyn Browne

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