title: Till There Was You
author: Lindsay Hameroff
publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
publication date: February 20, 2024
pages: 320
peppers: 3 (on this scale)
warnings: dead parent (before the book), cut fingers/blood, burns
summary: New Yorker Lexi doesn't have time for dating while she's in culinary school pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming a chef, but when she goes out one night and meets singer Jake, her no-boys rule goes out the window during the whole weekend they spend together. After their brief affair, he goes to California to make his demo recording and hits it big...and busy. They don't talk with each other for a long time, until he appears back in town to record his second album.
tropes:
- love at first sight
- famous boyfriend
- evil manager
- life in the spotlight
- she's his muse
- great friends who tell the truth
- visit home to the parents
- dead mother, distant father
- knew him before he was famous
what I liked:
- they're true to each other
- he's a genuinely good guy
- great side characters
- insider scenes in the restaurant's kitchen
- descriptions of food that sounds yummy
what I didn’t like:
- She thinks, "We're from different worlds" and "We just don't work together because I'm not a celebrity" too many times despite what he says and how he acts. I didn't buy it over and over.
- The other woman seems too evil first then too good second. I didn't buy her transformation (maybe because it's off-page).
overall rating: 4 (of 5 stars)