Love à la Mode by Stephanie Kate Strohm
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Published: 2018
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Romance, Cooking, Boarding School, Friendship, Love-Triangle
REVIEW:
Love is brewing in the Parisian air. Love for food, life, friends, new experiences, and of course for those special people who make us feel alive in the best ways possible.
Rosie and Henry are not just a meet-cute story. They are two of the new students who won a place in an elite cooking program at Chef Denis Laurent’s school in Paris. They are ecstatic to be there and study with other classmates who are crazy about cooking.
But their place is not guaranteed. They have to perform or they could be sent home after the first semester. Rosie is especially worried because her skills lie in baking. But Henry’s mind isn’t at peace either, since his parents do not approve of his life goals and he must actively prove to them that he belongs in the cooking world.
I found myself enjoying this novel a little bit more than the author’s Prince in Disguise release. The writing and tone were much more mature and the overall language used much easier to read. I also found both protagonists fairly relatable. The love-triangle was a source of curiosity in the beginning but shifted to a source of exasperation after the halfway point. Overall, it’s a flawed and perhaps not entirely original story, but it does entertain.