Sugar, spice, and everything nice, foodie romantic comedies are a delight to read. This has been a big genre journey for me. It has a been a lot of fun to explore and learn what I like and what I do not like. Not ever romantic trope is what I like to read but I tried to compile a good mix of tropes and sub-genres for you to enjoy!
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Here is a list of some of the most popular foodie romantic comedies. My full list is here
Lights, Camera, and Pies?
If you like books with a little bit of movie magic, you're going to love Kerry Winfrey. She also has a book involving Tom Hanks! Ah!
So this book is perfect for the jaded grump in us all because our protagonist Chloe is a optimist but a realist. She doesn't have time to worry about love when she's got other things on her plate.
I think this book can be a little bit bittersweet and be careful if you are easily upset by those who are struggling with mental health or Alzheimer's. Still, I adored this book and I hope you enjoy it too.
Description from Bookshop.Org:
What happens when your life is a rom-com . . . but you don't even believe in true love?
Chloe Sanderson is an optimist, and not because her life is easy. As the sole caregiver for her father, who has early-onset Alzheimer's, she's pretty much responsible for everything. She has no time--or interest--in getting swept up in some dazzling romance. Not like her best friend, Annie, who literally wrote a rom-com that's about to premiere in theaters across America . . . and happens to be inspired by Chloe and her cute but no-nonsense boss, Nick Velez.
Okay, hands down this is my favorite romantic comedy of 2021. Just YAS YAS YAS!
Trope: Friends to lovers
The Great British Baking Show romantic comedy with a bisexual female single parent? Can I get a hell yeah? It was hilarious. I loved every second of this book and apparently it is only the first in a trilogy/series from Alexis Hall. The second book is slated for a tentative release in Fall 2022 as part of the Winner Bake All series!
Okay so, the protagonist is quite obviously, Rosaline Palmer. She is one of the contestants on the latest season of the baking show! She's also a little down on her luck. She comes from a good family but kind of threw the rulebook out the window when she dropped out of college to raise her daughter, Amelie. Now, with a paycheck as useful as sugar in the rain, she's teetering on the edge of financial disaster.
But where there's a whisk, there's a way (Please don't kill me for the pun).
She's landed a spot on the nation's most beloved baking show. It is so good.
Buzzfeed's 2021 Romance Novels You Need To Read This Summer
Trope: Enemies to Lovers
This is an enemies to lovers story, through and through. I mean, they only started dating because of a DARE!
This is the second book in Jacyi Lee's A Sweet Mess series. You do not need to read the books in order but they are all within the same universe.
Tara Park, our heroine, has made a vow to herself of casual relationships only. She had her heart broken so badly in college she's basically surviving on duct-taped pieces. She's busy leading her family's brewery, Weldon Brewery. Things were going so well until she met Seth Kim, the notorious fashion photographer bad boy and also her best friend's new brother-in-law.
The attraction is palpable but so is the stubbornness. If you want characters with strong communication skills, please exit stage left, you will not find it. But there's a lot of good humor and a badass heroine.
A PopSugar Must-Read for October
Trope: Enemies to Lovers, Secret Dating
Too many cooks in the kitchen? Maybe two is just right.
Our protagonist is Nikki DiMarco is a struggling but ambitious food truck owner. She just quit her her dream job to help her mom serve Filipinio dishes on their food truck after the death of her father. But it's harder than it looks and the Maui food truck scene is cut-throat. But she is determined to make Tiva's Filipina Kusina.
Her biggest problem? This new rival food truck owned by two brothers, one of which is the cantankerous British big brother Callum James. He is new on the scene and has rudely set up show next to her coveted parking spot. A huge no-no. He takes it further by stealing her customers and fanning the flames of a public feud.
At first they're shooting daggers at each other from their trucks, then we escalate pranks, and then romantic sparks? How do you handle these new feelings when the two have decided to the ultimate showdown at the Maui Food Festival!?
Winner keeps the spot. But will the winner end up with a broken heart?
This story is a spicy one! 🌶️
Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron
Trope: Secret dating, pretend engagement, both?
Vulture: Best Romance Novels of 2021
Book Riot: 2021 Must-Read Beach Reads
Featured in Buzzfeed, Brit & Co, PopSugar, Oprah.com, Goodreads, The Nerd Daily and Frolic
A "delectable" romantic comedy about a woman who fakes an engagement to the boy next door to enter a couples cooking contest (Farrah Rochon, USA Today bestselling author).
Reena is a master at making bread, but only the type you eat, not the money kind. She's just been laid off from another good job and it's not even her fault! Downsizing is the worst!
Her family wants what is best for her but they are constantly meddling - which man oh man, I related to right away. Her parents' meddling is always ending in disaster. Her parents have found another potential Good Muslim Husband. Except... Nadmin might actually be awesome.
Nadim is sweet, charming, has the body of Captain America, a delicious British accent, and lives right across the hall. He COULD be perfect if her parents were meddling about it. Some Reena likes Nadim, Nadim likes her, but Reena can't ADMIT she likes Nadim because then her parents could be right.
But at the same time, she has to pretend he's right because the baking opportunity of a lifetime presents itself: a couples' cooking competition with the prize of her dreams. Reena will do anything to win--even asking Nadim to pretend they're engaged. But when it comes to love, baking your bread doesn't always mean you get to eat it too.
Vulture: Best Romance Novels of 2021
Book Riot: 2021 Must-Read Beach Reads
Featured in Buzzfeed, Brit & Co, PopSugar, Oprah.com, Goodreads, The Nerd Daily and Frolic
Kim is the founder & owner of Bookmarks & Breadsticks LLC. When she's not busy creating new products for Halo Top or working on the #ReadItandEat subscription box ideas, she's reading everything foodie!
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