This is the second in a series, the couple from the first book appears in several scenes here but I had no problem reading this as a stand alone.

If you enjoy reading about food you’ll love the plethora of scenes here involving cooking and baking. I really liked seeing Amar and Divya at work throughout the story, trying to build their fledgling catering/baking businesses and figuring out how to mesh their different work styles, lately I prefer a romance novel that gives me a bit more of the characters’ lives and aspirations beyond a relationship, and this delivered well on that while still weaving in a satisfying love story.

The love story did test my patience occasionally with the jealousies and for seemingly everyone except the two of them aware of their feelings for one another, but their backstories/baggage (her history with cancer, his sudden loss of his parents) did a good job of explaining their hesitancy to take a chance on being upfront with each other.

Harlequin books are generally known for being uplifting, borderline Hallmark-ish, often the sadness has already occurred in the characters’ lives and the book is mostly focused on the bright days in front of them, but I liked that this story mimicked actual life patterns, where things are a bit more up and down, humming along and suddenly you’re walloped with something sad, and then just when you’re getting back on track from that you’re tested by something else. Dropping a bit of sadness into the middle of a romance won’t appeal to every reader, for me, though, I appreciated that the “dark moments” here went deeper than than just the standard brief break in the relationship.

All that is not to say that this is a dark depressing read, it most certainly is not, there’s warmth and hope throughout, not to mention a great supporting cast (I particularly loved the brother-in-law’s efforts to bond with Amar) and a couple cute dogs (one of which I very much loved in those jealousy moments I complained about earlier in this review). ( )

A terrific friends-to-lovers story complicated by being best-friend's-brother/sister's-best-friend, too. Divya and Amar have been friends since they were kids and had crushes on each other in high school but never said anything because of Anita. Now they are all grown up but still holding out on each other.

Divya is a talented pastry chef. She also tends to be impulsive and adventurous. She survived a bout of cancer in high school and now lives each day like it could be her last, worried that cancer could return. She's never met a challenge that she's turned away from.

Amar is also a talented chef. He was fired from his last job because he took a chance on improving the head chef's dish. He now runs his catering business out of the kitchen of his family home. That kitchen is falling apart, but he won't renovate it for fear of losing the memories he associates with it, including some guilt and regret. Amar is organized and methodical in his work and his life.

I enjoyed watching the relationship develop between Divya and Amar. When Divya buys an old school bus and turns it into a food truck, she invites Amar to join her in forming a catering business. There are conflicts as Divya's "anything goes" approach clashes with Amar's more conventional methods. I loved the cooking scenes as they learned the art of compromise and cooperation. I loved how they poked at each other, but never in a mean way. They quickly become an in-demand duo, and their teamwork is impressive. I loved how they were there for each other during crises and how they encouraged each other to follow their dreams.

When Amar's sister, Anita, forces the issue of the kitchen renovation, Divya invites Amar to stay with her across the street and share her kitchen. Now that they are working and living together, the constant proximity makes it impossible to ignore the sparks between them. Complicating matters is the drink-induced kiss they shared several months earlier that neither can forget. Besides the whole sister thing, Amar hesitates to get involved with Divya because of baggage from his past trauma. Just as she seems to break through his walls, trouble from her past rears its ugly head. The emotional ending had me in tears, while the epilogue made it all worth it.

Besides the romance of the story, I loved the culinary theme. I'm not familiar with Indian food and found myself googling almost everything. My mouth watered throughout the book, and I look forward to trying some of these dishes in the future. I also enjoyed the family theme. Besides the characters' closeness to their immediate families, I enjoyed the intertwined connections with those whom Amar and Divya cooked for. I also liked seeing Anita and Nikhil from The Five-Day Reunion again.

#netgalley ( )