Tori loves the city and her found family. Vehe runs a cafe in his home town. She they meet they make a bet, but will either of them end up winning? A great read, forward to the next books in this series.

I thought this book sounded intriguing and liked the punny title. I didn't realize this was a second book in a series. It was almost a standalone, but some backstory was missing. The big problem with this book was it relied on style over substance. And the FMC was so utterly shallowly drawn and unlikeable it was hard to read. The MMC and his family were interesting. This book is a big pile of it could’ve been better.

As much as I wanted to love this book, I did have to dnf it a little over 30% into the book.

For starters, I loved the inclusion of Armenian culture in this book! It’s not a culture represented in a lot of books so it is refreshing. It helped the story out a bit for me and was a good driving point in at least getting through some of the book.

My biggest issues was our FMC here. I felt like she was just written with the “I’m not like other girls” trope and unfortunately not in the best way. At this point, it’s a bit of a cliche personality type, and along with her crass attitude it was just a struggle for me to like her.

Maybe I’ll try to pick it up again down the line, but for now it just couldn’t keep my interest!

This is the 3rd in the Glam Fam series but I read it as a stand alone and it was awesome. I'm going to go back and read the previous two stories.

I really enjoyed learning about the Armenian culture in this story - whooo Vahe is a hot baker with a witty banter is a great main character. Tori was his perfect match. The only part that dragged on was the my city vs your city bit - I understand that was the idea for their contest, but it was a bit overkill. Their banter was incredible and I thought it was a funny, sweet/spicy story!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

haven’t read the first 2 books in this series but I don’t think you need to, to be able to follow along. I’m sure the other books provide a bit of context on the friend groups but this can very much be read as a standalone!

I really, really enjoyed the way Vahe and his family depicted the Armenian culture. I think the author did an amazing job of demonstrating some of the best parts of our culture, while also shining a light on how alienating our culture can be, as well (the way his sister behaved near the end, plus Tori’s interaction with his parents). It was such a gift to get to see my culture represented in a genre that I love, something that I so rarely get to experience.

With that said, Tori was a difficult pill to swallow for me. Her character felt crass just to be crass and I found her to be rather exhausting. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and I think this book could have easily been a 4 star read, had it not been for Tori.

I received a digital ARC of this book. Thank you to NetGalley, Alyssa Jarrett, and the publisher!

While Love and Paklava is the third book in Alyssa Jarrett's Glam Fam series, I don't believe you have to read Love Apptually or Love on the Rocks to fully enjoy this story. It may make your reading experience a little better knowing the side characters, but this is truly a standalone romance between our horny, bad-attitude and claw-wearing, men-hating black cat of an FMC and a baking golden retriever with a bit of daddy energy wrapped up in a fuckboi package.

This was such a fun little romcom, with a fantastic set up. Dating to see whose city is better, where sex is the grand prize? So cute. I loved how much of a little bad-ass Tori was and how patient and kind and understanding Vahe was with her and her history. I love how Vahe didn't let Tori give him crap, but in such a respectful way. Loved the spice, and Alyssa always delivers with a good pun at the wrong/right time. And Queenie's voicemails were the best!

I loved the Armenian history, and while I know authors leave little pieces of themselves in every book, it's apparent this one is very special to Alyssa.

Thisis a well-written spicy romance. I wouldn't call it enemies to lovers but it is more like opposites attract. It is a bit insta lust but only in terms of attraction not on page spice. I only gave it a 3.5 because it was a bit crass for me but the writing is good and the characters feel like people I know. Well, many of them do. If you like spice and big city vs small town feels, this book is a good place to get that.

I really wanted to love this book because it seemed like a fun concept, but oh my God was this book rough to get through.

I skimmed most of this once I realized that I was not going to enjoy it. I should’ve just DNF’d it but I did want to see how it ended and honestly, I wish I had put it down because the ending just made me mad.

Full spoilers ahead, so look away if you don’t wanna know, but my main issue with this book was that the main female character was incredibly insufferable. She was the definition of “not like other girls“ and looked down at anyone who she felt to be too “basic,” to the extent that she was putting down the main male character’s hometown, which was deeply rooted in his Armenian heritage, just to try and prove a point that San Francisco was soooooo much better than Fresno. She was sooo quirky and different.

She had a massive chip on her shoulder and would not let you forget it. And I think to an extent the point of the story was for her to open herself up to love and being vulnerable, but I didn’t need to be reminded every other paragraph at just how different and wild and edgy and a bad ass she was.

She couldn’t even fathom ever leaving San Francisco, which she considers to be the best city on the planet, to move to Fresno, where the first man she’s ever loved is from and loves and has deep cultural roots to. She never even considered it for a second, and by the end of the book, she doubled down with him that she never even considered it. So to me, the only real revelation she had in this book was that she could, in fact, love somebody after she got over her annoying misconceptions, but I think it would’ve been more impactful if she had even just considered moving to Fresno to show that she really cared about this man, even if she didn’t end up moving there. Because moving there would probably be in contrast to her character, which I understand, but he basically forgave her for a lot of mean things she said to him that I personally wouldn’t have forgiven, and then agreed to move to her city, and I just felt like that was a bummer of an ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the advance copy to review.

As a proud member of the Armenian diaspora and also reading this during Armenian genocide remembrance, this book has me feeling some type of way. They tried to erase us, but still we stand with our people, our culture, and our stories.
❤️💙🧡

Given my enjoyment of culturally rich books, I knew there was a high probability I was going to love this one. But especially because it’s is Armenian (and yes, I’m bias AF), I love loved this book!

Tori is such a badass, no nonsense, straight to business FMC. From a not so great upbringing, life has taught her to stay sharp. Her toughness initially is abrasive, but throughout the book her character softens and learns to trust, and from one closed off bitch to another, I just love that for her. Baker Bro Vahe really puts in the work to break down her claws. He is patience and persistent, plus I love me a man who gets off on a woman’s pleasure.

The writing was so fun, and I had so many highlights and chortling moments. The humor is like dad jokes for sluts. Tori’s lists and Queenies voicemails in between chapters made me giggle and were a fun palette cleanser (Respectfully, disagree with Tori on the penis straws at bachelorette parties, they are a must!)

Total aside, with the use of “hella” multiple times, Alyssa is a west coast gurlie and it shows.

Thank you Net Galley for ARC!!

Heavier on the graphic sex than I enjoy in books, the story and characters were good enough to make me overlook it (and skim). Both Vahe and Tori and interesting and I enjoyed the way they come together and how Tori begins to trust.