3.5 stars! Grumpy x sunshine romance with a fun food theme and plenty of cute awkwardness.

This story follows Ben and Pete.
Ben is a video editor who has been tasked with helping a disastrous chef film cooking videos.
Pete is the disastrous chef in question, who is helpless on his own.
Off the bat, Ben is no fan of Pete and his annoyingly happy-go-lucky attitude.
But, as the two start spending more time together, a forced work relationship blossoms into something more.

I love the dynamic here.
Ben is grumpy and a little mean, but nothing in the world seems to be able to dampen Pete’s mood.
I simply cannot help being obsessed with an opposites attract relationship, so this brings me so much joy.
Watching the character with the harsh, downer personality slowly change and open up as cheerful, happy character rubs off on them? I think that is so cute. This provided that!

This may be weird, but I also loved Pete’s awkwardness. It was absolutely so endearing.
Throughout the story his primary struggle is how nervous he gets while recording.
He has a great personality, and is a great cook. But, he just can’t seem to do anything right when the cameras are rolling.
This brought in a lot of humor, and made for some cute, light-hearted moments.
I also have to say that I find this so incredibly real- which is probably why I liked it to much. As person that is also incapable of doing anything while someone is watching me- I see him and I relate to him.
Relatability always makes things more enjoyable!

Unfortunaltey, I have to say that I found the writing a bit hard to follow.
I didn’t feel like it read super easily, and there were a several points where my mind ending up wandering off.
I think this might just be a me thing, but I just wasn't hooked the whole time.
There seemed to be a few plot holes, and moments where I wasn’t sure how we got from point A to point B.
This very well might just be a result of my disconnection from the writing style, so perhaps other readers might not experience the same issue!

Overall, it is a fun and light story. I think it is worth the read if you enjoy MM romance, along with food/cooking themes.

Thank you to Netgalley, Storm Publishing and author Dylan Morrison for providing me with the eARC of “Recipe for Trouble”, in exchange for my honest review!
Publication date: October 16, 2025
Reviewed on Goodreads: September 08, 2025