Anita KellyRezensionen

Lovely, sweet and sexy. Loved the women and queer youth in sports angle as well. Definitely recommend for those who like their sapphic romances a little less spiced, although there’s definitely some spice in this story.

When I first saw this at the library, I passed it by pretty quickly because I thought it looked a little cheesy, a little too lighthearted for what I was in the mood for. But then I noticed that someone I follow on bookstagram rated it really high, so on my next trip to the library, I snagged it. And I’m so glad I did. It was the perfect book to kick off Pride month: “‘ I am more trying to figure out… how I feel about a world that can make [my parents] believe what they believe. That [disowning me as their gay son] was the right thing. And where I fit now, in that world.’ Ben wanted to tell Alexei that he fit… He knew, of course, that even with every corporation in America shooting rainbow confetti out of a cannon every June, things like this still happened all the time” (46).

This book is so much more than I thought at first glance. It’s got heart and humor. It also has the perfect setting to really get to know someone new—hiking the Pacific Crest Trail—which is what brings together Ben and Alexei in this strangers to friends to lovers romance.

Gosh, I love Anita Kelly's books!

How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly
Love & Other Disasters series #3. Contemporary sapphic sports romance. Can be read as a stand-alone but better as part of the series. The couple from the previous book are secondary characters in this book.
Julie Parker coaches a high school basketball team. She has a new student with enough attitude for the whole team. When the new foster parent shows up to support the teen, Julie knows it’s the perfect time to fill the open slot of assistant coach. Julie is a little star stuck by Elle Cochrane as a former WNBA player. As the two work together, sparks fly and soon practice turns to game on.

Depth of characters here include depression, self-labeling, imposter syndrome, adult friendships, and migraines, all of which are over and above being a foster parent of a teen.
I loved the level of communication between these women. Open, heartfelt and not afraid to touch the difficult topics.

I received this book from NetGalley.

From my TBR subscription.

Cute romance between two guys hiking on the Pacific Coast Trail. It has some nice hiking and birding descriptions but it’s really not about hiking. I read a lot of non fiction about thru hiking and it’s clear that many people who choose that adventure are working through some stuff. These characters are doing that and we see them grappling with the repercussions of coming out and not having a great response from your family and navigating your way out of bad relationship habits and learning to form better ones.

While there are certainly a few spicy scenes this book it’s mostly about love, feelings, and communication and not so much about the sex.

I have another book by this author that I’ll read - those characters are briefly mentioned here.

5 / 5 ⭐️‘s

"Something Wild & Wonderful" By Anita Kelly

I loved everything about this book! It was an enchanting story that takes readers on an unforgettable journey of self-discovery, adventure, and love.

The author does an excellent job of immersing readers into the setting and painting a rich and vibrant picture of life on the PTC.

Alexei and Ben’s story is so sweet and I cheered for them the entire book. The ending

2.75 stars. i usually have a real problem with these stories where the characters fall in love so quickly, and it did happen pretty quickly here, but it felt like it made sense, mostly. the conflict felt reasonable. it was a little too quick to move across the country for someone (although it really really helped that she had no real reason to stay where she was), there wasn't enough of the on-set tension of the cooking show, and i could have used some more depth in the side characters, but this was actually a pretty fun read with two mains that i wanted to see get together.

great nonbinary rep, including a great explanation of why that might be someone's identity. ("And it was a hard thing to explain, that they didn't want to be a man, but they never felt quite right as a girl. That they only started to feel really okay when they understood they could be their own thing. That they could exist in a space that was all their own. That they could shift and adjust until it felt right. They had settled on nonbinary feeling right for them, even though they knew others like them had their own names that felt right to their own experiences. And that was comforting too, that each person could choose what brought them closest to belonging. The power in that - knowing that one day, people might discover even better words for it. That there was only ever freedom in continuing to find new names for who we were, who we could be.")

i'd definitely read them again.

In order to become a contestant on Chef's Special, a popular reality cooking show, Dahlia has quit her job and basically put her entire life on pause, pinning all her hopes on that $100,000 prize. At an cooking station adjacent to hers is London, a nonbinary fellow contestant, who spends the first few cooking tasks hopelessly distracted by Dahlia's hair. Both prove to be excellent cooks, but as they get to know each other more closely the studio kitchen isn't the only thing that starts to heat up (ha!).

As part of annual summer reading shenanigans, I and each of my library colleagues vowed to read a romance novel based on selected attributes, and then report back at a book discussion. My selections were "forced proximity" and "chef/foodie," and this title popped up. To my delight, it sounded like something I might have chosen to read anyway. I found that I cared about the protagonists, though the supporting cast was disappointingly somewhat one-dimensional. It's a sweet and well-written — I might even suggest 'wholesome' (though also spicy!) — romance. The inevitable, obligatory conflict was believable, and forgivable. Recommended!

Two guys meet while hiking in the West Coast wilderness. Lots of folks hike the Pacific Crest Trail every year, and they each have their own personal reasons. Alexei Lebedev has already resigned himself to his journey being a mostly solitary affair, leaving room for the occasional meetings and small talk shared with his fellow travelers...but...that all changes when he meets Ben Caravalho, a handsome stranger with gloriously unruly hair and a dazzling personality. What could have been merely a passing encounter turns into more...much more. Alexei keeps running into Ben. This happens over and over until the two men decides to just hike together. Neither can deny the attraction between them, but of course...there are complications. Wouldn't be an M/M romance without those pesky complications. Alexei is still coming to grips not only with being gay, but from also being out. Ben's history is different. He has a vastly supportive family that accepts him totally. The longer they walk, the more Alexei finds himself willing to try on opening up and embracing the sides of himself he's been afraid to acknowledge. Simply try being honest about what he's feeling not just for Ben's sake but for his own as well. Ben is coming off of a string of bad relationship decisions, but even he can't deny the fact that Alexei has carved out a unique place in his heart. Kelly has written a beautiful, sweet, curative read about the new identities people create by giving themselves permission to heal from the pain of the past and what can be discovered about who and what they are while giving themselves permission to "Be". The older kids that I volunteer with called it a story you could spend hours getting lost in, and they were 100% right.

A charming gay romance with wonderful and realistic protagonists.

I thought that this was really good! This is the first time I have read any of Anita Kelly’s work and I was impressed. Alexei and Ben were fantastic characters and I really enjoyed watching them open up to one another. They seemed perfect together even if they each had a few issues they needed to work through independently. I had a great time watching them find a future together.

Alexei and Ben were wonderful together. They meet on the Pacific Coast Trail and eventually decide to walk together. Alexei is a bit of a loner so this is a big deal for him to agree to walk with Ben. I liked watching these two get to know each other and I thought it was interesting that they were both at a crossroads in their lives. I felt that the descriptions of life on the Pacific Coast Trail were wonderful and almost made me want to pack up and take the journey myself (but then I remembered how much I like sleeping in beds and air-conditioning).

I listened to the audiobook and thought that Mark Sanderlin did an excellent job with the narration. I liked the way that he was able to bring each of the characters to life and added just the right amount of emotion to his reading. I found his voice to be very pleasant and had no problem listening to the book for hours at a time. I am certain that his narration added to my overall enjoyment of the story.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a wonderful romance featuring two characters that were easy to root for. I hope to read more of this author’s work very soon.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Forever and purchased a copy of the audiobook.

From Amazon - Alexei Lebedev’s journey on the Pacific Crest Trail begins with a single snake. And it is angling for the hot stranger who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Lex is prepared for rattlesnakes, blisters, and months of solitude. What he isn’t prepared for is Ben Caravalho. But somehow—on a 2,500-mile trail—Alexei keeps running into the outgoing and charismatic hiker with golden-brown eyes, again and again. It might be coincidence. Then again, maybe there’s a reason the trail keeps bringing them together . . .

Ben has made his fair share of bad decisions, and almost all of them involved beautiful men. And yet there’s something about the gorgeous and quietly nerdy Alexei that Ben can’t just walk away from. Surely a bad decision can’t be this cute and smart. And there are worse things than falling in love during the biggest adventure of your life. But when their plans for the future are turned upside down, Ben and Alexei begin to wonder if it’s possible to hold on to something this wild and wonderful.

How crazy is it that I've never read a book featuring a nonbinary main character? This was a delightful first, a very cute romance. I really enjoyed the behind the scenes of a cooking reality show!

Plenty of lovely warmth and humor-humor was spot-on, in fact. Sexy and sweet, but the pacing gave me problems.½

2.25

Boring. The Characters were barely explored, the cooking competition aspect was barely explored, the romance was just another bland instalove story with no real depth. However, it was a quick read, even if it was wholly forgetable.

DNF at 52%
I wanted to like this book so badly. Truly. A queer main character, non-binary love interest, *and* set in a cooking competition? Sign me up immediately!
Unfortunately, there were a few aspects that caused this to fall flat for me. Overall I think the main crux is simply that it felt boring to me. Even though the characters are in a cooking competition, it just didn't feel that way. That part felt so glossed over - there wasn't really any tension built around/in the competition. I would have loved to read more about their actual performances in the challenges instead of skipping over them and/or only mentioning the results. The plot was more focused on the relationship between London and Dahlia, which would've been fine except I didn't feel much chemistry between them. Additionally, the writing style felt like it was trying to be fun, kind of going for rom-con vibes, but it felt stagnant to me- like it was trying too hard to the point where it became a bit monotonous and boring.
I was honestly so excited by the premise that I'm a little sad to have DNFed it. I may return to it in the future if I have the time and desire to because I think the potential was there for it to be a cute, queer love story.

Why is it that romances set in the kitchen are always a good time? Cooking up mischeif might just be my thing?

Dahlia goes on a reality TV show. As a klutz, she was definitively entertaining for me as I'm sure anyone watching the show would agree.

London, announcing their pronoun on TV is more worried about other things than the woman falling on her face in front of them.

Of course, this dynamic is sure to stir up a frenzy in the hearts of television watchers everywhere. I love these characters and the plot, but I felt like it may have been done before (think Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake..) Alas, I loved it before and I loved it this time.

"It's okay not to be okay sometimes."

Super cute!

Dahlia was just enough of a mess for me to love and root for her and London was the perfect amount of aloof to make their relationship freaking adorable.

This is the second romance book I've read that takes place on the set of a cooking/baking/reality show (despite the fact that I hate cooking). Maybe I should take up cooking...?

4.5

Newly divorced Dahlia Woodson is trying to figure out what she wants out of her life. Determined to reinvent herself, Dahlia tries out for and is accepted on Chef's Special - America's favorite cooking reality show. Cooking was something Dahlia turned to in the last couple of years as her marriage was crumbling and she's very proud of all she's learned and accomplished. Of course, no one ever prepares you for falling flat on your face on reality tv...so Dahlia has that going for her.

London Parker becomes the first openly nonbinary contestant on Chef's Special after deciding to announce their pronouns during their individual interviews on camera. Bracing for the worst commentary on social media, London doesn't have time to pay attention to the gorgeous accident-prone contestant at the table in from of them.

While romance was not something either Dahlia or London were looking for when they started Chef's Special, they slowly form a bond with one another. But as the weeks go by and contestant after contestant are sent home, they begin to realize that there's more at stake than a $100,000 prize.

I am a big fan of reality baking/cooking competitions so when I read that Anita Kelly's book would revolve around two contestants falling for each other while competing I knew I would read this. It's always interesting to see the behind-the-scenes workings of these types of shows and the friendships and bonds formed between the people through their shared experiences.

Love & Other Disasters really delivers on all fronts. What really got me about the story was the vulnerability that both Dahlia and London exhibit throughout. They are both putting themselves out there so openly and honestly even without knowing exactly how things are going to play out.

The slow build of their initial friendship to something more was so sweet. Seeing two people from different parts of the country meeting by chance (on a reality show of all places) and recognizing something that has been missing from their lives. Dahlia had been unhappy in her marriage for years and wasn't seeing eye-to-eye with her husband on what their future looked like. And London who is finally able to say who they are and who they want to be, but still experiencing those who can't just let them live their truth - including their own father. Together, Dahlia and London make all that doubt and uncertainty go away. They truly see each other. They fit together so effortlessly I loved every minute.

Coupled with the delicious food descriptions and this was such a great comfort read by a new-to-me author.

Anita Kelly, I will follow you wherever you want to take me

(Real review going up at Shelf Awareness, but this was really excellent)

CW for transphobia, messy family relationships (homophobic/transphobic father), brief mentions of body dysphoria, past divorce because partner wanted MC to have kids ASAP