Hidden Gems Just Named "The Secret Ingredient" One of its Hottest Romances of 2019. Here's Why I'm So Excited...

I am a-okay with the fact that Hidden Gems put The Secret Ingredient on its list of the Hottest Romances of 2019! I am even more okay with the reader review they put in the article. If you’ve ever sat with me and talked books, or listened to interviews with me in which I talk about my reading preferences, you’ll know all about a pet peeve of mine when it comes to romance novels. It’s the one thing that will make me abandon an otherwise-promising book and the one thing I hope I never write into one of my own couples who fall in insta-love.

I’ll stop for a minute to admit something: me and Mr. Blades kinda fell in insta-love. We were immediately and deeply infatuated and, three months after we met, we were taking one another home for the holidays and introducing each other around to our respective families. Even then, it was foreshadowed that one day we would marry. It is, therefore, completely ironic that I’m so against romance novels in which people fall in love so quickly and with no apparent reason. I’ll own that this makes me completely weird.

Here is an excerpt from the Hidden Gems article, which I love because it references this: the utter lack of insta-love in The Secret Ingredient:

“I absolutely loved this book. The writing was excellent and the characters well developed. But the thing that made me keep reading was how flawlessly the author told the story. I absolutely loved that the main characters took their time getting to know each other and becoming friends first. This was no insta-love or even insta-lust even though they certainly were attracted to the other. The story and the friendship came first. We got to go along for the ride as Max and Cella worked together on her new cookbook, discovering new recipes and improving on the old ones. When they finally decided to act on their attraction, the love and emotion between them was apparent. This book is definitely a recipe for a great romance novel!”

- Karen, 5-star reviewer

Thanks to Hidden Gems for publishing this list and to my reviewer, Karen, for posting such thoughtful, glowing words about The Secret Ingredient!