Chef’s Kiss (A Gia, San Francisco Romance) by Stephanie Shea, narrated by AJ Ferraro

On a backdrop of book pages, an iPhone with the cover of Chef's Kiss by Stephanie Shea, narrated by AJ Ferraro. In the top left corner of the image, a strip of torn paper with a quote: "I’ll blame the fact that we now have so many sapphic books to choose from as the reason why I hadn’t read one by Stephanie Shea until now." and a URL: judeinthestars.com.

I’ll blame the fact that we now have so many sapphic books to choose from as the reason I hadn’t read one by Stephanie Shea until now. Chef’s Kiss was such an easy, heartwarming listen that I really look forward to more of hers.

It was also my first narration by A.J. Ferraro and it fits the tone and characters well, adding to the overall enjoyment of it all.

So, what’s Chef’s Kiss about? Valentina Rosas’s dream is very close to coming true when she’s offered a staging role at star restaurant Gia, San Francisco. Tripping in front of her idol, renowned chef Jenn Coleman, wasn’t how she imagined their first encounter, however.

Both women have wildly different personalities and they complement each other perfectly. There’s a lot of sweet tension between them as they encounter a few bumps on their journey to each other. Valentina is an extrovert, full of energy and joy, whereas Jenn is reserved, focused on her two Michelin restaurants and her teenage son. Valentina can count on the unwavering support of lovely—albeit slightly overbearing—parents in Mexico and her best friend/roommate Zoe, who’ll follow her anywhere she needs to be. Jenn, the daughter of a Black woman and an Italian man, who named her restaurants after her nonna, maintains a friendly and respectful relationship with her ex, Rachel. Her best friend (and employee) Avery also keeps an eye on her. There are no on-page villains in this story (there is in one of the MCs’ background), all the characters are endearing, flaws and all.

From what I can tell, Shea’s depiction of the restaurant kitchen energy is accurate. I could have done with a bit more detail about the food itself, first because food is life and also because I know so little about Mexican food that I had a hard time picturing what Italian-Mexican fusion would taste like. It sounds really delicious, though.