January 1, 2022
DEBUT Simone Larkspur and Ray Lyton are colleagues at a prestigious food magazine and website that has decided to pivot to video. When kitchen manager Ray goes viral with a humorous home-brewing demonstration, they get thrown together for a new series: Simone creates fancy versions of Ray's Midwestern family classics, and their on-screen chemistry reflects Simone's growing crush. Then Ray comes out as nonbinary at work. Simone frets about remembering their pronouns, but she isn't prepared for the intentional misgendering and transphobia from her colleagues. Sure, there's already been evidence of racism and classism at the magazine, but white, cisgender, bisexual-but-not-out-at-work Simone has been able to look past that. Top surgery and tough workplace conversations bring Ray and Simone closer, though they stumble through several swoon-worthy near-misses first. Readers should know that Ray's gender is misperceived for about 150 pages, as readers only see Simone's point of view, and that Simone's trans roommate is mostly just here to explain things. VERDICT Readers who enjoyed the adventures in romances like Alexis Hall's Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake and Adriana Herrera's Mangoes and Mistletoe will likely eat this one up too.--Katelyn Browne
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Starred review from February 28, 2022
Opposites attract in Alexander’s outstanding debut rom-com. Simone Larkspur, a no-nonsense pastry chef and recipe writer for long-standing culinary outlet The Discerning Chef, is forced by her editor to pivot to video alongside Ray Lyton, her distractingly cheerful new kitchen manager who has a knack for accidental YouTube virality. When Ray comes out as nonbinary at work, the pair’s growing adoration for one another is put to the test as their coworkers draw lines, forcing Simone to decide which matters more—the culinary career she’s spent so long building, or the only person she’d ever be caught dead making eyes at on camera. Alexander accomplishes a masterful juggling act: the banter is snappy, the chemistry between Simone and Ray sings, the commentary on social media fame is poignant without ever verging on precious, and the exploration of Ray’s nonbinary identity within the structure of a romantic comedy hits exactly right. In particular, Alexander’s grasp of narrative payoff is expertly applied—this is a rom-com that manages to both subvert and embrace the tropes it’s working with, and the result is one of the most intricate and satisfying queer romances in years. Fans of Casey McQuiston will be wowed. Agent: Larissa Melo Pienkowski, Jill Grinberg Literary.
May 1, 2022
When a high-strung pastry chef learns that her dream job is at stake, her carefully organized life transforms into a four-course meal without a recipe in this delicious debut. Simone Larkspur, 28, is nothing if not by the book. After studying her apron off at Le Cordon Bleu, she scored her dream gig as a recipe developer and writer for The Discerning Chef, a cookbook and magazine publisher in Manhattan's West Village. So when her boss, culinary giant Pim Gladly, lets Simone know that TDC is losing money, her pastry-perfect world is turned upside down. In order to save TDC's empire, they'll have to pivot to video, which is not in Simone's comfort zone, to say the least. To Simone's dismay, Pim hires an entire team of videographers, including "windbag" Chase McDonald, to help her and the other chefs record trendy recipe videos. Also new to the crew is kitchen manager Rachel "Ray" Lyton, whose positive energy and infectious laughter irk Simone most of all. It's not that Simone is jealous of Ray for being out and proud or that she herself is private about being bisexual; it's that Ray's personality is the complete opposite of Simone's. Ray is open, approachable, and flirtatious, whereas "innuendo and subtle interest bounced off Simone like off a good nonstick pan." While Simone would like nothing more than to grapple with her feelings for Ray alone, their on-screen chemistry does wonders for TDC's popularity, and they both become instant online celebrities. But when Ray is discriminated against after coming out to the team as nonbinary, Simone realizes that maybe her perfect job isn't so perfect after all. Alexander whips up a delectable couple with Ray and Simone; they are each on their own journeys for self-awareness and self-confidence, which they gratifyingly achieve on an individual level. Alexander's romance confronts workplace discrimination, internal biases, and issues like transphobia and misgendering with ease. Baked to perfection.
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May 15, 2022
New York pastry chef Simone Larkspur is a work-obsessed creative genius who prefers to keep her personal life, and her bisexual identity, private. The traditional culinary publication she works for is facing financial ruin and to save it Simone needs to rise to the occasion and cohost a quirky online cooking show with the charming new kitchen manager, Ray Lyton, who shines on camera. Their undeniable chemistry rakes in millions of views and lots of comments as people cheer for the quasi-celebrity couple they've lovingly dubbed "Raymone." When Ray comes out as nonbinary, the company rudely refuses to make accommodations, and even though her career is on the line, Simone's instinct is to stand up for Ray, whom she's been crushing on secretly the whole time. Simone and Ray mostly tiptoe around their feelings, but the realistic slow-burn romantic reveal at the end is worth the wait. This sweet contemporary Own-Voices romance by a nonbinary author is recommended for all libraries, but some readers sensitive to topics involving deadnaming, transphobia, and misgendering may appreciate a content warning.
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