Tacos for Two

 Title: Tacos for Two

Author: Betsy St. Amant

Publisher: Revell

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Christian Fiction,

Source: Net Galley

My Review:

The bright cover of Tacos for Two is was first drew me to this book. I had not read Betsy St. Amant before but will be reading more of her books.

I loved how the book began with chats between StrongerMan99 and ColorMeTurquoise. It drew me into the book and had me wondering how it would turn out. The banter was great, a mix of humor and depth. 

I had mixed feelings for Rory. I understood her stress with the food truck and her obligations with her cousin, Hannah (the sweetest character). I loved her friendship with Grady and Nicole. I enjoyed how she interacted with all three of them. However, I did not get her interactions with Jude. She was the queen of jumping to conclusions and assuming he was exactly like the guy she had previously dated.

Technically, she owned the Salsa Street food truck. And technically, she couldn't cook to save her life. 

Jude was also a character that was hard to define. I could understand his feelings of not wanting to follow in his family's footsteps, and wanting to go on his own path. That is an admirable quality. I appreciated that once he realized he didn't know Alton's name he made an effort to essentially be a better person.

The food truck, however, served as a frequent reminder of the pressures riding Rory's shoulders like a pageant queen on a hometown parade float.

The amount of time Rory spent jumping to conclusions and the miscommunications with Jude seemed over the top. Other than that, I enjoyed the book as a whole. It was mostly a quick, light read with doses of humor. I loved all the diversity in the book, including a character with special needs, as it was beautifully done.

I am not sure if I have ever seen You've Got Mail all the way through, but those who have will appreciate the nods to the movie. It made me think I might want to take the time to watch the movie all the way through.

Thank you to Net Galley and Revell for the opportunity to read this book. I was not required to provide a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

★★★/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 

Rory Perez, a food truck owner who can't cook, is struggling to keep the business she inherited from her aunt out of the red--and an upcoming contest during Modest's annual food truck festival seems the best way to do it. The prize money could finally give her a solid financial footing and keep her cousin with special needs paid up at her beloved assisted living home. Then maybe Rory will have enough time to meet the man she's been talking to via an anonymous online dating site.

Jude Strong is tired of being a puppet at his manipulative father's law firm, and the food truck festival seems like the perfect opportunity to dive into his passion for cooking and finally call his life his own. But if he loses the contest, he's back at the law firm for good. Failure is not an option.

Complications arise when Rory's chef gets mono and she realizes she has to cook after all. Then Jude discovers that his stiffest competition is the same woman he's been falling for online the past month.

Will these unlikely chefs sacrifice it all for the sake of love? Or will there only ever be tacos for one?