A Spoiler Free ARC Review
Gouda Friends
Cathy Yardley
Out Today!
GoodReads | Storygraph | Amazon
*Also available with Kindle Unlimited*
New Adult – romance, contemporary, friends to lovers, slow burn romance,
Trigger & Content Warnings: sexual content, cheating, emotionally manipulative ex, toxic family (off the page, referenced briefly)
Blurb
Two high school BFFs reunite and endeavor to fix each other’s lives in this geeky romance from the author of Love, Comment, Subscribe.
Tam Doan dumped her boyfriend after he threw away her gourmet cheese. Sure, it’s a little more complicated than that, but the point is, he had it coming. Newly single and unemployed, Tam calls up her best friend from high school and utters the emergency code word—goldfish. Next thing she knows, she’s on a plane back home.
Josh O’Malley was a troubled, unconfident teenager. Now he’s the successful owner of a multimillion-dollar ghost kitchen. Tam, his high school BFF and fellow member of the Nerd Herd friend group, was instrumental in building his self-esteem. When she calls him out of the blue, he jumps at the chance to return the favor.
Josh and Tam immediately get to work fixing her life—but again, it’s complicated. Their close friendship was always a lifeline between them; a blooming romance might confuse things. Still, at least one thing is for certain: their chemistry is un-brie-lievable.
For more information on Gouda Friends, as well as what’s next for the series… – check out the Release Blitz post!
My Review
I have been dying to return back to the Nerd Herd since I finished the first book in the series, Love, Comment, Subscribe last year, and Gouda Friends quickly became one of my most anticipated reads of this year. Even more so that it centres around my other love: cheese. Whilst it is the second book in the series, it can be read entirely as a standalone, and as someone who has read both there’s nothing integral to this storyline from the previous that you will feel like you’re missing out on if you do decide to only read this one.
To be completely transparent I was left feeling a little disappointed finishing this book. But, I think this is partly to me hyping it so much whilst it also being one of my least favourite tropes. Cathy Yardley handled the friends to lovers really well, Tam and Josh’s friendship is one that is adorable and purely wholesome to read about. Their connection with each other is great and one that feels natural. They just make sense.
This is the perfect read for when you want to a light and fluffy romance, and is an all round feel good book. One thing I especially love is just how much diversity is in this thing! Tam’s family is Vietnamese, LGTBQ+ representation (M/M couple), to name just a few. It’s so refreshing to see so much diversity in one single book, especially when we even see it reflected in the food of Josh’s ghost kitchens. Have your phone ready because this book will make you crave so many meals!
The other thing that I love, love, love, about Cathy Yardley is that her humour is on point. She not only understands, she delivers the assignment. There’s a certain scene where Tam is trying out graphic design and branding with Aidan, and a client is dead set on a certain name… I was a millisecond from spurting coffee all over my laptop. (Note: do not read that scene with any form of liquid in your mouth, you may choke or worse – get it over your electronic devices)
There is a little bit of spice and sexual content, but if this is something that you’re weary of then they’re small enough scenes to quickly skip through. They’re not overly detailed but they are there. Once again, to be completely honest I feel that the smutty scenes were actually the weakest part of the book. Often with a lot of random similes that felt like they came out of nowhere and sentences that made me cringe a little.
Overall though, this is a really fun read. Don’t let my review discourage you in anyway. As I’ve said before friends to lovers is my least favourite trope and I felt that is a big part of why I didn’t click with this book as much as the first. Saying that, I still had fun being back with the Nerd Herd and can’t wait to see more of what goes down in Ponto Beach next!
Thank you so much to InkSlinger PR for the ARC and allowing me to be part of the release of this book
Thanks for reading!
Charlotte Alicia 
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