If you love romance books with chefs, restaurants, food, and a little bit of kitchen chemistry, these foodie romances need to be on your TBR.
I picked five of my favorite chef romance books, and while they're listed from #5 to #1, they're all 4-star reads (with one 5-star favorite), so honestly, you can't go wrong with any of them. From Michelin-starred chefs and farm-to-table restaurants to a yacht chef and a little Below Deck energy, there's a little something for every foodie romance reader.
Savor It by Tarah DeWitt
If you want a sweet small-town romance with a Michelin-star chef and single dad…
Savor It is the first book in Tara DeWitt's Spunes, Oregon series, and it features a Michelin-starred chef who heads to Oregon to open a new restaurant.
He's also a single dad, which adds an extra layer to this already sweet romance. I loved the small-town setting and the food element, and this is such a good pick if you want a cozy chef romance with plenty of heart.
Tropes: Small-town romance, single dad, chef romance, restaurant romance, opposites attract
🛒 Buy Savor It on Amazon →
📚Buy Savor It on Bookshop →
In Your Dreams by Sarah Adams
If you want a cozy, feel-good romance with a farm-to-table restaurant…
In Your Dreams is the fourth book in Sarah Adams' Rome, Kentucky series, and this one follows a heroine who is a chef trying to figure out what's next.
After a difficult experience in New York City and culinary school, she moves back home to Kentucky with her confidence at an all-time low. She ends up teaming up with her brother's best friend—a childhood friend who's had a crush on her forever—to build a farm-to-table restaurant.
The catch? His farm is struggling, he doesn't exactly have money to spare, and she's not sure she has what it takes to pull any of this off.
It's sweet, cozy, and low-angst, with the kind of small-town charm that makes you want to move to Kentucky and open a restaurant yourself.
Tropes: Brother's best friend, friends to lovers, childhood crush, small-town romance, chef heroine, farm-to-table restaurant, forced proximity
🛒 Buy In Your Dreams on Amazon →
📚Buy In Your Dreams on Bookshop.org →
Truly, Madly, Deeply by L.J. Shen
If you want a Michelin-starred chef, a longtime crush, and plenty of chemistry…
In Truly, Madly, Deeply, Cal returns home after her father's death to console her mother. When she needs a job, she ends up begging her best friend's brother—a Michelin-starred chef—to hire her.
He reluctantly agrees, but there's one little complication: Cal has been secretly crushing on him since high school.
So, obviously, working together is going to be completely normal and not awkward at all.
This one has all the things I want in a foodie romance: a talented chef, a heroine who is figuring herself out, plenty of chemistry, and a relationship that has been simmering for years.
Tropes: Best friend's brother, longtime crush, workplace romance, chef romance, forced proximity, small-town romance
🛒 Buy Truly, Madly, Deeply on Amazon →
📚Buy Truly, Madly, Deeply on Bookshop →
Juniper Hill by Devney Perry
If you want a small-town romance with a single mom, a chef, suspense, and serious chemistry…
Juniper Hill is the second book in Devney Perry's The Edens series, and I absolutely loved every book in this series.
This one follows a single mom with a newborn who's trying to rebuild her life. She arrives in a small Montana town and meets Knox Eden, a chef at the restaurant owned by his family.
And then she ends up living with him.
She's obviously not looking for a relationship when she's a brand-new mom trying to get her life back together, but the chemistry between these two is impossible to ignore. There's also a suspense element that kept me flying through the book.
I devoured this one. If you like small-town romance with a little more going on than just the romance, definitely add this to your list.
Tropes: Single mom, small-town romance, forced proximity, roommates, chef hero, family business, suspense, protective hero
🛒 Buy Juniper Hill on Amazon →
📚Buy Juniper Hill on Bookshop →
Love Overboard by Kandi Steiner
If you want second-chance romance, a yacht chef, and Below Deck vibes…
This was my 5-star read, and honestly, it has everything.
Love Overboard follows a woman who finally lands her dream job as chief stew on a luxury charter yacht. She's thrilled to have this opportunity—and then she finds out the yacht is also being used to film a reality TV show.
Think Below Deck, but make it romance.
She's excited about her new job until she meets the rest of the crew…and her ex-boyfriend walks onto the yacht as the chef.
They had a whirlwind romance in the past, and she's still completely heartbroken over how it ended. Now they're stuck working together on a yacht, surrounded by cameras, with all of that unresolved tension between them.
It's sweet, emotional, romantic, and full of second-chance chemistry, and I absolutely loved it.
Tropes: Second chance romance, exes to lovers, forced proximity, workplace romance, yacht romance, chef hero, reality TV, emotional romance
🛒 Buy Love Overboard on Amazon →
📚Buy Love Overboard on Bookshop →
Final Thoughts
If you're looking for foodie romance books or chef romances, these five are a great place to start. You've got Michelin-starred chefs, restaurant owners, a chef heroine, a farm-to-table restaurant, and even a yacht chef thrown in for good measure.
And honestly? They're all 4-star reads for me, with Love Overboard taking the top spot at 5 stars.
If you love romance books where the food is almost as good as the chemistry, add these to your TBR.
Which chef romance should I read next?
