Taste Test

If you can grill it, smoke it, or fry it, Nora Henderson knows all about it. She’s been basting baby back ribs and pulling pork at her father’s barbeque joint since she was tall enough to reach the counter. When she’s accepted to Taste Test, a reality-television teen cooking competition, Nora can’t wait to leave her humble hometown behind, even if it means saying good-bye to her dad and her best friend, Billy. Once she’s on set, run-ins with her high-society roommate and the maddeningly handsome—not to mention talented—son of a famous chef, Christian Van Lorten, mean Nora must work even harder to prove herself. But as mysterious accidents plague the kitchen arena, protecting her heart from one annoyingly charming fellow contestant in particular becomes the least of her concerns. Someone is conducting real-life eliminations, and if Nora doesn’t figure out who, she could be next to get chopped for good. 
With romance and intrigue as delectable as the winning recipes included in the story, this debut novel will be devoured by all.

After first hearing of this book, I was extremely excited to read it, because it's focused on food, people. And a competition for teens! It sounded like the perfect summer read! And then, after hearing from a person that it was a huge let down, I kind of deflated. Finally, I decided to pick it up, and it went really well! Maybe because my expectations had decreased or maybe Nora was just that hilarious. Either way, I would recommend this book highly if you were looking for a light read.

We first have our main character, Nora. When I met her, I immediately liked her, because she was really brave and mostly smart. And she had to work to where she got. Sarcastic is another word that I think of. She was a perfect combination of funny and witty! There were parts where I just wanted to smack her, because she was so stupid, but otherwise, I liked her alot!

The love interest, Christian, made me oh so mad. Really, he was highly annoying at first. He seemed bipolar(though I can admit Nora seemed bipolar alot too). Sometimes really sweet, other times...not so much. By the end, I sort of liked him, but I wouldn't go so far to say that I loved him as a character.

The plot was really simple. You know from about page 10 where this story is going to go. But something about how the author wrote just made me love (mostly) the characters. There were a few instances where is was really cheesy. Overall, though, the cooking and competition made me really enjoy it.

A very quick and light read, so pretty much a perfect beach read! The characters were easy to like, and the competition keeps you on your toes! I think if you love cooking, too, this one is especially for you to enjoy.