Love on the Menu by Mimi Deb
Meet-cute, bad decisions, pen-pals 2.5 stars Gia has a list of bold moves to change her life. Ben is stuck in a rut, hiding his dreams away. Joined as accidental pen-pals by fate (or a takeaway order), these two slowly get to know each other as they navigate their problems and transform their lives. Though the story is intriguing and overall pretty cute, I feel like there was a lot of distractions and jumping around. The focus is heavy on some side characters, like Jay or Matt, while also only sharing very little about said characters and then suddenly a lot shared all at once. Aside from Gia and Ben, I didn’t get the impression that I got to know anyone. Speaking of the main characters, Ben is a good one. He’s a little indecisive but clearly striving for better and moving forward, albeit at his own pace. I love his interactions with the people at the takeaway and his football team. Gia, on the other hand, kind of feels like a bit of a mess. A sweet, semi-optimistic character, but