Roux for Two by Aurora Rey is a delightful, easygoing, and gentle celebrity romance set in small town Louisiana. As the title of this book suggests, there is also a lot of talk about food in the story. Needless to say, I kept getting hungry as I read.
I don’t normally think of a celebrity-romance going along with a small-town-romance, but it works well here. The main character, Chelsea Boudreaux moves back to her hometown, Duchesne, Louisiana to film her cooking show for The Food TV network. This is her first time as the main chef in front of the cameras, and she wants to showcase her Cajun and Creole recipes in a modern kitchen in her own home. On the way to Duchesne, Chelsea gets a flat tire, and a handsome guy in a blue pickup stops to help her. Bryce Cormier was a classmate of Chelsea’s in school but she doesn’t recognize him immediately since he transitioned after she left town. There is an attraction between the two that only grows as they get to know each other again, but will they be able to fit their very different lives together long term?
Bryce is not a new character for me. I remember him as an important secondary character in Ms. Rey’s novel You Again. Several other characters from that book show up here as well. I do enjoy revisiting old friends in other stories like this.
The setting (and the food) almost made this Southern girl homesick. The author did a great job creating characters that reflect the quirks and idiosyncrasies you might find in a small Southern town like Duchesne. Chelsea and Bryce are very likeable characters and work well together as a couple. I also loved how the author showed Chelsea as a person who has grown to be positive about her body shape and size.
I had a lot of fun visiting old friends from a former book, reliving some of my Southern small town memories, and seeing another lovely couple have a HEA story. I think you might enjoy this novel as much as I did.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.
Rainbow Reflections 