Mead Cute by Sam Parks - Romance Book Review

The chemistry is CHEMISTRYING!

Mead Cute by Sam Parks is now available to buy, click below!

Chloe is with her friends at a ren faire in the US when she bumps, quite literally, into a girl carrying a keg that spills everywhere, costing the girl her job. Back home, she takes a mead making class and is offered a job at the farm to help with their marketing, only to find the girl, Teddy, working there – and both girls want the job. They are forced to work together to give the farm a new lease of life, but also to figure out what’s going on in their own lives, as that job is more than just something to do all day for both of them. But their undeniable chemistry starts to get in the way…

I loved falling back into this world of nerdy and cosy friendships that aligns with the world I love so well. While I’m not a D&D player, over the past couple of years I’ve fallen in love with the fantasy world and have been to Fantasy Forest (which was the festival in the last book, and I believe the one in this book too) and have booked to go to my first ren faire this year too (which I believe the author will be at!). Sam, clearly being part of this world too, gives such life and vibrancy to it – she describes the community so well, the inclusivity and friendliness.

As I’ve just mentioned, the blurb mentions Chloe and Teddy’s undeniable chemistry and you could totally feel that throughout the book. I don’t think anything describes it any better than a comment on one of the social posts written into the book “the chemistry is CHEMISTRYING”! I really enjoyed that this was a sapphic relationship, where the other two books weren’t – it made the inclusivity feel even more realistic as a whole book was dedicated to it, not just a token side character. I’m really hoping that Grey, the non-binary character, gets a book too at some point!

It was also really nice to see the job that I do (digital marketing) being shown as a REAL job in this book! Chloe’s mum’s opinions on what she does not being significant or important enough are a real part of life for me – I’ve literally had old teachers tell me that what I do isn’t “real work”. But here the day to day life in this type marketing is well represented, and not just as “taking a few pretty pictures and posting them on social”. Chloe’s struggles with her passions and frustrations with the way her brain worked also felt very real and hit a nerve with me – nothing was ever labelled, but I appreciated the way that her busy brain worked and her chaos gremlin ways. I highlighted a few lines that resonated strongly with me, putting into words how I often feel in a way that I couldn’t have done.

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I really love the way that pop culture is referenced in this book too. I think I said it about one of the other books in this series, but clearly the author and I align with our online worlds too as there are little asides that almost feel like in-jokes that it feels like not everyone would get, such as the male author writing breastily boobily!

Mead Cute is the third book in the Roll for Romance series, I reviewed the first one, Date Knight, here. I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future, I hope there are more to come in the series!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for an ARC of this book.