Ikenai Ezuke Keikaku
Multiple cute stories, two of them interconnected. I enjoyed reading them all, with the construction worker and chef being my favourite.
Atatamete Kureru Hito.
A shop assistant/chef in training and a newly divorced beautician become friends. This story follows their emerging feelings of love for each other with sweet simplicity. It’s a feel good, heartwarming story with 2 very likeable MCs.
From Green Kitchen
Meshiagare Ai o
Very cute story with a seriously shy and introverted uke and his neighbour who falls in love with him.
Anata No Chef
Short oneshot that packed a lot in a few pages.
Hizamazu Ai ni Kogareru
Cute set of stories. I liked the first one best, in part because it had a few chapters so the characters developed better, and in part because I have a soft spot for childhood friends to lovers stories.
If I Hadn't Fallen in Love With You
Loved it! Nono is the head Chinese cuisine chef. This former delinquent and bad boy motorcycle club president still dresses like a punk. He can be loud and brash but he is really a protective nurturer. Misato is the new audit department manager. Elegantly dressed, formal and somewhat reserved, this career driven man can lose his cool when near Nono. I love their dynamic together, this was so surprisingly sweet.
The Magic Soup
This fairy tale of a story was adorable. It had a rather evil winter magician with a frozen heart named Larmanilla, a human named Romeade fulfilling his dying mother’s wish to travel to the winter magicians castle, tiny fox butlers and servants, a savagely giant guard dog, and a magical golden apple tree. When Romeade came to the castle he became the chef and spent the next 5 years working for the temperamental Larmanilla. His trustworthy heart and warm meals gradually endeared him to the magician, and the story followed their budding romance through some unexpected twists and turns. The story was slow paced yet actually packed a lot in at the same time. There were morals along the way (like any good fairy tale) such as the high cost of greed and spots of dark humour and ruthless actions that added some texture to the fluffiness of the story. It was definitely a story I enjoyed.
Lingua dolce
The new dessert chef at the privately managed Italian restaurant "Molte Stelle" is a tall Italian man of few words, Gino. The inscrutable Gino is supervised by head chef, Keito who falls instantly in love. With his desserts that is. This beautifully drawn story follows the relationship of Keito and Gino, dealing gently around some cultural differences and an unexpected romance. I enjoyed the intensity between the MCs, the way food was such a means of connecting and how Gino respected Keito’s demands.
Suki Toiunoni Nazekashira