Gouda Friends

Ponto Beach Reunion, Book 2

By: Cathy Yardley

Narrated by: David Lee Huynh, Jenapher Zheng

Two high school BFFs reunite and endeavor to fix each other’s lives in this geeky romance from the author of Love, Comment, Subscribe.

Tam Doan dumped her boyfriend after he threw away her gourmet cheese. Sure, it’s a little more complicated than that, but the point is, he had it coming. Newly single and unemployed, Tam calls up her best friend from high school and utters the emergency code word - goldfish. Next thing she knows, she’s on a plane back home.

Josh O’Malley was a troubled, unconfident teenager. Now he’s the successful owner of a multimillion-dollar ghost kitchen. Tam, his high school BFF and fellow member of the Nerd Herd friend group, was instrumental in building his self-esteem. When she calls him out of the blue, he jumps at the chance to return the favor.

Josh and Tam immediately get to work fixing her life - but again, it’s complicated. Their close friendship was always a lifeline between them; a blooming romance might confuse things. Still, at least one thing is for certain: their chemistry is un-brie-lievable.

©2022 Cathy Wilson. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“The novel is chock-full of cheesy puns, food descriptions, and excellent banter, with deft narration by David Lee Huynh and Jenapher Zheng. (Zheng's narration for Vietnamese American recovering perfectionist Tam is especially delightful.)”—Library Journal

“It’s palpable how much Tam and Josh care for each other…Yardley’s fans will gobble up this gentle but steamy romance.”—Publishers Weekly

“Yardley’s prose is summery and light—you’ll get swept up as Tam and Josh breezily fall right back into place as the lovably cheesy duo known as Jam. A mouthwatering romance.”—Kirkus Reviews

Pretty Gouda

Fluffy, foodie, friends-to-lovers romance that’s better than gouda. It’s actually grate. 😜

Cheesy puns aside, I really enjoyed this book in both eBook and audiobook versions. It’s very current and has all the elements I love in a contemporary romance — diverse, likable, multidimensional main characters in Tam and Josh who experience character development individually and also grow as partners, a cohesive plot that flows smoothly, and fantastic relationships all around. There’s just enough push and pull to keep things interesting without being annoying.

Bonus: the cartoon cover doesn’t indicate it, but there are several sexytimes that are actually brie-melting hot.

Very cheesy

Literally so cheesy! But in a cute way. I personally think that narrating it in two different genders was unnecessary, although I enjoyed the male’s performance best. The female narrator was okay, I just don’t think she was suitable for this story.

In regards to the story, it’s nice. I was not expecting the explicit scenes, it felt off with the story but it was still enjoyable. Apparently she smells really good for someone who doesn’t seem to shower that often LOL

In general, it’s a cute story and the end is very cheesy, which is fitting. Not sure if this is the author’s first book, but she’s got great potential and would be interested to read more of her work in the future.

Loved it!

This is a terrific slow burn, friends to lovers romance with all the nerdy references you could want. ❤️❤️

unexpected

when I first read the title I thought it was going to be a lot more about cheese. boy was I fooled. yes it did include cheese but only a portion. it is about grade school friends that have remained best friends all through life and when they need each other the other one drops everything and helps. with spending so much time together, they end up getting feelings for each other and then things start to get complicated.

You had me at cheese

Tam and Josh were BFFs for years, but lost touch. When Tam needs help, Josh drops everything and is there for her. As they stay together and she figures out her life, they start to question why they never got together before. The only issue I had was the whole friends with benefits thing. It’s hilarious that these two, who have so much history, could think that’s a good plan. I can’t wait for more of this series.

Enjoy the story line

To explicit. The story would be Just as good without all of the this sex. Too bad Books are not Rated light movies.

another masterpiece of love

what a wonderful ride. I so enjoyed getting to peek further into the world of the Ponto beach nerd herd. Another brilliant narration completed by this great tag team. they flow flawlessly from one perspective to the other. can't wait to read the next one when it comes out. definitely on pre-order.

loved it

I really enjoyed reading this author.  I look forward to reading more books by this author in the near future.

Okay story, but newscaster-style narration of female lead character was distracting.

The male voice was fine, my low performance rating is for the female lead character’s narration. The dialogue was good actually, but the rest was very strange; very much like the monotone cadence used by local news casters. Some may find it soothing, but the repetitiveness of that intonation was too much for me.

so cute!!!

trying to think of a cute cheese pub to sum up this book but I’m too overwhelmed about how cute it is!! such an adorable, fluffy read with mutual pining that will leave you wanting more. it doesn’t get cheddar than this 😉