Lavash at First Sight

Taleen Voskuni is an author I’ve been wanting to read since she released her debut novel, Sorry, Bro, early last year. While that one still awaits me, I was happy to get a chance to read her latest book, Lavash at First Sight. A romance between two Armenian Lebanese women whose families hate each other, it’s a fast-paced and light read.

Special thanks to the publicists at Penguin and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Summary

Nazeli “Ellie” Gregorian has been climbing her way up the corporate ladder at her San Francisco tech job, but just after landing a major project, she needs to take a few days off to attend a food packaging conference in Chicago. Her parents own an Armenian foods company, and they’re counting on her to help make their attendance at PakCon a success—including competing in a round of tournaments to win a Super Bowl ad spot. While at the conference (and feverishly multitasking to keep up with her real job’s deliverables), Ellie meets another Armenian American woman, Vanya Simonian. The two hit it off instantly, but their mutual interest is cut short when they discover that their respective parents are sworn enemies. Ellie’s mom even asks her to stop seeing Vanya. How can Ellie and Vanya find love despite their parents’ animosity? And how will competing in the PakCon contest play for or against them?

Review

Lavash at First Sight is a quick, easy, and engrossing read from the first page. Told entirely from the perspective of Ellie (Nazeli), it follows her from a demanding tech job in San Francisco to a 4-day food packaging conference in Chicago. Though she doesn’t work for her parents’ Armenian foods company, she secretly wants to and is willing to at least help them do well at PakCon. The conference is even hosting a reality-TV styled competition, one that could drastically help her parents’ business. But Ellie has also just met another woman at the conference, Vanya, and the two hit it off immediately. That is, until they found out about their parents’ decades-long feud.

There’s a bit of a Romeo and Juliet vibe here. Not only are Ellie and Vanya’s parents competing against each other in this PakCon contest, they have long-held beef with each other, and they ask their daughters not to pursue a relationship with each other. Ellie agrees to her mom’s request… but she has no intention of keeping her promise. She and Vanya could really have something.

Although Lavash at First Sight is primarily marketed as a romance, I have to warn you, the love story isn’t the (only) focal point of the book. It feels like the animosity between the two sets of parents is a bigger part of everything, and each individual contest of the competition gets plenty of on-page time. I found these parts to be a lot of fun; it’s fast-paced and exciting to see how the contestants will do, especially when enemies have to team up. But does all of this take up more time than the romance?

There’s also Ellie’s tech job back in San Francisco. Despite her taking PTO to attend this conference, Ellie is essentially working full-time hours to complete a project before its Monday deadline. While I can admire her ambition and hard work, Ellie is in serious need of some boundaries. Her boss is way too demanding (of deliverables and of her time) and Ellie could use with some actual work-life-balance. Her career arc is an important component to the book’s overall narrative.

All of that said, Lavash at First Sight may be better categorized as women’s fiction with a healthy dose of romance to go with it. I loved getting to see Ellie and Vanya connect and develop a tentative relationship, but it does sometimes feel secondary to the other plot points.

However, I did love the infusion of Armenian culture throughout the book. From the language to the food to the way families interact, I enjoyed getting to know more about this culture and their history. This is the only book I’ve read with Armenian characters, and I only have one other on my shelf (by the same author, no less!). I’m interested in reading more books highlighting Armenians and Armenian immigrants.

Final Thoughts

All in all, Lavash at First Sight is a lot of fun, fast-paced, and easy to read. I enjoyed the romance between Ellie and Vanya, even if it often feels secondary to the other themes and plot points. This may be a book where expectation and reality don’t quite align, but if you don’t mind the romance being on the back burner a bit, this is a diverting read.

I am now more eager than ever to read Sorry, Bro, as well as whatever is next for Taleen Voskuni.

Get the Book

You can buy Lavash at First Sight here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Lavash at First Sight by Taleen Voskuni
Audience	Adult
Genre	Romance; Women’s Fiction
Setting	Chicago
Number of Pages	304
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	May 7, 2024
Publisher	Berkley

Official Summary

Sparks fly between two women pitted against each other in this delectable new romantic comedy by Taleen Voskuni, author of Sorry, Bro.

Twenty-seven-year-old Nazeli “Ellie” Gregorian enjoys the prestige of her tech marketing job but is sick of the condescending Patagonia-clad tech bros, her micromanaging boss, and her ex-boyfriend, who she’s forced to work with every day. When Ellie’s lovingly overbearing parents ask her to attend PakCon—a food packaging conference in Chicago—to help promote their company and vie to win an ad slot in the Superbowl (no big deal), she’s eager for a brief change and a delicious distraction.

At the conference, she meets witty, devil-may-care Vanya Simonian. Ellie can’t believe how easy it is to talk to Vanya and how much they have in common—both Armenian! From the Bay Area! Whose families are into food! Their meet-cute is cut short, however, when Ellie’s parents recognize Vanya as the daughter of the owners of their greatest rival, whose mission (according to Ellie’s mother) is to whitewash and package Armenian food for the American health-food crowd.
 
Sworn as enemies, Ellie and Vanya must compete against each other under their suspicious parents’ scrutiny, all while their feelings for each other heat to sizzling temps.