Eliza, from Scratch, by Sophia Lee

When a scheduling mishap in her senior year lands Eliza in a Culinary Arts class instead of AP Physics, she worries that her stellar GPA and her shot at being the class salutatorian is endangered.  She needs that AP class and the weight it carries to keep her at the top.  But far worse is that she knows nothing at all about cooking and the likelihood of bombing it is high in her mind.

In class, that proves to be the case.  Worst of all is Wesley, the class's best cook.  With a chip on his shoulder for the times that smart kids like Eliza have looked down on him, he mocks her lack of skills, setting off a battle of wills between them.  While Wesley is most likely to win the end-of-class cooking contest, Eliza is determined to unseat him and prove that she can be brilliant in any subject.  Sure of their talent and success, both of them refuse to cede to each other and predictably fall in love.

But more than a love story, Eliza's search to find a culinary edge sends her to her mother and a rediscovery of her grandmother's cuisine.  Cooking with her mother heals a rift in the family and builds an appreciation in heritage.

Largely formulaic and sparse on surprises, the novel delivers what it promises.  What it may lack in originality, it makes up for with character development -- in particular, the strong chemistry between Eliza and Wesley.  This is the rare case of a really fun and sexy romance, with strong build up and some pretty hot writing.  There's some attempt to bring in bigger themes of classism and cultural elitism, but largely this is a story about two young people learning that there are many ways to succeed in this world.