Catering to the Alien by Ava Ross

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s the cooking contest of a lifetime. I just need to avoid falling for a hot alien chef.

To raise money for my local creature shelter, I enter an interstellar cooking show. If I win? I’m awarded the catering job of a lifetime and prize money I can donate to the shelter. It won’t be easy—contestants share a cramped shuttle while traveling from one planet to the next. And some of the competitors don’t make it home alive.

All I have to do is avoid my stiffest competition Throm Durvanak Nargoth, the brutishly handsome, golden-skinned alien who once left me stranded without my undies in the back hallway of a dive bar on Quazar 3.

Fraternization among the competitors is strictly forbidden. But the more I try to avoid Throm, the more I can’t resist him. Soon we’re stealing kisses away from the prying eyes of the camera bots. If we’re caught, we’ll get thrown off the show.

Fate has other plans, however, and soon I don’t know which I’m fighting for most—the prize money for the shelter or a future with Throm.

Catering to the Alien

Space Chefs Behaving Badly

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙💜💚❤️
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 😋😀😍☺️
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Dual Narration

🎧 Audiobook Review: Catering to the Alien (Beastly Alien Boss, #3)

Author: Ava Ross
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Narrators: Hollie Jackson and Patrick Zeller

🦸🏼‍♀️ The Heroine: Wren

Wren is instantly engaging as a heroine—confident, adventurous, and unashamedly curious about the universe around her. When she spots a tall, gold-skinned alien watching her from across a bar on Quasar 3, the attraction between them sparks instantly. She’s spontaneous and open to new experiences, so the flirtation quickly turns into something steamier… or it would have, had her mysterious alien not been abruptly summoned away, leaving her literally and figuratively abandoned in a supply closet. A full year later, when she discovers he’s one of her rivals in a high-stakes interstellar cooking competition, her simmering irritation is completely justified.

Wren’s determination is one of her most compelling traits. She began her culinary journey flipping food in a humble space-station diner, later advancing to a cruise-ship chef position. Now she’s aiming for the ultimate prize: becoming the private chef for a prince’s wedding. Winning this competition could redefine her career, and the audiobook does a great job showing her passion, creativity, and grit along the way.

🦸🏻‍♂️ The Hero: Thrombuka

Thrombuka—Throm—is as devoted and steady as Wren is fiery. His backstory adds real emotional weight to the romance. At just eighteen, he became the sole guardian of his three-year-old sister after their parents died. He’s spent the last decade raising her, caring for her deeply, and pouring his heart into his restaurant on their home planet. Entering the Interstellar Chef Contest isn’t just a personal ambition—it’s a financial lifeline. His sister’s recent accident drained much of his savings, leaving him desperate for the catering contract that could secure both their futures.

His disappearance from Wren’s life a year earlier becomes much more understandable once we learn the truth: he left because he received the devastating news about his sister’s injury. The book handles his sense of duty and quiet emotional strength well, and those qualities make him an easy character to root for.

📚 The Plot

The Interstellar Chef Contest brings Wren and Throm back together, and it’s far more perilous—and entertaining—than either expected. When one contestant literally rips another contestant’s arm off, it becomes clear this is not your average culinary showdown.

Forced into close quarters during a break in the competition, Wren and Throm finally confront the unresolved tension between them. Their time together allows misunderstandings to be cleared up, attraction to rekindle, and genuine connection to grow. What’s refreshing is that both fully understand how much winning matters to the other; instead of turning the competition into a source of cruelty or sabotage, they choose compassion and cooperation. Their relationship becomes a balancing act between ambition and affection, and that dynamic gives the story its emotional heartbeat.

🌟 What Worked

• Strong, compelling character backstories: Both Wren and Throm feel fully formed with motivations that make sense and clearly influence their choices.
• A refreshingly original sci-fi romance setting: This isn’t another “human woman kidnapped by aliens” story. Humanity is already well-integrated into space-faring life, making the world feel richer and more lived-in.

💔 What Fell Short

• Invented sci-fi vocabulary that adds little: The story occasionally substitutes made-up alien terms for everyday concepts—like using minues instead of minutes. When the rest of the narration is in English, this can break immersion rather than enhance it.

🎙️ Narration

The dual POV structure is enhanced by true dual narration from Hollie Jackson and Patrick Zeller. Both narrators elevate the audiobook significantly. Hollie Jackson brings warmth, humor, and emotional nuance to Wren, making her inner world feel vivid and relatable. Patrick Zeller’s deep, slightly formal delivery fits Throm’s alien sensibilities perfectly, striking a nice balance between “otherworldly” and “approachable.” Together, they give the story texture, chemistry, and life.

💬 Final Thoughts

This audiobook combines a fun, adventurous sci-fi setting with a heartfelt second-chance romance fueled by ambition, vulnerability, and sizzling chemistry. With likable leads, high stakes, and excellent narration, it’s an entertaining listen—especially for fans who like their alien romances with a bit more originality and a touch of culinary chaos.

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