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Once Bitten, Twice Fried: A second-chance lesbian romance in Belgium
AS SEEN ON The Lesbian Review & I Heart SapphFic
One ruined friendship. One summer wedding. One very inconvenient second chance.
Julie and Zoe were inseparable during a single, intense year in college in Brussels, until Julie walked away without a word. No explanation. No goodbye.
Ten years later, Zoe is a celebrity chef in London, confident, successful, and determined to leave the past behind. Julie, meanwhile, has built a quiet, carefully contained life in Belgium and done her best not to think about the one person she never quite forgot.
When a mutual friend’s wedding throws them back together for one chaotic weekend, old feelings resurface fast. Late night conversations, stolen glances, and too much wine blur the line between past and present, and the tension neither of them resolved comes rushing back.
As secrets unravel and emotions spiral, Julie and Zoe are forced to confront what really went wrong, and whether risking heartbreak again might be better than walking away for good.
This is a character driven romance with emotional tension, gentle humor, and rom com chaos. It is not a dark or angsty drama.
Once Bitten, Twice Fried is a slow burn, second chance sapphic romance, perfect for readers of Clare Lydon, Clare Ashton, and Georgia Beers who enjoy wedding weekend mayhem, messy feelings, and emotionally rich but ultimately hopeful love stories.
“While there are a lot of heightened emotions in the book, as Julie and Zoe struggle with their strong feelings and hopes, it’s a fun story. I began to find the high levels of gay panic amusing after a while, and also on edge about the misfires along the way to the big wedding. There was no bridezilla, but it was fraught a few times. I liked how sympathetically the author treated the male characters in the book, in this case the groom and the fiancé.”
— The Lesbian Review
One ruined friendship. One summer wedding. One very inconvenient second chance.
Julie and Zoe were inseparable during a single, intense year in college in Brussels, until Julie walked away without a word. No explanation. No goodbye.
Ten years later, Zoe is a celebrity chef in London, confident, successful, and determined to leave the past behind. Julie, meanwhile, has built a quiet, carefully contained life in Belgium and done her best not to think about the one person she never quite forgot.
When a mutual friend’s wedding throws them back together for one chaotic weekend, old feelings resurface fast. Late night conversations, stolen glances, and too much wine blur the line between past and present, and the tension neither of them resolved comes rushing back.
As secrets unravel and emotions spiral, Julie and Zoe are forced to confront what really went wrong, and whether risking heartbreak again might be better than walking away for good.
This is a character driven romance with emotional tension, gentle humor, and rom com chaos. It is not a dark or angsty drama.
Once Bitten, Twice Fried is a slow burn, second chance sapphic romance, perfect for readers of Clare Lydon, Clare Ashton, and Georgia Beers who enjoy wedding weekend mayhem, messy feelings, and emotionally rich but ultimately hopeful love stories.
“While there are a lot of heightened emotions in the book, as Julie and Zoe struggle with their strong feelings and hopes, it’s a fun story. I began to find the high levels of gay panic amusing after a while, and also on edge about the misfires along the way to the big wedding. There was no bridezilla, but it was fraught a few times. I liked how sympathetically the author treated the male characters in the book, in this case the groom and the fiancé.”
— The Lesbian Review
305 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 3, 2025
17 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 14, 2025
absolutely worth it!
I found this book accidentally, and oh boy, this is just what I needed. Been looking for a good book for a while now. Fell in love with Julie & Zoey’s story, i’m suck a sucker for friends to lovers romance. Give this one a chance and you’ll never regret picking up this book! Will watch out for this author’s next book!
I found this book accidentally, and oh boy, this is just what I needed. Been looking for a good book for a while now. Fell in love with Julie & Zoey’s story, i’m suck a sucker for friends to lovers romance. Give this one a chance and you’ll never regret picking up this book! Will watch out for this author’s next book!
October 9, 2025
Yasmine is getting married, and her best friend Julie is maid of honor and wedding planner. Everything is going OK until Yasmine announces she's gotten their old friend Zoe to cater the event... Julie panics a bit, as she had had a thing for Zoe back then.
Zoe is successful, has a actor boyfriend and a assistant who's also her bestie, so why does she feel dissatisfied? So she agrees to do the catering, and to reconnect with Julie, whom she's missed.
Julie is a bit standoffish at first, but they relax around each other as the bridal shower events go on. They talk, and eventually Julie confesses her crush... only for Zoe to admit she had been crushing on Julie back then too.
Yet at the same time, Zoe's fiancé Tom is starting to move ahead with their wedding prep.
Then Yasmine bolts from the wedding.
And Zoe suddenly flees the country, leaving Julie stricken. But true love (eventually) wins out.
Good, solid read. I liked the heroines and main cast, and there were enough twists to keep it interesting.
4 stars out of 5
Zoe is successful, has a actor boyfriend and a assistant who's also her bestie, so why does she feel dissatisfied? So she agrees to do the catering, and to reconnect with Julie, whom she's missed.
Julie is a bit standoffish at first, but they relax around each other as the bridal shower events go on. They talk, and eventually Julie confesses her crush... only for Zoe to admit she had been crushing on Julie back then too.
Yet at the same time, Zoe's fiancé Tom is starting to move ahead with their wedding prep.
Then Yasmine bolts from the wedding.
And Zoe suddenly flees the country, leaving Julie stricken. But true love (eventually) wins out.
Good, solid read. I liked the heroines and main cast, and there were enough twists to keep it interesting.
4 stars out of 5
December 31, 2025
It's a dramatic SOAP, not a Rom-Com.
January 21, 2026
love myself a friends to lovers.
especially when it's second chance.
just the cheating tho :(
especially when it's second chance.
just the cheating tho :(
December 23, 2025
"Once Bitten, Twice Fried: A second-chance lesbian romance in Belgium" by Philippa Pegg
Reason for DNF (Did Not Finish): A textbook example of a "mediocre" read. While the setting was charming and the writing was clean, the emotional stakes felt incredibly low, and the "second-chance" dynamic lacked the necessary tension to keep me invested in the outcome.
Set against the picturesque backdrop of Belgium (complete with plenty of fries and chocolate), this romance follows two women who were once a couple but are forced to reunite years later. While the atmosphere was lovely, the narrative heart was lacking.
The Positives: A Scenic Tour 🍟
Vivid Setting: The book earns its 3/5 through its sense of place. Pegg does an excellent job of bringing the Belgian streets, the food culture, and the local vibes to life. It felt like a mini-vacation in book form.
Competent Writing: The prose is smooth and professional. There aren't any jarring errors or clunky sentences; it’s a very "easy" read that flows well on the Kindle.
The Drawbacks: Why it Stayed Mediocre 📉
The reason I ultimately DNF’d was that the story felt like it was idling in neutral:
Muted Emotional Stakes: For a second-chance romance, there was a surprising lack of friction. The "bitterness" promised by the title felt more like a mild inconvenience. I wanted to feel the ache of their past heartbreak, but instead, their reunion felt a bit too polite and easy.
Low Narrative Urgency: There wasn't enough "pull" to make me want to open the Kindle app. The plot moved at a leisurely pace that bordered on aimless. Without a strong external conflict or a deeply pressing internal one, the story relied entirely on the chemistry—which didn't quite sizzle.
Forgettable Chemistry: The two leads were perfectly nice, but they didn't have that "magnetic" quality that makes a romance memorable. Their interactions were pleasant, but I found myself not particularly caring if they ended up back together or just stayed friends.
Formulaic Structure: It followed the second-chance tropes so closely that it became predictable. There were no surprises or unique spins on the "exes-to-lovers" journey to elevate it above the hundreds of other books in the genre.
Conclusion:
Once Bitten, Twice Fried is a perfectly fine, middle-of-the-road romance. If you are looking for something very low-stress with a great European setting, this might work for you. However, I DNF'd it because I needed more "bite" and less "fried"—it lacked the emotional depth and narrative spark to move it from "mediocre" to "must-read."
Reason for DNF (Did Not Finish): A textbook example of a "mediocre" read. While the setting was charming and the writing was clean, the emotional stakes felt incredibly low, and the "second-chance" dynamic lacked the necessary tension to keep me invested in the outcome.
Set against the picturesque backdrop of Belgium (complete with plenty of fries and chocolate), this romance follows two women who were once a couple but are forced to reunite years later. While the atmosphere was lovely, the narrative heart was lacking.
The Positives: A Scenic Tour 🍟
Vivid Setting: The book earns its 3/5 through its sense of place. Pegg does an excellent job of bringing the Belgian streets, the food culture, and the local vibes to life. It felt like a mini-vacation in book form.
Competent Writing: The prose is smooth and professional. There aren't any jarring errors or clunky sentences; it’s a very "easy" read that flows well on the Kindle.
The Drawbacks: Why it Stayed Mediocre 📉
The reason I ultimately DNF’d was that the story felt like it was idling in neutral:
Muted Emotional Stakes: For a second-chance romance, there was a surprising lack of friction. The "bitterness" promised by the title felt more like a mild inconvenience. I wanted to feel the ache of their past heartbreak, but instead, their reunion felt a bit too polite and easy.
Low Narrative Urgency: There wasn't enough "pull" to make me want to open the Kindle app. The plot moved at a leisurely pace that bordered on aimless. Without a strong external conflict or a deeply pressing internal one, the story relied entirely on the chemistry—which didn't quite sizzle.
Forgettable Chemistry: The two leads were perfectly nice, but they didn't have that "magnetic" quality that makes a romance memorable. Their interactions were pleasant, but I found myself not particularly caring if they ended up back together or just stayed friends.
Formulaic Structure: It followed the second-chance tropes so closely that it became predictable. There were no surprises or unique spins on the "exes-to-lovers" journey to elevate it above the hundreds of other books in the genre.
Conclusion:
Once Bitten, Twice Fried is a perfectly fine, middle-of-the-road romance. If you are looking for something very low-stress with a great European setting, this might work for you. However, I DNF'd it because I needed more "bite" and less "fried"—it lacked the emotional depth and narrative spark to move it from "mediocre" to "must-read."
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December 9, 2025DNF. Childish and immature MCs. After around 80% and a lot of page-skipping I just couldn’t continue anymore.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews