From Goodreads:
Italian Cooking Classes
Fresh take-home pastas and sauces daily
Benvenuti (Welcome!)
Holly Maguire's grandmother was the Love Goddess of Blue Crab Island, Maine–a Milanese fortune teller who could predict the right man for you, and whose Italian cooking was rumored to save marriages. Holly has been waiting years for her unlikely fortune: her true love will like sa cordula, an unappetizing old-world delicacy. But Holly can't make a decent marinara sauce, let alone sa cordula. Maybe that's why the man she hopes to marry breaks her heart. So when Holly inherits Camilla's Cucinotta, she's determined to forget about fortunes and love and become an Italian cooking teacher worthy of her grandmother's legacy.
But Holly's four students are seeking much more than how to make Camilla's chicken alla Milanese. Simon, a single father, hopes to cook his way back into his daughter's heart. Juliet, Holly's childhood friend, hides a painful secret. Tamara, a serial dater, can't find the love she longs for. And twelve-year-old Mia thinks learning to cook will stop her dad from marrying his phony lasagna-queen girlfriend.
As the class gathers each week, adding Camilla's essential ingredients of wishes and memories into every pot and pan, unexpected friendships and romances are formed–and tested. Especially when Holly falls hard for Liam . . . and learns a thing or two about finding her own recipe for happiness.
I've been reading so much YA lately (which I love) that I've forgotten how much I love a really good chick-lit book. Thanks to Melissa Senate for reminding me.
The basic plot was the same as in most chick-lit books. Girl gets heartbroken but gets over the guy, grows stronger, and finds a new love. But I loved the characters in this one. Especially Liam and Mia.
Liam seems like such a great guy. He's a great dad (which is so hot), is a gentleman, and romantic! It doesn't seem like there are guys like that out there any more. And Mia was such a fun twelve year old. Sometimes tweens can seem annoying but Mia seemed more mature for her age. A great kid!
And I loved all the cooking in the book. I am not a good cook. But I wish I was! I liked the recipes at the end and I copied one down that didn't seem to hard so I could attempt to cook it later. I look forward to seeing what Melissa Senate writes next!
I gave this book a rating of 4/5.
This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 141
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free by Sarah from Gallery and Pocket Book Blog Tours for an honest review.
I don't read too much chick-lit, but throw in some cooking, and I'm happy! ;) Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteI read a book with recipes in it not that long ago ("Promises to Keep" by Jane Green -- I THINK was the author). I didn't care that much for the book, as the good people in it were just too damn perfect, but I loved the recipes. I want to check it out again to make a few of them.
ReplyDeleteThis book reminds me of a Maeve Binchy novel (or Debbie Macumber) -- people brought together and somehow healed. I'm going to have to give this a look.
I wanted to give you a YA rec: Principle Destiny by David Cleinman. It involves a farm girl who lost her place in line to the throne and now must compete with her brother to get it back. Obviously a strong heroine, which I enjoy. It's a fun and exciting read -- the beginning is deliberately slow but then the pace picks up a whole lot, to non-stop action (and suspense, too). Once you get going it's hard to put down.
What a riot -- I found an ABC item on the Promises to Keep book.
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