The Lost Recipe for Happiness by Barbara O'Neal
Bantam, 2009
Bantam, 2009
447 pages
Summary: Elana gets the chance to run her own kitchen in celebrity director Julien Liswood's newest restaurant. The offer couldn't come at a better time as she breaks up with her boyfriend and is fired from her job. But as she starts over in Aspen, she is overwhelmed by the demands of a new job, the difficulty of a rival chef, the attraction she feels towards her new boss, and the memories of her terrible past.
Review: I thought this would be a quick chick-lit read and was very surprised by the depth of the characters and the immense sadness which is woven throughout the plot. The story is filled with great characters, all of whom have difficult pasts which they must overcome. The plot is fast paced, but the complexity of it is overwhelming. There are secrets, lies, romances, fate, soul mates, murder, car accidents, ghosts, recipes, and teenage angst all rolled into one story. Barbara O'Neal's writing is wonderful, but is sometimes overshadowed by the tremendous plot. Rating: *** out of 5.
5 comments:
I guess I agree with your review and yet I still found it almost impossible to put down. I read it on Kindle so I didn't realize it was over 400 pages. I found myself wishing I could have read more! Or that it could have been more fully explored in two books. All in all, I liked it and will probably read it again at some point (I say that like it will actually happen but I have so many TBR books that I own, I'm not sure I'll live long enough to do re-reads, lol). Nice review.
This sounds very fun. Thanks for the great review Jess.
Oh this looks good.... I need a great weekend read...
Sounds like a book that's like a complicated recipe - everything thrown in plus the kitchen sink! Nice review.
Gosh, there are so many aspects to this book. Just by reading the description, I would never have guessed it would be quite the roller coaster. I find the puppy on the cover adorable. =)
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