Recipe for a Charmed Life by Rachel Linden – Review & Giveaway
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Description:
After a day of unrivaled disappointments, a promising young chef finds every bite of food suddenly tastes bitter. To save her career, she travels to the Pacific Northwest to reconnect with her estranged mom, and discovers a family legacy she never suspected.
American chef Georgia May Jackson has one goal—to run her own restaurant in Paris. After a grueling decade working in Parisian kitchens, she is on the cusp of success. But in one disastrous night, Georgia loses her sous-chef position, her French boyfriend, and her sense of taste! Renowned for her refined palate and daring use of bold flavors to create remarkable dishes, Georgia is devastated to discover her culinary gift has simply…vanished.
When she receives a surprising invitation from her estranged mother, Georgia flees to a small island near Seattle hoping the visit will help her regain her spark in the kitchen. There she tentatively reconnects with her mom, a free-spirited hippie eager to make up for her past mistakes. But there’s something about the enigmatic island Georgia just can’t piece together. Good luck charms keep appearing in the oddest places. Her neighbor is a puzzlingly antagonist (and annoyingly handsome) oyster farmer. And her mom keeps hinting at a mysterious family legacy.
With the clock ticking and time running out to win her dream job in Paris, Georgia begins to unravel some astonishing secrets that make her wonder if the true recipe for a charmed life might look—and taste—very different than she ever imagined.
Review:
Recipe for a Charmed Life by Rachel Linden is a wonderful delightful stand alone novel. We meet Georgia May Jackson, our heroine, who has worked a decade at many Paris restaurants, and is now a successful sous-chef; she is determined to own a restaurant of her own. Georgia is very happy in Paris, also dating her boss (head chef) for three years, and one night everything falls apart. She discovers her boyfriend cheating on her at work, and loses her control, getting herself fired, not to mention losing her culinary gift tastings. Unsure of what to do, Georgia gets a shocking invitation from her estranged mother (whom she has not seen in almost 30 years), to visit her at San Juan Island near Seattle. She still carries memories of her mother’s abandonment at a very young age, with her living with her father and aunt in Texas. Georgia makes the decision to take the journey back to America, to reconnect with her mother, and learn more about the long- buried family secrets. A break from her bad press in Paris is just what she needs, and to find her spark in her culinary tastebuds again; this journey could hopefully help in her healing process.
Georgia reconnects with her mother (Star), learning a bit about why she left her and never returned; as we get closer to the last third of the book, all secrets will be revealed. Georgia discovers how wonderful the enigmatic island was, giving her healing vibes, as well as finding good luck charms. Georgia also learns about all the family women having magical gifts, with each being different, as hers was the ability to taste food in a special way.
Georgia also meets Cole, who is a neighbor of Star, as well as a confident friend. At first Georgia finds Cole being antagonistic, and not friendly, but in a short time, sparks will begin to fly between them. Georgia learns more about Cole, as he was sort of in hiding in San Juan, and she pushes him to get back to his previous success. I really liked both of them together, hoping they would find a way be together.
I really loved Georgia and Star becoming close, and her learning that Star is sick, with early stages of dementia. When her father arrives, all the family secrets were unearthed. With revelations about Star’s drug habit early, and her father and aunt forcing her to leave. Georgia was beside herself after learning all the secrets, and that all of them never told her the truth; being angry, she returns to Paris, even blaming Cole for not telling her the truth.
What follows is Georgia returning to Paris to compete in a chance to become the head chef (with two other competitors), especially now with her tastebuds having returned. Will she want to stay in Paris with a successful new restaurant? Will she return to San Juan Island to stay and help with her mother? Will Cole find a way to win over Georgia?
Recipe for a Charmed Life is a wonderful, delightful story of family, secrets, love and forgiveness. Recipe for a Charmed Life was so very well written by Rachel Linden. I wholly suggest you read this enchanting book.
Reviewed by Barb
Copy provided by Publisher
Berkley Romance is offering a paper copy of RECIPE FOR A CHARMED LIFE to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.
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