Stella Newman

I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway.

From the blurb it appealed to me due to the main character having an urge to leave her job and do her own thing, so I can relate to that.

But it didn't grab me. The main character appears in many other chick-lit novels under a different guise. Has the same kind of friends, the same problems etc. There was too much worrying about what to wear. Yes a lot of us do it, but I don't enjoy reading about it. I also think the author tried too hard to be witty with the prose but it fell flat for me and as I was reading I think my eyes glazed over, to the point at which, when an important character appeared near the end, I had no memory of him being mentioned in the story at all.

The storyline with the food was interesting and I wish more had been made of that than with her actual job. I know very little about the inside of the advertising industry but it played out like a bad comedy. The way in which Susie left her job at the end was unprofessional and this annoyed me.

Maybe I should stop reading books of this genre, but every so often I pick one up that I really enjoy. Unfortunately this wasn't one of them.

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Laura is a food critic for a magazine, a job she acquired not due to her experience or qualifications but due to her love of food and her descriptive writing skills. Not to mention that the boss is also an old family friend, so Laura turned to Roger for a job after her divorce.

After the abrupt end to a disastrous date, Laura goes to a cafe for a bacon sandwich only to find that the last one has been sold to another customer. She then plumps for a custard doughnut, but is served a jam doughnut instead. You've guessed it, the bacon sandwich guy has also now ordered the last custard doughnut! This prompts Laura to strike up a conversation with the guy, Adam, and barters with him for the doughnut that Adam agrees to share (ahhhh).

Laura and Adam start dating, but Adam is a chef and his shifts are a nightmare so they find it difficult to meet up. On one of their dates, Laura finds out that Adam is a chef at a new restaurant in London, a restaurant she visited before she met Adam and about which she has written a scathing review that is soon to be published. Laura debates whether to tell Adam about the review but as time goes on, it gets harder to tell him. Then the review is published and all hell breaks loose.

This was what I call a "no brainer" read - it all turns out as you expect in the end. The food descriptions were excellent and you could almost smell them at times but I didn't really warm to Laura or Adam. I also thought that the constant printing of Laura's email exchanges with various recipients was a little boring and pointless.

This would be a good holiday read for chick-lit lovers.

I received this e-book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.… (más)