Beach Read Pick: When In Doubt, Add Butter

When In Doubt, Add Butter
by Beth Harbison
St. Martin’s Press
2012
338 pages

Wonderfully delicious, seductively decadent, and fantastically scintillating, When In Doubt, Add Butter is Beth Harbison at her comic best. This is the perfect beach read for women who have a passion for romance and food! For all of us who have thought about following our dreams for a career path, Gemma is our unlikely hero. Just when she's given up on romance, love heroically finds her.

Gemma is a private chef for a handful of wealthy New York clients. Her cooking style varies according to each client's weird food issues. From the mother who seems to be "allergic" to everything that tastes good to a scary and private Russian mob don, Gemma seeks to please each palate. One of her favorite clients is Mr. Tuesday, a shadowy figure she's never met but she visits his apartment every Tuesday and cooks a meal for him, which she leaves in the refrigerator with notes on how to prepare everything.

Life is not easy when you're trying to please everyone. When relationships falter and marriages crumble, Gemma's jobs start to disappear. What will she do if she can't pick up more work? At age 37 with no savings account and no other training, Gemma's in a fix.

A strange card reading tells her fortune and Gemma learns the man she's been searching for has been right there all along. Gemma realizes that When In Doubt, Add Butter is in reality her life mantra.

Highly, highly recommended and addictive for anyone who loves a breezy, romantic read. Grades 9-up. Sex, mature themes.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.