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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a deliciously feel-good story with a dollop of magical realism. Part romance, part family drama, part self discovery. Georgia is an accomplished chef who can see the finish line of her dream, running her own restaurant in Paris. She's ready until her palette goes askew and everything she tastes is bitter. When her estranged mother invites her to the San Juan Islands she jumps at the chance. Little does she know that an unknown family secret may hold the power to unlock her trapped taste buds.
I enjoyed the mother-daughter dynamics and the grumpy oyster farmer. I loved the glimpse of Paris and San Juan Island. While some of the plot points felt a bit saccharine and sappy, I was able to find comfort in the predictability.
I enjoyed the mother-daughter dynamics and the grumpy oyster farmer. I loved the glimpse of Paris and San Juan Island. While some of the plot points felt a bit saccharine and sappy, I was able to find comfort in the predictability.
She’s s chef that loses all flavors which I feel like isn’t as fun in a magical realism sense as the magic in lemon drop pie. The love interest didnt interest me as much either, so it was more of a corny romance. The plot didn’t have me wondering what would happen the entire story
Cute easy listen. I love that there’s an air of magic but it’s just there chilling.
The perfect cozy book for foodies! The story was sweet and the writing was very relaxing. Having grown up in the San Juan Islands, the small town island life was depicted beautifully.
I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Georgia Mae is living her dream life - living in Paris, being a chef with a sexy French boyfriend, hoping to get her own restaurant soon. Until it all falls to pieces - she loses her taste, catches her boyfriend in the freezer warming up another woman, and sabotages the restaurant and her reputation by purposely serving a critic a horrible meal. Advised to "find her spark," an unexpected email from her long-lost mother seems like the perfect chance to do just that. She goes to Washington State to get reacquainted with her mother and see if she can figure out where life went wrong. What she wasn't expecting was to find out she comes from a line of women with special gifts or to fall for a secretive oyster fisherman.
A sweet book with a touch of magical realism and romance. Sometimes I didn't particularly like Georgia, and repeated phrases (her "nimbus" of hair, her "signature red lipstick") were overused, but worth a read.
Georgia Mae is living her dream life - living in Paris, being a chef with a sexy French boyfriend, hoping to get her own restaurant soon. Until it all falls to pieces - she loses her taste, catches her boyfriend in the freezer warming up another woman, and sabotages the restaurant and her reputation by purposely serving a critic a horrible meal. Advised to "find her spark," an unexpected email from her long-lost mother seems like the perfect chance to do just that. She goes to Washington State to get reacquainted with her mother and see if she can figure out where life went wrong. What she wasn't expecting was to find out she comes from a line of women with special gifts or to fall for a secretive oyster fisherman.
A sweet book with a touch of magical realism and romance. Sometimes I didn't particularly like Georgia, and repeated phrases (her "nimbus" of hair, her "signature red lipstick") were overused, but worth a read.
She didn’t know if it was magic, but something was drawing her heart back to that place in a way she’d never felt before. It was illogical. It was foolish. And yet it felt so very right.
what a magical little book. I loved this so much. this was my first book of 2024 and we're really starting it off right.
Recipe for a Charmed Life centers around Georgia, a chef who was been working towards her life goal of someday running her own restaurant in Paris. But after one disastrous night, she finds herself suddenly single, jobless and unable to taste anything. Needing a place to figure out her next step, she connects with her estranged mother and spends time with her in the Pacific Northwest. With the help of her mother as well as their surly oyster farmer neighbor, Georgia uncovers some secrets about herself and her family that help change her life.
This book was so whimsical in a way? There was just the right amount of magical realism to make this book a fun read. What I especially loved where all the descriptions of the different foods Georgia both made and eat throughout the novel as well as the setting descriptions. It was so easy to feel transported; you easily could picture yourself at a picnic table next to the water, smelling the ocean and the pine trees and eating a delicious briny oyster. It's all you can really ask of a book: to take you to a brand new place with ease.
I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read more from Rachel Linden. I'll definitely be checking out her backlist. Thank you to Berkley for this arc, all thoughts are my own!
what a magical little book. I loved this so much. this was my first book of 2024 and we're really starting it off right.
Recipe for a Charmed Life centers around Georgia, a chef who was been working towards her life goal of someday running her own restaurant in Paris. But after one disastrous night, she finds herself suddenly single, jobless and unable to taste anything. Needing a place to figure out her next step, she connects with her estranged mother and spends time with her in the Pacific Northwest. With the help of her mother as well as their surly oyster farmer neighbor, Georgia uncovers some secrets about herself and her family that help change her life.
This book was so whimsical in a way? There was just the right amount of magical realism to make this book a fun read. What I especially loved where all the descriptions of the different foods Georgia both made and eat throughout the novel as well as the setting descriptions. It was so easy to feel transported; you easily could picture yourself at a picnic table next to the water, smelling the ocean and the pine trees and eating a delicious briny oyster. It's all you can really ask of a book: to take you to a brand new place with ease.
I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read more from Rachel Linden. I'll definitely be checking out her backlist. Thank you to Berkley for this arc, all thoughts are my own!
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes