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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
This was just kind of blah for me. I was sort of like a more contrived, less interesting version of you’ve got mail. The relationship built more naturally set an a lot of other romance novels tend to do; however, the ending was predictable from so early on, that it made it much less captivating of a story to follow. I was fairly bored, but luckily, it is fairly short, and a pretty easy read, which keeps it from being unbearable. The love story between the married couple of minutes the restaurant regularly is definitely the most captivating part of the story and the sweetest.
It made me want to try the cake recipe in the back, but otherwise this just didn't work for me. I was hoping to be charmed but I didn't find any of the characters compelling.
I listened to the audiobook of this story, but I lost interest in the middle and stopped listening to it for a while, and when I went back I found myself pretty furious with the male lead. Reichert uses a trope I’m not a big fan of, wherein the male protagonist keeps important information from the female protagonist while they fall in love and have sex and go about their lives together. I find that behavior manipulative and borderline sociopathic, and this use of it was no exception. It’s a lot harder for me to root for a love story wherein a woman is being duped. Lou’s fiancé at the start of the novel was over-the-top horrible, but the love interest we’re supposed to be rooting for isn’t that much better with all the lying (also, his issue with Thanksgiving was that it came from English people having to leave England, not the genocide?!). I also felt they rushed into a level of commitment that I found somewhat alarming. I loved Lou and thought she sold herself short in many ways and that she deserved better than either of the men she is involved with in the book. I would have loved more of her and her friends and coworkers, who were also pretty delightful. On the plus side, the descriptions of food, especially the titular coconut cake and the fancy vanilla extract used in it, made me desperately want to try them, and the loving descriptions of Milwaukee made me homesick for the Midwest. Plus, the audiobook narrator was enjoyable to listen to, handled the switching between American and English accents pretty well, and was comprehensible at 2x speed.
Finished in a lazy Sunday morning/afternoon. Quick read, lovable characters, and a surprisingly warm tour of The Milwaukee food scene. Loved it. Felt light and airy after I read it.
a sweet story (pun completely intended) that if somewhat predictable, but fun to read nonetheless. the characters were endearing and the tension was palatable at times (again, intended). and if you've never been to Milwaukie and are a foodie, you'll probably want to go when you've finished the book.
I try to be all "don't judge a book by its cover" but I'll admit that I purchased this book for our library not just because of the good sounding synopsis. The cover is beautiful in that perfectly trendy almost shabby chic way, but it also just looks so delicious! Seriously, I spent 2 days wishing I could devour the cake on the cover. And I'm really not a huge coconut fan.
As for the actual contents of the book, I found The Coincidence of Coconut Cake to be cute, but borderline average. The food and restaurant descriptions in this novel were definitely spectacular, however. My mouth was literally watering for probably 50% of this book.
I liked both of the characters a lot. The comparative to the movie "You've Got Mail" was pretty accurate. And I am such a sucker for that movie, let me tell you. In this story though I felt the emotional side to be a little lacking. It just wasn't as thrilling, heart racing, "oh no" as I would have hoped. When we find her boyfriend cheating on her, I almost couldn't be bothered to care. Partially because leading up to that moment Lou's trepidation and general thought processes towards the idea of marrying him were so negative I was rooting for that moment, but also because it wasn't that interesting. We find out later why that bit wasn't as racy as you would imagine it would be, but still, in the moment, I was kind of just like, that's it?
She obviously wasn't terribly heartbroken, either. Because while she was furious and had her terrible restaurant night (henceforth the entire catalyst for the book's story), it took her months in book time to even talk to Devlin again. It was like: he cheated on me. That's it it's over. Moving on. She didn't even slap him, or pour hot coffee in his lap. Okay, Okay, that's not Lou's character at all. But you can't blame me for desiring a little more dramatics. This book was on such an even plane, even through the points that had the most tension that I just wanted someone to just do something that displayed a lot more emotion.
But alas, this isn't that kind of book.
So from then on Lou and Al started hanging out, and it was all well and good until it wasn't. I don't have anything else to comment about that really.
All of the characters were well likeable, descriptions were very good, it was just lacking some oomph. Some joie de vivre. A perfect little quick beach read in between some heftier reading. It's also pretty PG so I think it could easily appeal to a wide age and ideals range.
As for the actual contents of the book, I found The Coincidence of Coconut Cake to be cute, but borderline average. The food and restaurant descriptions in this novel were definitely spectacular, however. My mouth was literally watering for probably 50% of this book.
I liked both of the characters a lot. The comparative to the movie "You've Got Mail" was pretty accurate. And I am such a sucker for that movie, let me tell you. In this story though I felt the emotional side to be a little lacking. It just wasn't as thrilling, heart racing, "oh no" as I would have hoped. When we find her boyfriend cheating on her, I almost couldn't be bothered to care. Partially because leading up to that moment Lou's trepidation and general thought processes towards the idea of marrying him were so negative I was rooting for that moment, but also because it wasn't that interesting. We find out later why that bit wasn't as racy as you would imagine it would be, but still, in the moment, I was kind of just like, that's it?
She obviously wasn't terribly heartbroken, either. Because while she was furious and had her terrible restaurant night (henceforth the entire catalyst for the book's story), it took her months in book time to even talk to Devlin again. It was like: he cheated on me. That's it it's over. Moving on. She didn't even slap him, or pour hot coffee in his lap. Okay, Okay, that's not Lou's character at all. But you can't blame me for desiring a little more dramatics. This book was on such an even plane, even through the points that had the most tension that I just wanted someone to just do something that displayed a lot more emotion.
But alas, this isn't that kind of book.
So from then on Lou and Al started hanging out, and it was all well and good until it wasn't. I don't have anything else to comment about that really.
All of the characters were well likeable, descriptions were very good, it was just lacking some oomph. Some joie de vivre. A perfect little quick beach read in between some heftier reading. It's also pretty PG so I think it could easily appeal to a wide age and ideals range.
Lou is closing in on her dream of running a successful restaurant, but an upset in her personal life leads to a bad review that sends her business sliding. While she struggles to keep her restaurant open, she finds a distraction in introducing a new acquaintance to the wonders of her native city, but he may be the cause and not the cure for her troubles. Includes luscious sounding food descriptions & great travel tips for Milwaukee.
Probably a little less than 4 stars but just what I needed, light, enjoyable, and predictable.
This started with all the right ingredients- a hard working, talented chef finally gets to open her own restaurant, decides she doesn't need her overbearing chauvinistic fiancé, then a negative restaurant review threatens to shut her down...all interesting but it just didn't come together.
Lou is the chef and Al is the critic and they meet without knowing what they each do. Al is a bitter Brit who wants nothing more than to get out of Milwaukee and Lou is determined to show him the best of her city. This is fun, as is the kitchen/restaurant aspect of the story. Unfortunately, it goes from fluffy to soggy as identities are revealed, bad guys get worse, and love fails. In an effort to ensure a happy ending Reichert adds too much sugar, making what was a filling read into a sickly sweet dessert.
Lou is the chef and Al is the critic and they meet without knowing what they each do. Al is a bitter Brit who wants nothing more than to get out of Milwaukee and Lou is determined to show him the best of her city. This is fun, as is the kitchen/restaurant aspect of the story. Unfortunately, it goes from fluffy to soggy as identities are revealed, bad guys get worse, and love fails. In an effort to ensure a happy ending Reichert adds too much sugar, making what was a filling read into a sickly sweet dessert.