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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
What a fun story.... Set in Milwaukee with the food of home: Cheese curds, Spotted Cow, and State Fair Cream Puffs!!!! Nothing was left out. Loved it!
Cute rom-com. Delicious descriptions of Milwaukee; will have to make a trip out there to check it out.
A deliciously sweet rom-com about a chef, heartbreak, mistaken identity, and food culture.
Lou owns her dream restaurant, Luella’s, in Milwaukee. On the worst day of her life, she finds her fiancé in flagrante as she tries to surprise him with her best coconut cake. In a tailspin, her food service that night suffers just as the sharpest-tongued pseudonymous restaurant critic in the city visits and subsequently skewers her place. Lou drowns her sorrows at a bar and meets a charming English gent, who just happens to be the food critic. She takes him to all the best places in Milwaukee to expose him to food and fun. As Lou and Al grow closer, her restaurant spirals toward failure, and they both don’t recognize the true identity of the other. You know the truth will inevitably come out, but watching it simmer is half the fun.
It was a pretty predictable story, and I’m not sure I loved the way the author wrote the development of their romance; it felt rushed or stilted at times. But I loved all the description of excellent cooking at the restaurant and the local food scene. There was a very small side story with a couple who frequents Luella’s, and it was quite touching. Plus, the recipe for coconut cake at the end might be worth the price of admission!
Lou owns her dream restaurant, Luella’s, in Milwaukee. On the worst day of her life, she finds her fiancé in flagrante as she tries to surprise him with her best coconut cake. In a tailspin, her food service that night suffers just as the sharpest-tongued pseudonymous restaurant critic in the city visits and subsequently skewers her place. Lou drowns her sorrows at a bar and meets a charming English gent, who just happens to be the food critic. She takes him to all the best places in Milwaukee to expose him to food and fun. As Lou and Al grow closer, her restaurant spirals toward failure, and they both don’t recognize the true identity of the other. You know the truth will inevitably come out, but watching it simmer is half the fun.
It was a pretty predictable story, and I’m not sure I loved the way the author wrote the development of their romance; it felt rushed or stilted at times. But I loved all the description of excellent cooking at the restaurant and the local food scene. There was a very small side story with a couple who frequents Luella’s, and it was quite touching. Plus, the recipe for coconut cake at the end might be worth the price of admission!
The Coincidence of Coconut Cake was a selection made as the first book in an emerging friend group book club. I found the book to be a walk in the park after my hikes through IT and Lincoln in the Bardo. I began with the view of the story and the writing as cliche as Al denotes Luella's to be upon his first visit, however after much thought I'd rather mark the writing as common, with a story of slight intrigue and characters that I am surprisingly fond of despite my preconceptions. The writing improves as the book continues but the beginning would have been enough to send me away if I hadn't been reading the book for a book club. The discussion in food is so detailed and wonderful and really helped bring the world inside the book alive. I often find myself inspired to write when reading what is sometimes deemed literature. The Coincidence of Coconut Cake did not inspire me to write but it did remind me that not all books enjoyed by readers have to be intense literature with hidden meaning or sophisticated subject matter, not all books have to be bestsellers (though today's bestseller phenomenon is a discussion in and of itself) or award winners.
Side note: I'm quite excited to give grandma Luella's coconut cake a whirl with the recipe in the back of the book.
Side note: I'm quite excited to give grandma Luella's coconut cake a whirl with the recipe in the back of the book.
More like a 3.5.
I have to say first I am not much of a chick lit reader--I usually read it when I need a brain cleanse from my normal murder and mayhem reads. However, when I saw this was set in Milwaukee, I was like "in."
The relationship between the 2 characters is cutesy. Brit food critic takes down Milwaukee chef in his restaurant review. Of course, he is working under an alias and she refuses to talk about work, so surprise surprise the unknowing pair falls in love. With some fun secondary characters, the story moves along well. The rest you can get if you pick up the book.
However, the reason I wanted to read it was more of the "is it really Milwaukee" or the author will say it is set in Milwaukee but the city described is pretty generic. Um, no--it's definitely the Brew City. I won't lie--I would get a smile on my face when I read of Northpoint Custard, the Sprecher Brewery Tour, Summerfest, Irish fest and Festa Italiana (all of which we mourn for this pandemic-y year), the trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum and the ol' familiar phrase of "cooler by the lake." There is also the excursion to Miller Park and the important tradition of tailgating. Oh and let us not forget the ever beloved Cream Puff available during State Fair.
All in all, it is a quick story. I feel like the true romance of the book though is between the author and the City of Milwaukee. So if you need a quick brain cleanse, pull up a Summer Shandy and some cheese curds (check for the squeak) and enjoy.
I have to say first I am not much of a chick lit reader--I usually read it when I need a brain cleanse from my normal murder and mayhem reads. However, when I saw this was set in Milwaukee, I was like "in."
The relationship between the 2 characters is cutesy. Brit food critic takes down Milwaukee chef in his restaurant review. Of course, he is working under an alias and she refuses to talk about work, so surprise surprise the unknowing pair falls in love. With some fun secondary characters, the story moves along well. The rest you can get if you pick up the book.
However, the reason I wanted to read it was more of the "is it really Milwaukee" or the author will say it is set in Milwaukee but the city described is pretty generic. Um, no--it's definitely the Brew City. I won't lie--I would get a smile on my face when I read of Northpoint Custard, the Sprecher Brewery Tour, Summerfest, Irish fest and Festa Italiana (all of which we mourn for this pandemic-y year), the trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum and the ol' familiar phrase of "cooler by the lake." There is also the excursion to Miller Park and the important tradition of tailgating. Oh and let us not forget the ever beloved Cream Puff available during State Fair.
All in all, it is a quick story. I feel like the true romance of the book though is between the author and the City of Milwaukee. So if you need a quick brain cleanse, pull up a Summer Shandy and some cheese curds (check for the squeak) and enjoy.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Complicated
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Eh. 2.5 stars, I guess. I thought this would be frothy but delightful, in the vein of HAPPINESS FOR BEGINNERS, which I read and loved earlier this year. (This isn't by the same author, but I thought that this would be an example of extremely well done chick lit. Nothing too serious, but something that would give me at least some, if not all, the feels and a happy way to fritter away an afternoon reading.) Alas, I didn't find the characters very well drawn (Lou's fiancé is practically cartoonish in his behavior/dialogue/machinations) and I just didn't care very much about the romance between the two leads, or their various work-related trevails. Which is pretty much the entire book...
As others have said, the real shining spots here are Reichert's depictions of Milwaukee—a place you previously could not have paid me to visit, but now it is somewhere I would perhaps consider spending a long-weekend. Lou spends much of the book trying to convince Al that her hometown is pretty great, and she seems to have persuaded this reader, at least, that it might very well be worth a visit.
(Also, I would definitely try the recipe for coconut cake if I had an oven...)
That's really the saving grace of the book, though I will say, it's not like I hated the rest of it. Instead, I found this book largely unremarkable but also inoffensive. To whit, a lot of empty calories and not much substance.
As others have said, the real shining spots here are Reichert's depictions of Milwaukee—a place you previously could not have paid me to visit, but now it is somewhere I would perhaps consider spending a long-weekend. Lou spends much of the book trying to convince Al that her hometown is pretty great, and she seems to have persuaded this reader, at least, that it might very well be worth a visit.
(Also, I would definitely try the recipe for coconut cake if I had an oven...)
That's really the saving grace of the book, though I will say, it's not like I hated the rest of it. Instead, I found this book largely unremarkable but also inoffensive. To whit, a lot of empty calories and not much substance.