A review by anitalouise
Lighting the Way Home by E.M. Lynley, Shira Anthony

4.0

Lovely, well-written and very readable book about a second chance romance between Micah and Josh who grew up together in NYC. Maybe closer to a 3.5 but bumped it up because of the food! They are best friends and right as they are about to act on their attraction, things change and they go away to college. They try to reconnect some years later but things really blow up and Josh flees to France to begin his journey as a chef. Really liked the way this book combined love of food and family with one's solid belief in faith. The author captures the mouth-watering recipes (really want to try that chicken and lentil dish!) but doesn't let them detract from the action on the page. Wanted to punch Josh in the nose but given his heart had been broken, understood his issues. Great MCs who were well drawn with clear personalities and physical traits. Could see Micah with his intense green eyes and Josh wearing eyeliner as he heads to the club. The secondary characters were done well if a little over the top. Seymour and Miriam's characters were borderline caricatures of what someone might think of a classic older Jewish couple but you could still feel the love for their family. Takes place in NYC and as a NYC native, tried to figure out where the characters were but perhaps the authors purposely made it vague. I knew the neighborhood but wanted more details. That didn't take away from my enjoyment, though. I was just interested in time and place. I was sort of let down at the end. No epilogue? Do I assume? All in all a good read and appreciate the recipes at the back of the book.