Comfort Food

Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs was not what I expected.

I had never read her before, but the blurb on the back cover seemed intriguing and the two reviews that I read before I read it made me want to read it too. Now why I wasn't crazy about this book: I was a chef in a previous life and normally love cooking novels. This one, however, felt rushed, too edited, and there were so many characters that it was hard to keep track of all the story lines.

Gus Simpson is the main character. She is a tv chef (reminds me of Paula Deen) and is, for once, not throwing a party for herself. Gus is a widow with two single daughters, a recluse neighbor, and a tv crew in her home to tape her cooking show. Her ratings are slipping so the head of the network comes up with a solutions to the problem: He is going to bring in a hot new internet cooking star and they will go live! Gus does not like this idea at all, but goes along with it to save her career. Along the way Gus's daughters, their various love interests, Hannah, the recluse neighbor and Oliver, Gus's new sous chef make do with what they have to make Gus' show successful.

Predicable in some spots, and unbelievable in others, I wouldn't recommend this book unless there was nothing else to read.