This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
By Kira Slaughter
When Zoe Harper wins a coveted place in a televised cookery competition, she’s thrilled. It’s a chance to cook her way to fame and fortune and the little delicatessen she’s set her heart on.
The first task has hardly begun when she finds herself with rather too much on her plate.
Not only has she got to contend with the fiercely competitive and downright devious Cher, but she’s fast developing an inconvenient crush on one of the judges- the truly delicious Gideon Irving
All too soon there’s more than canapés, cupcakes and cordon bleu at stake.
Will Zoe win the competition or is Gideon one temptation too far? And is Zoe really prepared to risk it all for love?
Katie Fforde’s books always make me want to curl up in front of the fire with a brew and a massive bar of chocolate. The stories are well thought out and the characters feel like neighbours you’ve known for years.
Recipe for Love focuses on Zoe and her quest for fame in the culinary world. She’s been cooking for as long as she can remember, and has just won a place on a well known television cooking programme.
Stupidly excited and ready to get started, she finds herself travelling to Somerby where the contestants and the judges will be staying during the filming. It’s a beautiful old house and is run by married couple Fen and Rupert, who we previously met in The Wedding Season.
Whilst taking a walk around the grounds before meeting the other contestants, Zoe comes across Gideon, a well known food critic and judge on the programme. They hit it off immediately and find themselves running around in secret so as no one from the show finds out. This makes for an interesting story as it makes you stop and wonder how people would react if this sort of thing really happened on one of our many well known reality shows. Initially I found Gideon to be rather arrogant. I assumed he was out for whatever he could get from Zoe. His past comes to light in the book, and threatens to ruin the relationship between the two characters before it has even started.
Overall, I found Recipe for Love to be an enjoyable, light-hearted read with some well written characters.
7/10