First of all, I love any novels that mix food and magic. Especially if that magic is some kind of gift the main character has due to a long line of female ancestors. Yup. my kind of novel.
This novel takes place in two very different locations: Paris and the small island of San Juan off the coast of Washington state. It's a night and day difference for Georgia Jackson, an American chef living in Paris who has been dealt a blow to her love life and her chances at running her own restaurant. With one disastrous decision, she loses her job, her lousy boyfriend, and her reputation as an up and coming chef in Paris.
With nowhere to go, she receives an unexpected email from her long estranged mother, Star: please come visit me on San Juan Island--I need to tell you something.
Well, Georgia has nothing to lose, and everything to gain-hopefully, answers to why her mother left her on a dusty Texas ranch with her father and aunt when she was five years old. No communication, nothing for 30 years. Now it's her chance to find some peace, and hopefully heal her heart and her taste buds. For Georgia's biggest secret has crushed her: she has lost her extraordinary sense of taste. Everything tastes bitter. A death blow to someone who cooks for a living.
Off to San Juan Island, which is a paradise: cool breezes, bountiful greenery, small yet oh so peaceful. Georgia meets Star, and begins the work of healing her broken heart. There are plenty of bumps along the way-especially running into Cole--one hunky dude who seems to have an immediate dislike of Georgia. As Georgia navigates her new relationship with Star, her growing feeling for Cole, and the possibility of never regaining her sense of taste, she's got a lot to cope with, but is in the perfect place for big change.
I found the characters appealing, the descriptions of San Juan Island enchanting, and oh--the food sounded just divine. The magical element was not overdone and I throughly enjoyed all of it. There are a few big surprises, but they explain a lot of the background Georgia is missing.
Rating: 4/6 for a lovely novel about moms and daughters, finding your passion once you've lost it, beginning again, and finding family. Not to mention the cover art is *chef's kiss*
Available in paperback, ebook, and audio. I do have the author's previous novel The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie sitting on my bookshelf and it's now moved up to my summer read pile!
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