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A historical romance with significant flaws but a great deal of charm.
In 1890s England, Verity Durant is a genius cook whose delectably described dishes evoke memories and emotions to an almost-but-not-quite magic realist degree. When her employer dies, she is inherited by his brother Stuart, a rising politician, with whom she has an extremely complicated history. But Stuart is engaged to a young woman, Lizzy who is in love with his secretary Marsden. But Marsden might be gay. There's also a child of dubious parentage in the mix, plus old scandals, mistaken identities, and accusations of impersonation.
The cooking was my favorite part of the book, though the sex is pretty hot too. I also liked the supporting couple, Lizzy and Marsden, a great deal. And I liked Verity. My problems with the book were that Stuart can be a real jerk, and the intricate interweaving of past and present, while technically well-done, didn't interest me half as much as the cooking and the romance. I rarely say this when discussing genre romances, but for once I wanted more sex and less plot. And much more food. The food was the best part.
The characters are all white, but the author is Chinese-American. She notes in her bio that she came to the US at the age of thirteen, and soon began plowing through fat historical romances with the help of a Chinese-English disctionary. Awww!
Click here to order it from Amazon: Delicious
In 1890s England, Verity Durant is a genius cook whose delectably described dishes evoke memories and emotions to an almost-but-not-quite magic realist degree. When her employer dies, she is inherited by his brother Stuart, a rising politician, with whom she has an extremely complicated history. But Stuart is engaged to a young woman, Lizzy who is in love with his secretary Marsden. But Marsden might be gay. There's also a child of dubious parentage in the mix, plus old scandals, mistaken identities, and accusations of impersonation.
The cooking was my favorite part of the book, though the sex is pretty hot too. I also liked the supporting couple, Lizzy and Marsden, a great deal. And I liked Verity. My problems with the book were that Stuart can be a real jerk, and the intricate interweaving of past and present, while technically well-done, didn't interest me half as much as the cooking and the romance. I rarely say this when discussing genre romances, but for once I wanted more sex and less plot. And much more food. The food was the best part.
The characters are all white, but the author is Chinese-American. She notes in her bio that she came to the US at the age of thirteen, and soon began plowing through fat historical romances with the help of a Chinese-English disctionary. Awww!
Click here to order it from Amazon: Delicious
