Friday, May 22, 2020

Bookish Thoughts: Hadley Beckett's Next Dish

Description:
Celebrity chef Maxwell Cavanagh is known for many things: his multiple Michelin stars, his top-rated Culinary Channel show To the Max, and most of all his horrible temper. Hadley Beckett, host of the Culinary Channel's other top-rated show, At Home with Hadley, is beloved for her Southern charm and for making her viewers feel like family.

When Max experiences a very public temper tantrum, he's sent packing to get his life in order. When he returns, career in shambles, his only chance to get back on TV and in the public's good graces is to work alongside Hadley.

As these polar-opposite celeb chefs begin to peel away the layers of public persona and reputation, they will not only discover the key ingredients for getting along, but also learn the secret recipe for unexpected forgiveness . . . and maybe even love. In the meantime, hide the knives.


About the Author:
Bethany Turner is the award-winning author of The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck and Wooing Cadie McCaffrey and the director of administration for Rock Springs Church in Southwest Colorado. A former bank executive and a three-time cancer survivor (all before she turned 35), Bethany knows that when God has plans for your life, it doesn't matter what anyone else has to say. Because of that, she's chosen to follow his call to write. She lives with her husband and their two sons in Colorado, where she writes for a new generation of readers who crave fiction that tackles the thorny issues of life with humor and insight.

My Thoughts:
This is the first book I’ve read from this new-to-me author and I have to say that I greatly enjoyed it!  I had no idea what to expect, but I knew it was going to be good when she had me laughing in the prologue.  From then on, I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next and how many pages would be between bouts of laughter.
I honestly wasn't sure what to think of this book when I started it. I loved watching the cooking channels as a teenager and I'd never read a book set around celebrity chefs. So I was curious, but also a little cautious. Though that caution was thrown to the wind within the first few pages. I loved Hadley, with her wry sense of humor, sarcasm, kindness, and awkwardness. She's sweet, but also sassy - even if only to herself. And I found myself surprised that I genuinely liked Max! I know, it's a rom-com, you're supposed to fall in love with the hero. But I wasn't too sure about him. That being said, he started losing a couple of the rough edges and I really enjoyed how the author wrote from his perspective. He's funny, with a dry wit and a bit of the curmudgeon thrown in. And I laughed so much at the dialogue between him and Hadley! 
My only slight disappointment is that we didn't get to see as much of Max's transformation as I would have liked. He was asking a lot of questions, but then it seemed as though he found the answers off page and they weren't really mentioned again. That said, I did really enjoy the ending! And I immediately went looking for Ms. Turner's other books, which I shall hopefully have in my hands, soon. 

*My thanks to Revell for my copy of this book! I was not required to write a review, positive or otherwise, and have not been compensated for it in any way. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope everyone is doing well, especially with all of the craziness in the world! Seriously! But thankfully, we still have books, and video calls are becoming a big thing, which is better than nothing. I've just been hibernating at home, enjoying having time off work to spend with my Tiny Girl. 
As always, if you'd like to learn more about this book, links are below!
Have a lovely day!