Thursday, February 9, 2012

Books of the Week-February 9th

Thanks for checking out our newest feature...Books of the Week! There are six of us and we can't keep up with the many review requests we receive, even though we'd love to read everything sent our way. Therefore, we have decided to give some books their time in the spotlight and introduce you to them through this new blog feature. Starting this week, we will feature two books a week. We hope you will take the time to check these books out. (Click the titles to find them on Amazon.) If you read them and want to write a guest blogger review for us, please e-mail us and we'll be glad to work with you!

Authors: We will let you know whether or not we'll be able to review your book upon your request, and hope you'll be interested in this feature as an alternative.

"The Will of Venus"
By Cynthia Robinson

Livia has overcome the ghosts of her Southern childhood by driving herself to become a successful Manhattan chef. Her sister Danae has selected a different path, building her world on the foundation of her striking beauty.

But Danae's perfect life is crumbling: her ambitions for a career in theater or movies have long been abandoned, her husband is straying and tiny wrinkles have begun to appear. She concludes that the only solution--unless something truly magical occurs--is to end her life on her 40th birthday.

Livia, aware of her sister's morbid fascination with suicide, intends to use her culinary talents, along with a bit of witchcraft provided by her friend, an aspiring santera, to rescue Danae from herself. But other events are moving to converge on the fateful evening of Danae's birthday celebration.


It's currently 99 cents for Kindle!

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"Doughnuts for Amy"
By John Malik

Doughnuts for Amy is a tender, compassionate and emotional story of romance, redemption and retirement in the best tradition of modern romantic fiction. The story takes place at Woodmont, an upscale retirement community on the north side of Greenville, in the upstate of South Carolina. Nick St. Germaine, Woodmont’s Executive Chef is struggling emotionally as he approaches the second anniversary of the death of his wife, Robin. Unable to handle the business of running their successful restaurant, the Stone Avenue Tavern, Nick sells the restaurant then drops out of the public eye. He spends a year bonding with his son, Theo, as they try to come to terms with Robin’s death. When Woodmont’s Chef suddenly falls ill, Jack Carrollton, Woodmont’s developer seeks out Nick and asks him to take over the enormous kitchen. Beset by nightmares and challenged by his son to move forward one day at a time, Nick believes he is doing that, but just barely. Nick takes solace in early morning workouts at his gym, long runs and even longer hours in Woodmont’s kitchen. Things change when Amy Sommers, a nurse with little knowledge of the food & beverage business, becomes the new Director of Woodmont. Nick is quick to show his disdain for Amy, so much so that she comes close to showing Nick the door her first day on the job but eventually, Amy earns his respect. As Amy begins to manage the many facets of Woodmont, she soon realizes her greatest challenge lies in the broken heart of Nick St. Germaine.

Filled with delectable food, endearing octogenarians, a few quirky cooks and of course a delicious scene in which Chef Nick makes a certain fried pastry, Doughnuts for Amy is a six course tasting menu of fork-tender romance that will have you asking “what’s for dessert?”

You can find "Doughnuts for Amy" on Facebook and John Malik on Twitter.

2 comments:

chefjohnmalik.com said...

Many thanks Ladies and remember, those doughnuts are calorie free! John

chefjohnmalik.com said...

Doughnuts for Amy's latest review on Amazon:

A fast moving uplifting story of the re-birth of love. The read is much like a ride in a Z4, top down, on a sunny day through the hills, rolling through the gears, hard on the accelerator, light on the brakes, a little loose in the tail. This novel is full of twists, turns and even detours. Malik serves the love hot, the anger at a boil, but the sadness and despair cold. Crisp, descriptive language lays open the emotions of main and supporting characters. Unique setting for a story. It will have you rooting for the good guy (and lady). Well worth a weekend read.