DISHING UP ROMANCE – Carolyn Hughey
A Chef's Toque Romance
Avalon
ISBN: 978-0-8034-7459-8
April 2012
Contemporary Romance

New Your City, and Nutley , New Jersey

Cassie Pirelli's days are not going well. After several disasters, her love life is in the pits, her five-year long job is over when the company goes out of business, and she's in danger of losing her Greenwich Village apartment now that her roommate has married. The best thing is that her culinary school externship at a family friend's restaurant is almost over and she can begin a new career as a chef. As Cassie visits her boss's home to see the renovations in his kitchen, she is struck by lightning when her eyes land on hunky Josh Benson, the contractor working on the remodel. He's the walking personification of her fantasy man…until he's drawn away by a snitty woman.

Cassie receives another surprise when her parents tell her that her father is retiring and closing his deli. Her Dad owns the building and offers Cassie the shop to convert into a business of her own. She quickly decides on a kitchen gadget store combined with in-house cooking lessons to individuals and groups. Hmmm! Now she needs a contractor.

A light and entertaining tale of a young woman too bruised to risk her heart again, DISHING UP ROMANCE is told in Cassie's own voice. Between the attractions of Josh Benson and the not-so-subtle mechanizations of her parents pushing her to marry, Cassie has a hard time keeping her resolve to focus solely on her new career. Characters where Cassie works and friends old and new add much to the story. Besides the up and down romance, readers will get an interesting behind the scenes glimpse of the world of cooking and starting a new business.

DISHING UP ROMANCE is a slim book divided into short chapters to make a quick read…though you will want to stop to savor the recipes included after each of the twenty-nine chapters.

Jane Bowers