Customer Reviews

Fed Up (Gourmet Girl Mystery)

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I absolutely loved this book! I read it in about two days... I was even reading it during class. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It was unpredictable and riveting. I'm looking forward to reading a lot of other books by these authors.

Chloe has a very busy summer during her break from school. Not only is she planning her best friends wedding (and showers), but she's also working for her parents and helping out her boyfriend Josh as he competes for a TV food show of his own. When one of the contestants drops dead (as well as Chloe, Josh and the film crew getting sick) everyone assumes it was food poisoning. Unfortunately it's never that easy when Chloe is around. When Chloe finds out that the woman was in fact murdered, she sets out to find out just who is responsible. While dealing with Josh's weird behavior, the bride's whacked out mother and a very hot carpenter Chloe is determined to find out what happened. The wedding of Owen & Ade is sweet, funny and surprising all at the same time. Naomi (her mentor from last semester) helps brings calm and reason when it's needed most. And the cliffhanger will leave you begging for the authors to write book 5 just as fast as they can! Another delectable treat you won't want to miss!!!!

If "how I spent my summer vacation" is an essay topic for soon-to-be second-year social work graduate student Chloe Carter, she's going to go right over the word limit. She has quite a summer to tell about.

In the fourth offering of the "Gourmet Girl Mysteries" by mother-daughter team Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant Fed Up, Chloe has lots of adventures--and problems on her hands. She planned to spend the summer selling environmentally-sound rain barrels in and around Boston for her somewhat zany parents' landscaping business. She expected to use her extra hours helping her best friend plan her wedding, and to enjoy her boyfriend Chef Josh's company and cooking. Plenty to fill a summer.

Then while Josh is the featured chef on a reality cooking show, the woman diner takes a bite of his scrumptious lamb chop and shrieks. She doesn't shriek for long. In a few minutes, she is dead--poisoned with digitalis. Chloe, who sees herself as a latter-day Nancy Drew, tackles the mystery and manages to solve it, but not without excitement and some rather comic scrapes.

While the story has a light-hearted approach and some interesting subplots about wedding planning and flowers; especially foxglove; there are also serious moments--especially those dealing with the relationships between mothers and daughters. This is a cozy series with lots of appeal. Who knows where and when Chloe will confront her next mystery? I'm sure she will.

I face a dilemma about what to do with the book now that I've read it. Do I slip it into the bookcase with my collection of mysteries? Or does it join the ranks of cookbooks on the kitchen shelf? It's hard to decide, for a bonus lies within its pages, a collection of great recipes. (Yes, even one for lamb.) I can't wait for pumpkin season to try the wedding reception highlight "Pumpkin Stew in a Pumpkin."

by Patricia Nordyke Pando

for Story Circle Book Reviews

reviewing books by, for, and about women

Part-time Boston graduate student Chloe Carter is confident that she knows everything there is to know about fine dining and good grub due in large part to the amount of time she spends hanging around her hunky chef boyfriend Josh Driscoll. So when he has the opportunity to compete for a starring role in a local reality television series called "Chefly Yours," Chloe is determined to stand by his side and cheer him on, even though she has her hands full with assisting her pregnant best friend as she plans her wedding, and working with her parents selling - of all things - environmentally-friendly rain barrels. The prospect of the show is clever and original: Josh will kidnap unknowing grocery shoppers in the produce aisle, sweep them back to their humble abodes, and whip up a gourmet dinner that will make them grovel at his feet. Everything is going swimmingly until one of the shopper's turns up dead - after indulging in one of Josh's mind-blowing meals, that is.

It's obvious that Josh had nothing to do with the death. After all, the cameras were on him from the getgo; but even with Josh's name clear, Chloe is hungry to finger the killer. The tough part is that almost everyone appears guilty, or has a motive that would make them the perfect killer. Chloe can't seem to figure out whether one of the other competitors is behind the crime, or if the killer is closer to home - like the deceased's vegetarian husband. The list of suspects seems daunting, and Chloe can't seem to find a lead. It doesn't help that Josh has been acting a little off-the-wall lately, or that a sexy young carpenter has just made an appearance, and seems interested in luring any guy - single or spoken for - within a two-foot radius into her clutches. Now furious and ready to put the case to rest, Chloe is determined to put an end to this madness. But with the killer still at large, she'll have to watch her back, or capture the culprit before someone else - perhaps even herself - becomes the next person to bite the dust.

I eagerly await each GOURMET GIRL MYSTERY with open arms, and have loved each and every book in the series, but even I have to admit that FED UP takes the cake. As a voracious Food Network watcher, and someone who loves a good reality show, I found that the Conant's have cooked up the perfect recipe for success by combining the two topics into one very tasty treat. Chloe, as always, is spunky, full of life, and lovable from page one. Her determination to rid the world of evil and catch the killer is always an entertaining way to unwind; while her ability to juggle so many tasks at once undoubtedly makes her a modern-day Wonder Woman. The supporting characters - Chloe's crazy parents, wacky best friend, sometimes standoffish lover, and a slew of others who are scrumptious enough to eat - work to add that extra bit of oomph that really brings the book to life. Jessica Conant-Park along with Susan Conant, as always, have cooked up perfection that is dripping with clever witticisms, and an unbeatable storyline. A delectable whodunit that you'll devour in one sitting!

Erika Sorocco

Freelance Reviewer

Café Fashionista

http://cafefashionista.blogspot.com

Fun to read! Apprantly this book has enough information on how a reality cook show operates. I think authors may have spent too many pages on wedding preparation and girl talks but much less details on crime scenes and investigation. It is a blended crime/romance/cook book, easy to digest for female readers.

Jessica Conant Park's and Susan Conant's 4th book in the Gourmet Girl Mystery series is thoroughly delightful! I enjoyed this witty tale of Chloe and Josh as they deal with the unexpected turn in Josh's quest to become the top chef in a reality TV competition. I hope this won't be the last in this series as I believe Josh and Chloe have a lot more to "cook up" together. Thank you for a truly satisfying and entertaining read!

Sue Richards, Meriden, CT

I really like this type of series....murder, mystery, cooking, recipes, etc. It was an enjoyable, light, and easy read. However, I didn't think enough time was spent on the "murder" itself. It seemed to be superfluous to the storyline. At times I didn't particularly like Chloe, the main character. At the beginning she seemed to be pretty full of herself, and the fact that she went to "social work school." (What the heck is that, anyway? Is it a college major? Or is it another type of educational environment I am unaware of?)

However, she did grow on me and I began to really enjoy the book. I was disappointed at endings, though...when something ended, it just ended...for instance, when Josh and Emillio "met" in the Carter's kitchen, and Emillio left and that was the last you heard about him...And how the book itself ended...I kept searching thru the recipes to see if there was more to read.....but it simply ended abruptly. (Which was unfortunate).

If you have the time...summer reading at the beach, for example, then by all means, read this book. Bu if you really enjoy a good solid murder mystery, I'd skip this one and move on to another one.

However, I am going to read another one of their books, since only one book in a series is just a snapshot of what the author can do. Maybe the next one I read will be a little more in depth, and cover the mystery itself a little bit more!

Chloe tags along while her boyfriend tapes a reality-cooking contest. The crew goes to the supermarket, picks a stranger, and then creates a meal in his/her kitchen. While Josh cooks up a superb meal - something goes very wrong.

First, the contestant hates the meal, and with good reason as it's been poisoned. She dies soon afterwards and all those at the taping are suspected of murder.

If there's one thing Chloe doesn't need right now on top of her normal life, planning her best friend's wedding, and trying to make time to see her busy chef boyfriend - it's solving a murder. Yet, she needs to solve this case before anything else can happen.

This is the fourth book in the GOURMET GIRL MYSTERY series for this mother-daughter duo. FED UP is a cute food mystery served with a side of recipes.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant's fourth entry into the Gourmet Girl Mystery series throws a jaw-dropping cliffhanger into the cozy mystery. Newcomers to the series will find it easy to follow the storyline, while regular readers will love the new developments in Chloe Carter's life.

With Chloe' best friend's wedding on the horizon, she's busy with wedding details, baby shower planning and keeping up her relationship with Chef Josh Driscoll. Josh is in the midst of a televised competition in which he helps random shoppers purchase groceries and then heads home to prepare a meal that everyone in the house will love.

When Josh's dinner ends up killing the shopper's wife, Chloe opts to fit in some sleuthing to find out what really happened. She knows there is no way Josh would have intentionally added toxic herbs to a meal.

This starts a story that I didn't find impossibly hard to pick out the killer, though I admit I wasn't sure why until later into the book. A number of scrumptious recipes are found in the back of the book. If I can find some red snapper on sale in the near future, I know exactly what I'll be making for dinner!

Meanwhile, other twists that keep you on the edge of your seat. I am now incredibly anxious to find out what happens next. The ending will leave many people craving more!

Chloe Carter's boyfriend Josh is competing with two other chefs to win a slot on a new eight part TV cooking show. To win the contest he has to star in three episodes of Chefly Yours (as does his rivals) cooking meals for supermarket customers selected randomly by the show's producer. When the nine shows air, the audience will vote on who will star as the chef of the new series.

Josh has to cook meals for Leo the vegetarian and his wife Francie who is a meat eater. Challenged, by the herbivore-carnivore couple, Josh makes his selection and goes to their home to prepare their repast. While dining, Francie dies on camera; others who took bites of her meal get ill. Someone sprinkled the food with digitalis from the foxglove plant. In between coordinating her best friend's wedding and working for her parents while grad school is out for the summer, Chloe investigates the murder.

The latest "Gourmet Girl Mystery" (see TURN UP THE HEAT, SIMMER DOWN and STEAMED) is a delicious entry filled with action and plenty of humor. The whodunit is clever as there are many suspects who had opportunity and Chloe realizes what their motives are. When the killer is revealed this will make total sense to the reader as being obvious yet it is almost impossible to pick out the perp during the course of the story. The spunky heroine is the obvious master chef keeping the story line focused while the strong support cast adds depth to a tasty amateur sleuth.

Harriet Klausner