Hot Dish [Mass Market Paperback]

Connie Brockway (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2010

Here she is...

Years ago, Jenn Lind’s family’s dynasty crashed, forcing them to move out of their Atlanta penthouse and into a cabin in Fawn Creek, Minnesota. But Jenn saw a way out—she’d win the Buttercup Pageant, grab the scholarship, and run far, far away. The plan almost worked too, until some conniving townspeople cheated her out of her tiara. Still, she swore she’d make it out someday…

Miss Minnesota?

Twenty years later, she’s on the cusp of real stardom. She’s about to leave for New York to be crowned queen of daytime TV when Fawn Creek asks her to be grand marshal of the town’s sesquicentennial. Her network accepts, delighted over the potential PR, especially since she’ll be sharing the “honor” with international celebrity Steve Jaax, a man she got tangled up with once long ago. Between the all too attractive Steve, the townspeople, and a hundred pound butter sculpture, Jenn may never escape Fawn Creek. Or even worse, she might.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A rancid, 20-year-old bust carved from a 100-pound block of butter is the main ingredient for Brockway's saucy contemporary debut, which follows a long line of popular historical romances (most recently My Surrender). All Jenn Lind ever wanted was to put as much distance as possible between herself and Fawn Creek, the tiny Minnesota hamlet where her parents landed after gambling away the family fortune. Two decades after her escape, she's on the brink of TV stardom as the newest Martha Stewart. All is well until she learns that, as the former Buttercup Princess of Fawn Creek, she's been conscripted to serve as the town's sesquicentennial grand marshal, a title she's to share with Steve Jaxx-the famed sculptor (and ex-con) who carved her bust out of butter twenty years before. Upon arrival she learns that the butter head, which her mom had stored in the barn freezer all those years, has been stolen and is being held for ransom. While the inept blackmailers barter, the butter head is slowly melting, and Steve is desperate to rescue the head before something he hid in it resurfaces. While the plot has a make-it-up-as-you-go feel, Brockway's talent for creating funny characters and a dead-on sense of place will keep romance fans enchanted.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Just as Jenn Lind is poised to become the host of cable television's hottest new show, Comforts of Home, and, if everything goes well, the next Martha Stewart, all her hard work is about to be ruined by an invitation to be the grand marshal of Fawn Creek's sesquicentennial parade. Returning to a town where most everyone would be happy to see her fail isn't on her list of top career-building moves, but Jenn's new employers at American Media Services insist that she accept the invitation. Jenn soon finds herself back in Fawn Creek with sexy, internationally famous sculptor Steve Jaax as her co-grand marshal and a 21-year-old butter head sculpture of herself that everyone seems to want! RITA Award-winning, New York Times best-selling Brockway switches from historical to contemporary romance and the results are splendidly satisfying. With its surfeit of realistically quirky characters and sharp wit, Hot Dish is simply superb. John Charles
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Signet (February 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 045121983X
• ISBN-13: 978-0451219831
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #994,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So very funny..., November 15, 2006

By 

Ana Muhandis - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Hot Dish (Mass Market Paperback)

I love Connie Brockway's historical romances, and picked this book up expecting it to be her venture into the contemporary romance genre. Well, it is....but not in the way I expected. The romance is kept to a minimum (though still very well done). The focus of the book is Jenn's relationship with her 'hometown,' and Steve's growth into a man who can commit to a woman for a long-term relationship. The 'butter head' (a bust of Jenn carved in a large block of butter when she was in high school) is a recurring theme, and almost every reference to it made me laugh out loud (unfortunately for my seat mate on the plane). Ms. Brockway has such a deft touch in describing the Minnesota small town's inhabitants; I almost felt like I knew them.

One of the funniest books I've read in a long time.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Painful to get through, November 20, 2006

By 

Tammy (Middle of Nowhere, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hot Dish (Mass Market Paperback)

Ok, I was really excited to read this as I love her historical romances. The premise on the back of the book even sounded like something I'd like to read (I'll refrain from doing a plot summary here, as it has been summarized by many other reviewers on this page).

For starters, this book never really "captured" my interest, as it had way to many chapters with too many points of view (from minor characters). That was the first thing that bugged me. I figured it would get better if I just gave it a chance, but, alas, it never did. Also, If you like 20/30 year old main characters, be forwarned that the girl is 40 and the guy is nearing fifty. That fact didn't bother me as much as it might bother some, but I figured I'd warn prospective readers.

I never really connected with this book or it's plot. I did make myself finish this book (because I really hate buying a book and not reading it), but I found it truly painful to finish. Think twice before picking up this book! I hope I can expect better from Connie Brockway in the future!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Painful to finish, December 16, 2006

By 

book worm "labony" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hot Dish (Mass Market Paperback)

Oh, how I miss Connie Brockway's older books after having read this one. I have read every one of her previous books and have several on my keeper shelf, so I was anxious to give her contemporary romance (if that's what it was) a try.

It is the story of how a woman spends some twenty years of her life trying to reclaim the feeling of security she lost when her well-to-do parents lost everything they owned (except for a cabin in Minnesota) in Las Vegas.

It was a story full of too many irrelevant details about too many goofy secondary characters. The romance was barely given a chance to develop before the end of the book and the one sex scene was about as unromantic as they get. There were a couple of laugh out loud moments that reminded me of the old Connie Brockway books but they were few and far between. The plot was very silly and the book was very difficult to finish.

I have given the book 2 stars only out of respect for Connie, but I can only say that her contemporary fiction is not my cup of tea.