The Lost Recipe for Happiness [Paperback]

Barbara O'Neal (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 30, 2008

In this sumptuous new novel, Barbara O’Neal offers readers a celebration of food, family, and love as a woman searches for the elusive ingredient we’re all hoping to find….

It’s the opportunity Elena Alvarez has been waiting for–the challenge of running her own kitchen in a world-class restaurant. Haunted by an accident of which she was the lone survivor, Elena knows better than anyone how to survive the odds. With her faithful dog, Alvin, and her grandmother’s recipes, Elena arrives in Colorado to find a restaurant in as desperate need of a fresh start as she is–and a man whose passionate approach to food and life rivals her own. Owner Julian Liswood is a name many people know but a man few do. He’s come to Aspen with a troubled teenage daughter and a dream of the kind of stability and love only a family can provide. But for Elena, old ghosts don’t die quietly, yet a chance to find happiness at last is worth the risk.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Twenty years ago, Elena Alvarez, the chef heroine of O'Neal's bland kitchen romance, was the sole survivor of a car accident that left her badly scarred and haunted by the sister and boyfriend she lost in the crash. Attempting to escape the specter of the accident and buoyed by her love of cooking, Elena drifted to culinary school in Europe and eventually ends up at an upscale Vancouver restaurant, where her passion and skills capture the attention of celebrity restaurateur Julian Liswood, who hires her as the executive chef of a new restaurant he is opening in Aspen, Colo. Elena relishes the opportunity, even as she recognizes the potential disasters, both romantic and job-related, inherent in the feelings she has for her boss. As the new endeavor finds its footing in Aspen's restaurant scene, she, too, begins to find a home. Unfortunately, O'Neal doesn't bring anything new to an already busy subgenre: the plot is formulaic, the prose is tepid and her main character is too narrowly drawn to have much appeal.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Elena Alvarez was involved in a horrific car accident as a teenager outside of Santa Fe. The sole survivor, she threw herself into her work and is now a successful chef. She has just been fired from her job when Julian Linswood, horror movie director and restaurant owner, asks her to take over the restaurant he has just bought in Aspen. Bringing everything together for the grand opening is an uphill battle against the deposed chef, who tries to turn the kitchen staff against her, and Elena’s own growing attraction to Julian, and his attraction to her. The ghosts, both literally and figuratively, of the accident also get in the way. Elena must bury the past and put her ghosts to rest to achieve success, happiness, and peace in the new restaurant and her own life. A predictable story with an easily guessed ending, but foodies will love Elena’s lavish menu creations and the southwestern-themed recipes scattered throughout the book. --Hilary Hatton

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Discovery (December 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553385518
• ISBN-13: 978-0553385519
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.9 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #451,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Recipe for a Great Read January 2, 2009

By Alison Kent

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I've been a fan of Barbara Samuel since reading my first Ruth Wind authored Silhouette Special Edition. I followed her into her historicals, then stayed with her as she moved into big women's fiction. For me to want to put my life on hold and read an author's work, she has to own her voice, to be a confident master of her prose, and Barbara does it every time. She is a brilliant storyteller, one who wields the tools of a wordsmith with such skill that getting lost for hours in her world is pure pleasure.

Her latest book, THE LOST RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS written as Barbara O'Neal (Bantam Discovery, trade $13, mmpb $6.99, 464 pages, December 30) continues her exploration of troubled, damaged women who find their place in life, make peace with their past, and allow themselves the love of a good man. Elena Alvarez is hired as executive chef to take over a failing Aspen restaurant owned by restauranteur and movie mogul Julian Liswood. Julian also owned the Vancouver restaurant from which she was fired as sous chef the very day he asked her to resurrect what becomes The Orange Bear. Elena has her work cut out for her, dealing with a kitchen staff of illegal immigrants, a previous executive chef whom she dubs Rasputin, the pressure of being a female chef running her own kitchen (and with a boss to whom she is attracted), and working on her feet for long grueling hours with her physical body betraying her.

As a teenager, Elena was the sole survivor of a horrible car accident that killed two siblings, a cousin, and her boyfriend. Her sister, Isobel, and Edwin, whom she was to marry, still appear to her all these years later, as Elena's survivor's guilt keeps her rooted to her past -- and unable to put down roots in any of the cities where she's worked. Aspen is different, however. Whether it's being in charge of her own kitchen and bringing her New Mexican culture, customs, and cuisine with her, or whether it's the comfort of including old friends in the venture while growing close to new ones, Elena finds herself shedding the old skin of the life she's lived and trying the fit of this new one -- one in which Julian Liswood and his daughter Portia play a huge part.

Barbara O'Neal tells the story of Elena Alvarez's spiritual and emotional recovery with unmistakable authenticity. The colorful details of the Colorado and New Mexico Southwest flavor the book as fully as the recipes she's included, and the food is as much a character as is Elena's dog Alvin - and anyone who regularly reads Barbara's blog knows of her enjoyment of cooking, her passion for her heritage, and her love for her animals. I found myself hungry for tamales and churros and pork pie, and dying to try the pomegranate baklava. (I did try Juan's Carne En Su Jugo, and loved it!) My only quibble with the book was never feeling as if I knew Elena's old friend Patrick (who has a substantial role) as fully as I knew her new friends Juan and Ivan and Julian and Portia, or even as fully as her long dead sister Isobel. But that doesn't keep me from recommending this book highly. It's big and lusty and delicious, and well worth taking a day away from real life to spend in the world Barbara has created.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Barbara O'Neal Writes a Winner! December 31, 2008

By Lee Rhuday

Format:Paperback

Barbara O'Neal offers a scrumptious feast in The Lost Recipe for Happiness, a Bantam Discovery book. If you like food and love - and who doesn't? - there's plenty to savor in this story of Elena Alvarez, a chef who must free herself from the ghosts of her past in order to secure her future.
Life got an early start in teaching Elena that nothing lasts forever. Abandoned by her single mom, she found a new home and new loves, only to have tragedy rip her away from them. When movie producer Julian Liswood offers her a second chance - at love and at carving her own name in culinary fame - Elena searches for signs and the strength to believe in a forever kind of love.
The Lost Recipe for Happiness offers terrific insights into the demanding world beyond the dining room's swinging doors as Elena and her staff of delightfully wounded souls create the Orange Bear, Aspen's newest world-class restaurant. This is a man's world, one that seriously challenges even the hardiest individual. Elena, who fights daily battles against the ravages of a tragic car accident, relies on sheer strength of will as she pits herself against the daunting physical demands of her new job as executive chef. But will her strength of will be her undoing? Will it prevent her from embracing true love when it's finally her turn at the table?
The Lost Recipe for Happiness tells a great story in a wonderfully engaging manner. Those with a passion for food will drool over the sumptuous descriptions and mouth-watering recipes (I've tried a few and they are fab.) A delightful supporting cast, including a gorgeous bear of a dog and a guileless teenager who reminds Elena of possibilities, add to the ambiance. With a story of love and redemption that brings the reader to tears and warms the heart, Barbara O'Neal has gently folded all the right ingredients together to make The Lost Recipe for Happiness a must-have for every bookshelf.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read June 3, 2011

By Target Girl

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Easy to read book with great recipes included between some chapters. Easy to get lost in the book and feel like you are in the kitchen of the restaurant enjoying the smells of the food.