Customer Reviews

Making Up for Lost Time

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Not since Paperback Romance has Karin Kallmaker written a book so lighthearted and delectable. It's as delicious as all the recipes included, and as funny as a screwball comedy. Val's little white lies have caught up to her and she needs to prove that not only can she completely renovate and redecorate an old inn, she also needs to prove she can cook. Jamie has an old inn needing repair. She's clueless with a hammer, but she can cook like Julia Child. Val is flightly. Jamie is serious. Val likes to knock down walls. Jamie likes to punch down dough. Can two crazy, mismatched gals find love in a small town?

This is a Kallmaker romance. Of course the answer is yes! Along the way is the use of chocolate body paint that put me in a swoon. I read that part twice. Okay, three times.

You will like Jamie and Val-they are both down to earth and not at all interested in each other-right! Throw in a little innocent deception, a few skeletons in the closet, and a love triangle or two and you have the recipe for yet another great lesbian romance story.

She's got a tool belt and knows how to use it! She's such a fun character -- a little naughty and likes to play the field. Then whammo! Jamie's serious ways sneak into her heart. This book reads fast, is light and sexy, and filled to the brim with chocolate and other goodies. A real treat for all the senses!

A light summer read laced with romance and screwball humor. The recipes alone make this book a keeper. I tried the bread pudding and it was a big hit at the Outskirts potluck. The story revolves around Jamie, a young, unappreciated chef who is sure she can make it on her own if just given a chance. When she inherits her Aunt Emily's family style diner, she hopes to turn it into a five-star restaurant. She is discouraged when the inn turns out to be a "handyman's special" and she realizes her inheritance comes complete with inspectors, fines, back taxes, as well as some major structural problems.

Jamie thinks her problems are solved when she meets home and garden expert Valkyrie Valentine. Val is on the fast track to host her own television show--as long as she can convince the owners of a magazine she writes for that she can cook and really is the renovation guru she writes about so authentically.

Jamie agrees to teach Val cooking basics in exchange for Val's remodeling expertise. It's no big surprise when they find themselves making eyes at each other. Jamie's sublimates her feelings by making and eating every chocolate treat known to womankind. I was drooling over the description of a huge slice of chocolate blackout cake!

At least for me, Val's tendency to strenuously hammer everything that was not moving into submission didn't have quite the same appeal! You'll be glad to know that even she couldn't resist the chocolate body paint. (Yes, the recipe is included if you must try it.)


The interaction between Jamie and Val kept me turning the pages. It is well written and easy to follow. Warning to all readers on a diet, though - Kallmaker writes about food as seductively as she writes about sex.

There were times that I would be reading this book and my partner would look at me like I had fallen off the moon because I would be laughing out loud! I couldn't help myself. Karin has the best sense of humor and a great hold on what is sexy. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a really great time not just a great read. And the recipes sound wonderful! Please check this out.

This is a delightfully original romance that I find something new to enjoy each time I read it. As with all this author's novels you always get more than a romance. In this novel Jamie has a complex family history that is quite moving.

Many laugh out loud moments make this reading wonderfully sweet and very much a page turner. I was totally invested at the end of the first chapters with Jamie and Val - I couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

My admittedly high expectations from this author based on previous novels were delectably fulfilled in this novel. Scrumptious food, a charming Inn, wonderful characters, a little heartache, laugh out loud humor and a lot of love - I really couldn't want more than that in a romance. Add in terrific writing and you will find the author at the top of her game in this novel. Now for some bread pudding - yum!

Don't miss the further adventures of these charming people in the author's anthology 'Frosting on The Cake'

If you liked this novel you also gobble up these novels from this author -
Sugar
Just Like That
Paperback Romance
Carpool
Unforgettable
Embrace in Motion

In this novel, I found a gentle mix of very different characters that brings about a sweet story of how two women's goals, though different, become fused. There is: Shelia, born with a golden spoon in her mouth and, as a "predator," she mixes business with pleasure; Jan prefers flings, no commitment please; and Kathy is immature, selfish and homophobic -- yes I am a lesbian, no I am straight. Jamie carries the world on her shoulders as she buries her anxieties in chocolate. Em, although absent, and Liesel, provide guidance to Jamie at a time when she needs to make a change. Val, on the brink of success, realizes she has to become the person she has sold herself to be. The story is tied together effectively with recipes and columns interspersed between chapters, energetic meal preparation in the kitchen, and vigorous renovations of the inn and restaurant. Thus, I have two criticisms. Sheila, who is brought in and out of the story abruptly, is not needed as a narrator. The two-page introductory could have been cut. The writing around Sheila could have been changed slightly to keep the book in the third-person and not hurt the story line. I really did not see anyone making up for lost time. They were more like renovating the inn and restaurant and renewing themselves.

Jamie is a young-but-marvelous chef who is tired of killing herself to make her ungrateful boss successful. After receiving an inheritance from her Aunt Emily, she decides to buy Emily's old restaurant and give it a go on her own. Little does she realize her new dream comes complete with inspectors, fines, back taxes, and other various problems.

Almost by accident, Jamie meets Val - a woman with problems of her own. It seems Val has convinced the readers and owners of a magazine she writes for that she is a young version of Martha Stewart. She wants to take home improvement to the TV, but doesn't have a single project to call her own. Even worse, she can't cook (not even Cheerios).

Jamie, who has only ever loved one woman, reluctantly agrees to teach Val, who seemingly sleeps with anything that walks, cooking basics in exchange for Val's remodeling/redecorating expertise. The pair find themselves increasingly unable to dismiss growing feelings for each other. Jamie's defense is to make every decadent chocolate treat known to the world. Val's is to throw herself into the project with everything she has.

I thoroughly enjoyed the antics, deception, and tension between Jamie and Val. Kallmaker certainly doesn't disappoint with this one. Although there are three different "narrators," it is well written and easy to follow. Recommended for a lazy morning in your local doughnut shop (my favorites are chocloate glazed from Krispy Kreme) with a large mocha latte.

One thing I really like about Karin's books is that the characters are inevitably embroiled in something interesting, and she infuses their lives with curious and fun little details that make the stories and characters come alive. Another important element for me is that I like the characters, and Karin has almost unfailingly moved me to pull for her characters. This book is no exception. The characters are well-drawn with influential backgrounds and influences that help move the plot along easily and comfortably, which is nice in escapist fiction.

Additionally, I really enjoy baking, and have tried out at least a couple of the recipes in this novel. What fun (and while the book is not quite up to 4 stars, I'll display it that way just because of these yummy additions to my repertoire). I like books set in kitchens, or around restaurant management (if you're of a mind to, and like the same thing, check out the online story by Creme Brulee called "Cooking on High"; not perfect, and certainly uber-fanfic, but highly entertaining in its own right). But in addition to baking, we get details about home improvement! That's a subject I sadly know nothing about, but nevertheless I found the drama surrounding it fascinating.

The narrator was a touch odd. But ended up being a useful addition to the story. And meanwhile we have the semi-odd-couple of Jamie and Valkyrie to pull for. Satifying in the way a good dessert is: not too heavy, not a ton of depth, but makes a pleasant and lasting impression.

This is a delicious book <g> with Jamie trying to overcome lust with chocolate. All my senses were excited by this book -- I could smell the food and hear Val's drills and hammers and fantasize what Jamie's pie tasted like. I had no trouble at all imagining the chocolate body paint!

The recipes alone make this book a keeper. I'm not much of a cook, but the cookies at the very front were terrific! Chocolate of course.