Too Many Cooks by Dana Bate

Too Many Cooks

by Dana Bate

Kelly Madigan seems to have it all: a fabulous boyfriend, a supportive - if eccentric - family, and a flourishing career as a cookbook ghostwriter. But after finding a letter from her recently-deceased mother, criticising her stable but unexciting life, Kelly knows she needs to make a change. When a mysterious new writing opportunity in London presents itself, she jumps at the chance to get away from it all.

Enter Natasha Spencer - Oscar-winning actress and health nut, not to mention a total nightmare. She's working on a new cookbook and has asked for Kelly's help. What Kelly didn't factor in was meeting Natasha's dishy MP husband, Hugh Ballantine.

Away from her family, friends, and the life she knows - will this fish out of water ever get back in the swim?

Reviewed by Heather on

4 of 5 stars

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So I couldn't sleep one night and finished what I was reading.  I looked for something to download from the library -because I don't have a bunch of unread books just sitting on my iPad?? Anyway, I wanted something new and this fit the bill.  Good for Foodies Read and light.  I ended up staying up most of the night to read it.

Kelly's life is undergoing some major changes.  Her mother just died.  She left Kelly a letter with her wishes for her.  One of the main ones was to move out of the Midwest and take some chances with her life.  When the opportunity comes to move to London for a year to ghost write a cookbook for a movie star she jumps at the chance even though it means breaking up with her long term boyfriend (also on her mother's list of things for her to do).

When she gets to England she discovers that superstar Natasha doesn't really want anything to do with the cookbook.  She wants Kelly to come up with recipes from her vague descriptions of meals she remembers but doesn't really even want to taste the food.  The only person who does like the food is Natasha's husband Hugh.  This leads to flirting and then major attraction.  He insists that he and Natasha have a marriage in name only but should Kelly believe him?

I really enjoyed this book.  There are recipes in the back for some of the food discussed.  I wish there had been a recipe for the kale burgers that she struggles to make for most of the book only to have them dismissed by Natasha every time.  "Not green enough," etc.

I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 8 May, 2016: Finished reading
  • 8 May, 2016: Reviewed