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Cooking for Mr. Right
Seattle chef Kate Linden feels life's opportunities are slipping away at the ripe old age of twenty-six, after she is suddenly fired from the city's hottest restaurant and her ex-boyfriend, Gaston, announces his forthcoming wedding to a woman he just met, and comes up with a grand--if misguided--scheme to transform her life. Original.
232 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2005
1 person is currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Susan Volland
7 books5 followersA Seattle native, Susan Volland is a classically trained chef and served as recipe editor for Nathan Myhrvold’s Modernist Cuisine projects. She works as a teacher, recipe tester, and food writer. This is her first solo cookbook.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
August 21, 2011
This book ahd a toatally silly plot. A chef finds out her ex boyfriend is getting married and is determined to win him back ignoring the wonderful man right in front of her. WAY more vapid than the chick lit I usually read.
BUT the author is a trained chef and her descriptions of the food and cooking, and the bunch of recipes in the back of the book made it much more enjoyable than I expected.
BUT the author is a trained chef and her descriptions of the food and cooking, and the bunch of recipes in the back of the book made it much more enjoyable than I expected.
October 18, 2018
Seattle sous-chef Kate Linden is shocked to hear that her longtime (now ex) boyfriend, Gaston, is engaged to another woman. He spent many years trying to get Kate to marry him, but she just didn’t feel he was the right man for her. Plus, Kate is practically married to her job, and she’s good at it. Yet Gaston’s announcement hits her hard, and she can’t seem to get past the regrets. Kate wonders if he just might be the right one for her after all. This realization starts Kate on a quest to win Gaston back.
Just as her re-invention plan begins to take shape, Kate loses her job. Reeling from this huge hole in her identity, she takes it as a sign that maybe she needs a “normal” career, one that will leave her time to pursue relationships, good grooming, and sleep. Through a twist of fate, Gaston gets her a job with his company, and it looks like things are falling into place so Kate will have the man of her dreams again. Or is he truly what she wants?
Cooking for Mr. Right has all of the elements for an ideal book for foodie chick-lit lovers. Kate is wishy-washy with her love life. She doesn’t want Gaston when she has him, but when he gets engaged to someone else, suddenly she wants him again. At twenty-six, she’s understandably going through some questioning of the choices she has made and is making. Is she in the right career? What if Gaston was her only chance at true love? Kate’s realistic move to maturity is both refreshing and inspiring.
The food references are mouth-wateringly described, and fortunately, the author provides recipes in the back of the book. Some of the recipes are ones I never would have tried had they not been delectably included in the plot of Cooking for Mr. Right. Couple the romance with food, add a sprinkle of humor and a dash of originality, and you have a combination that will leave you feeling satisfied.
Just as her re-invention plan begins to take shape, Kate loses her job. Reeling from this huge hole in her identity, she takes it as a sign that maybe she needs a “normal” career, one that will leave her time to pursue relationships, good grooming, and sleep. Through a twist of fate, Gaston gets her a job with his company, and it looks like things are falling into place so Kate will have the man of her dreams again. Or is he truly what she wants?
Cooking for Mr. Right has all of the elements for an ideal book for foodie chick-lit lovers. Kate is wishy-washy with her love life. She doesn’t want Gaston when she has him, but when he gets engaged to someone else, suddenly she wants him again. At twenty-six, she’s understandably going through some questioning of the choices she has made and is making. Is she in the right career? What if Gaston was her only chance at true love? Kate’s realistic move to maturity is both refreshing and inspiring.
The food references are mouth-wateringly described, and fortunately, the author provides recipes in the back of the book. Some of the recipes are ones I never would have tried had they not been delectably included in the plot of Cooking for Mr. Right. Couple the romance with food, add a sprinkle of humor and a dash of originality, and you have a combination that will leave you feeling satisfied.
August 19, 2008
First off, a little background info...thanks to GoodReads and my obsessive-compulsive need to rate every book I've read and list every book that I own but have not read yet, I realized I had 125+ books that I need to read. Such a chore, right?
Well, I set a goal for myself at the beginning of the summer that I would try to make a good dent in that number by reading all the chick-lit and/or trashy/puff/brain-candy books that I had sitting on my to-read shelf.
It was all fun and quick reading, until about 2 weeks ago, my brain rotted from ingesting all that brain candy. I started to yearn for more literary reads...but I HAD to keep marching towards my goal.
"Cooking for Mr. Right" by Susan Volland had the honor of being the final book on my shelf that I needed to read to reach the goal. It was a pretty quick read and I read it in about 2 days. "Cooking for Mr. Right" is a chick lit novel whose main character is Kate, a 20-something chef living in Seattle. She's recently broken up with her boyfriend Gaston and is not happy with her job at a local restaurant.
I give it about 3.75 out of 5 stars. It was a fun summer read and I enjoyed that it was also about food & cooking. I subtracted a quarter point because I just felt the storyline was a bit too much of a chick lit cliche: girl is convinced Guy 1 is the man for her, she meets guy 2 who she thinks is sub par... as time guys on she thinks maybe she is going after the wrong guy...etc.etc... The last 10 or so pages of the book contain recipes that the main character cooked in the story. I may try a few of them out soon.
Well, I set a goal for myself at the beginning of the summer that I would try to make a good dent in that number by reading all the chick-lit and/or trashy/puff/brain-candy books that I had sitting on my to-read shelf.
It was all fun and quick reading, until about 2 weeks ago, my brain rotted from ingesting all that brain candy. I started to yearn for more literary reads...but I HAD to keep marching towards my goal.
"Cooking for Mr. Right" by Susan Volland had the honor of being the final book on my shelf that I needed to read to reach the goal. It was a pretty quick read and I read it in about 2 days. "Cooking for Mr. Right" is a chick lit novel whose main character is Kate, a 20-something chef living in Seattle. She's recently broken up with her boyfriend Gaston and is not happy with her job at a local restaurant.
I give it about 3.75 out of 5 stars. It was a fun summer read and I enjoyed that it was also about food & cooking. I subtracted a quarter point because I just felt the storyline was a bit too much of a chick lit cliche: girl is convinced Guy 1 is the man for her, she meets guy 2 who she thinks is sub par... as time guys on she thinks maybe she is going after the wrong guy...etc.etc... The last 10 or so pages of the book contain recipes that the main character cooked in the story. I may try a few of them out soon.
March 25, 2008
I devoured this book. Much like the movie "My best friends wedding" and pretty predictable. Still I loved it and didn't want to put it down. Fun, Fast read.
January 3, 2019
Really enjoyable tale about a young female chef trying to figure out her path in life, both relationship and career wise. In spite of the title, it wasn't solely about trying to find/hold on to a man, which was a nice change.
It swipes quite a bit of the plot from the movie "My Best Friend's Wedding" and the love match is predictable as hell, even a bit nauseating at times, but if not for that, I would have given it five stars. It's relatable and fun and well written, one of the few books I've read in the last year that I'll be keeping.
I'll be checking out the author's other books.
It swipes quite a bit of the plot from the movie "My Best Friend's Wedding" and the love match is predictable as hell, even a bit nauseating at times, but if not for that, I would have given it five stars. It's relatable and fun and well written, one of the few books I've read in the last year that I'll be keeping.
I'll be checking out the author's other books.
July 11, 2023
3.5 Stars
May 17, 2023
I enjoyed this cute book. A young Sous chef looses her job and finds out her ex boyfriend is engaged to be married. She decides she wants him back. She tries all kinds of tactics to derail that relationship, as she tries to get her own life and career back on track. Made me laugh out loud . A good book. It will make you smile.
September 28, 2021
Seems cheesy but by the end of the book I was smiling and chuckling. I am also delirious from lack of sleep because I'm 8 months pregnant but I think it's a good book and really started to enjoy it about half way thru.
September 22, 2008
Again typical girl trying to find the perfict guy/life/job blah blah blah.
I did like it because on her way to finding all of that she finds herself. The main charactor is a cook and the book gives a few recipes in the back i'd be willing to try. It was a cute book, a little on the predictable side but it does throw you for a couple little loops.
I read some other reviews about how the main charactor was shallow but I personally found her like any other 26 year old. Being 25 myself I can see that yeah she is Shallow but its something I probably would do myself with out noticing it. So that made it real to me.
I did like it because on her way to finding all of that she finds herself. The main charactor is a cook and the book gives a few recipes in the back i'd be willing to try. It was a cute book, a little on the predictable side but it does throw you for a couple little loops.
I read some other reviews about how the main charactor was shallow but I personally found her like any other 26 year old. Being 25 myself I can see that yeah she is Shallow but its something I probably would do myself with out noticing it. So that made it real to me.
February 5, 2016
Kate Linden loves to cook. And she is the sou-chef at a up & coming restaurant, Sound Bistro. But when tempers flare between her & the head chef, Kate finds herself out of a job. And just when she has taken on the role of trying to win back her old boyfriend and making him see that he should marry her and not the elementary school teacher who can only cook tuna casserole!
This is a fun story filled with lots of laughs and even more wonderful foods. If you love to cook & love a good ending, you'll eat this book up!
This is a fun story filled with lots of laughs and even more wonderful foods. If you love to cook & love a good ending, you'll eat this book up!
October 28, 2008
Isn't this what we'd all want? Kate leaves her hire powered job, resolves to trap the guy she's rejected twice, but now is her "perfect" man, ends up not with him, but with a much better candidate, plus finds her true calling in life, which actually makes more money! Kate is a chef, so it's an enjoyable romp with food.
While predictable, it was a nice read. I enjoyed the character development and watching Kate finally get where we knew she'd end up all along....
While predictable, it was a nice read. I enjoyed the character development and watching Kate finally get where we knew she'd end up all along....
July 20, 2007
Chef Kate schemes to win back the boyfriend she dumped when she learns he's marrying someone else. A fun read, very French Kiss-esque.
April 7, 2021
This is another in-a-day chick-lit read. I love food and romance. I love it even better when they are paired together.
July 4, 2008
Light fun reading.
July 29, 2008
Fun and really honest. The character is very human; I related to her quarter-life crisis and have said or thought many things she has. Way to be a kick-ass chef and learn to shake your pretensions!
September 30, 2008
Good read, quick read
September 17, 2009
A fun book that is nicely paced. Good for a weekend at the beach.
March 1, 2010
THIS BOOK WAS REALLY FUNNY...AND I KNOW SOME OF US GIRLS HAVE DONE SOME OF THESE THINGS TO GET A GUY! HILARIOUS.
July 28, 2010
This book was pretty simple, predictable, but still a nice little read. It is definately a plane or beach book!
April 9, 2011
Everyone knows my love for seattle and cooking, so I read this during that phase. Added bonus is there are recipes at the end of the book!
August 25, 2011
Super cute book couldn't put it down.
September 7, 2012
Pretty good!! Better than I have expected. Well, I bought it like 75%off so, I haven't think much while read it. Even though, i found, it's no climax but, Surprisingly, it's enjoyable the whole book.
November 26, 2012
Another mindless girly read
May 2, 2013
GEE, I WAS WONDERING WHERE THIS ONE WAS GOING
May 17, 2013
Better than I expected. I thought based on the begining that it would be very typical and predicatable but I was pleasantly surprised.
September 5, 2015
It took a few chapters for me to actually get into the book, but I did end up liking it.
January 26, 2016
Cute story. Light reading.
August 3, 2011
It's a light read. Pretty funny. Predictible plot line, but fun, nonetheless. :)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews