Margherita's Recipes for Love

by Elisabetta Flumeri, Gabriella Giacometti

Margherita is a spirited young woman with a passion for cooking. When her heart is broken in Rome, she returns to her hometown of Roccafitta, a small Tuscan village filled with lovable eccentrics and beautiful vineyards. She dreams of saving enough money to reopen her late mother’s restaurant and hopes she may find help from the handsome stranger in town, Nicola Ravelli.
    An aloof and ambitious businessman, Nicola is buying up the village’s vineyards and is also on the lookout for a personal chef. Though the two dislike one another immediately, Nicola agrees to pay Margherita well for each delicious meal she prepares for his various business meetings. But with each new dish, Nicola discovers that he is the one being seduced and Margherita realizes that she is expressing much more through her cooking than she cares to admit.
    Featuring the recipes for the seductive Italian dishes described in the story, including roast duck and the delectable pastry, baci di dama (a lady’s kiss),  Margherita’s Recipes for Love  is an engaging and warm celebration of the power of food and its ability to nourish, stimulate, and express emotion—a satisfying read for every season.

Genres: Romance, Fiction

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2017

Reviews

[Maree · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the surface this story is a simple love story set in Tuscany that involves family, food and love but unfortunately there are much darker themes throughout. The messages are all misogynistic including that no means yes, and women will melt for any man even if the man is a total pig. Nicola is the sexist pig who is cold, cruel and rude. He is only interested in money but because he is handsome, Margherita instantly falls for him. Surely two men wrote this book, not two women. Franceso is the other man in Margherita's life and his impression is that Margherita must come back even if he has a mistress. He stalks Margherita and this is apparently ok. Margherita's father is also a playboy so it is not too hard to see why she might accept this in all the other men she meets. I hope this is a one off book as I could not stomach another.

[Nels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a lovely read. Italy and food the perfect combination.

[Jill's Book Cafe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always partial to a book that takes me to sunny climes and if food is involved then that's even better, the addition of an enticing cover meant that this book was starting to tick all the right boxes. Happily the story was equally entertaining and was a perfect holiday read. 

Margherita was a fun and likeable character, determined to make a fresh start when she discovered her husband was having an affair. Despite his quite literally wanting to have his cake and eat it, she rejects his various pleas to come home and moves back to the small Tuscan village she grew up in. With her passion for cooking she is persuaded by her old friend to make a living as a chef, this brings her into contact with the handsome but less than sympathetic character of Nicola Ravelli. Let's be honest, I think we all know in advance how the plot will run, it was a little formulaic, but that said, I didn't care - I loved it. 

The will they, won't they romance aspect, didn't just apply to Margherita and Nicola, but was a strand that applied to Margherita's gambling addicted father and his dance teacher, as well as Margherita's friend who had carried a torch for her since their school days. Add in the machinations of unrequited passion from a devious and jealous work colleague and there were plenty of sparks flying around to keep me reading. Those sparks got quite hot at times between Margherita and Nicola and they did not always restrict themselves to the kitchen so it did get a little hot and spicy!

I loved the depiction of  the countryside and village life, and meeting the other villagers, I could easily imagine myself there. As far as I'm aware Roccafitta is a fictional village, but it could stand in for any Tuscan village of choice if you want to imagine your favourite and be transported. The other great feature of the book has to be the food. The descriptions of the ingredients, the creative process and the final presentation meant you could almost taste the food. As one of the authors, Gabriella Giacometti is also an accomplished cook, she clearly had a hand in this aspect of the story, which will really appeal to foodies. Better still, the book comes with recipes to go and try yourself - though I'm not sure I'd be able to source all the ingredients easily.

So in short, a fun, light-hearted romantic read, with beautifully described locations and mouth-watering food. A perfect, escapist read that worked for me.

I received an ecopy via NetGalley for review purposes. 

[Sally Coles · Rating 4 out of 5]

With her marriage over Margherita decides to cut her losses and leave Rome and return to her home village in the Tuscan hills. Not all is good there though - her father is gambling and a man called Nichola is buying up as much of the land and vineyards as he can

As she is the best chef around Nichola persuades her to cook for him for business dinners and although she really doesn't like him she agrees to do so because her dream is to reopen her mother's old restaurant. Is she going to just stick at the cooking though or is her dislike of Nichola going to turn into something else!

I enjoyed the descriptions of food - definitely not a book to read if you are hungry - and the Tuscan countryside, although I couldn't really take to Nichola - a nice easy read if you are looking for something light hearted

[Antonella Licciardi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one had great potential. The story was great. Margherita returns to her hometown after ending her marriage to find her father gambling and Nicola Ravelli buying up the surrounding land. I found it truly unrealistic that a woman would fall for another man when she had just left her husband. She's barely recovered from one relationship and she's into another! Because she's a chef there was a lot of cooking and how it influenced her emotions... overall it had its HEA but I wouldn't pick up these authors again

[Treena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this on my TBR pile for a while and picked this up last night because I wanted a change from the insta-lust, insta-love tropes common to Contemporary Romances.

I loved Margherita. I loved her personality, her passion for food and for cooking. I loved the setting of the story.

Nichola, the H, I didn't like as much. He was meh at best and as I was reading, I wished that he really part of the story because sometimes I felt like the romance was a "should've" thrown in by someone else.

In my opinion, this book would have been richer if it didn't include a romantic aspect. I wish that it had been more of a journey of self-growth and discovery instead.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

[Janette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book - a lighthearted romance. The descriptions of the food and recipes in the back of the book were great and made me feel very hungry! The Tuscan setting was beautifully described and made me want to holiday in Italy soon. I liked the character of the main character Margherita with her passion for cooking. I didn't really like the character of Nichola and the romance between him and Margherita. The surrounding characters in the book were interesting and well written.

Overall, an easy light romance read perfect for a beach holiday.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

[Marit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful read! Featuring delicious food, gorgeous settings in the Maremma district of Tuscany and a feisty heroine, with a touch of sensuality, what more could you ask for! Not to be missed. Translated from the Italian.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down’. So evocative of Italy, village life, wonderful food (and thanks so much for the recipes) and a love story between absolute opposites.
I didn’t want it to end. I just wanted to keep peaked into these people’s lives.

[Sarah Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love Italy and food then this is a must read for you. Predictable but enjoyable holiday reading. The main character Margherita is easy to like and her passion for cooking is interesting. Love the recipes in the back.

[Steve Castley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to see the genre being written by a friend in my writers' group and I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I loved the eccentric characters and pets. The story flowed quickly with conflict and resolution and more than a couple of romances. Very light and enjoyable.

[Jaz Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite enjoyed getting to know Margherita's character, the storyline and her relationships with the other characters but I didn't always get along with the way the book was written!

[Suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely LOVED this book. Excellenty written and great storyline. Now to find more books by this person. 😊

[Ellen Archer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love for food!

Excellent story. Love how honesty, love of real food & great wine wins the game!
Definitely a lazy pool side read!

[Maxine McGregor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical romance novel but enjoyable.

[Skyesmum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Net Galley and Elisabetta Fulmeri and Gabriella Giacometti.

[Jasmin · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Marika · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy entertaining light read

[Josie]

I felt like this was trying too hard. The pacing was slow and I wasn't overly engaged by the heroine's story. This was a DNF for me.