A Taste For It

by Monica McInerney

Book by McInerney, Monica

Genres: Romance, Chick Lit, Fiction, Audiobook, Ireland, Australia, Contemporary

437 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

www.monicamcinerney.com
facebook.com/monicamcinerneyauthor
instagram.com/monicamcinerneyauthor

Monica McInerney is the internationally bestselling author of twelve novels including The Godmothers, The Trip of a Lifetime, Hello from the Gillespies, The House of Memories, Lola's Secret, At Home with the Templetons, Family Baggage, The Alphabet Sisters and Those Faraday Girls (named General Fiction Book of the Year in the 2008 Australian Book Industry Awards) and a short story collection, All Together Now. Her first children's book, Marcie Gill and the Caravan Park Cat, will be published in Australia/NZ in November 2021.

Monica, 56, grew up in a family of seven children in the Clare Valley wine region of South Australia, where her father was the railway stationmaster and her mother worked in the local library. Before becoming a full-time writer she worked in children’s television, tourism festivals, book publishing, arts marketing, the music industry and as a waitress, a hotel cleaner, a Kindergym instructor and a temp. For nearly thirty years she and her Irish husband have been moving back and forth between Australia and Ireland. They are currently in Australia.

Visit her website at www.monicamcinerney.com

Reviews

[Suz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only just realised on finishing the book just now that is Monica's debut. Having attended an author talk just recently, it is so evident her love for Australia, Ireland, and family. She writes lovely stories, with awesome food and wine references, lots of talk about Aussie food and wine flavour, I was enraptured with all this.

Monica McInerney has come along way since her debut, for me it did lag quite a lot, but still overall, a lovely lighthearted contemporary story. It was a little cliche, but this doesn't matter all of the time.

The audio was great, with lovely Irish accents, and my commute was filled nicely. The author spoke about her love of family and country, and this is evident in her writing. A solid, and at times, fun debut. Lovely lady, too.

[Phrynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice light, entertaining read which I found highly reminiscent of Maeve Binchy. That may have been because of the Irish setting and the rather stereotypical Irish characters. I found the main character to be a bit too silly but the romance was done well and the ending almost had me reaching for the tissues. Not quite as good as some of her other books but I think it was the first one she wrote and it is definitely an enjoyable way to while away a few hours.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not-so-great chick lit. Easy, quick read but without any real substance. The only enjoyable parts, really, were the settings: Australia and Ireland.

The protagonist, Maura, is an Australian chef who goes on a tour of Ireland to promote her brother's winery. Of course, she is paired up to travel with the very guy who she had (in a case of mistaken identity) insulted and doused with water when he visited her restaurant. Of course, they misunderstand each other until finally admitting they love each other. It's all pretty ridiculous. Maura is whiny, annoying and impetuous in a terribly unprofessional way. The object of her desire, Dominic, is an infuriating Mr. Darcy type who is so in love with her that he alternately ignores and belittles her. You will roll your eyes a lot while reading this book.

[Sue Gerhardt Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply a joy to read.

Audio version was lovely and the narration by Melissa Eccleston was terrific.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romantic fluff but entertaining enough if you have a thing for Ireland and food.

[Toni-Lee Bellaart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all of the detail McInerny goes into with her books! Another great story and I can't wait to read more of hers.

[Tatterededges · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot was ridiculous. So was the main character. The stunt with the “food critic”, believing and judging Dominic on gossip, going off half cocked. How is she even a functioning adult with a job?

I didn’t like any of the characters really. Carla was just too much of a stereotype. Dominic is a bore. Maura is an idiot. The rest just didn't feature enough to be anything more than background noise.

I don’t believe a chef would let somebody get away with putting a potentially lethal substance in the food and not call the police or keep serving the rest of the food once they knew the kitchen had been compromised.

The near death of the baby was an odd choice. I mean it read as though the author just couldn't think of any other way to get the Maura character out of Ireland suddenly. As though seeing the man she loved in a compromising position with a naked woman wasn't enough?

The bushfire at then end. Sigh. It's Australia so why not throw in a natural disaster 2 chapters from the end just to get these two characters back together.

Can I roll my eyes any harder?

[Gorgia Banach · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun one! The majority of the book was great. It was fun, light-hearted, a pretty typical romance with all the right bits in all the right places. I thought the main character was a good read and I enjoyed her character development. Her love interest was a little bland for me, I felt like he could have been fleshed out a little more but overall their relationship was pretty typical and easy to predict. Which isn’t a bad thing! It’s exactly the way it was meant to be. The ending, however, is what brought it down to a 3-star for me. Without giving away any spoilers there was just too too much of a whirlwind of crazy unexpected things in a book that had a pretty easy flow of events up until that point so I felt it was a bit unrealistic.
All in all it was heartwarming and fun and I would recommend!

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought 'A Taste For It' after reading about the author, Monica McInerney, and felt the story line to be promising. The whole mix of Australia - Ireland appealed to me greatly and I'm already in love with both wine and food so it seemed a perfect choice for me. On the whole I enjoyed the book in that I never wished I had finished it before I did but it's not one that I will read over and over again. The characters came to life easily enough for me although I have to say I didn't immediately bond with Maura. I felt her character to be quite childlike and found myself cringing with her childish antics at the beginning of the book. Having said that I did find her more likeable as the book progressed despite her 'glass half empty' attitude towards Dominic. I never felt completely immersed in their story although I wanted to. The story was very predictable which was disappointing for me as I prefer to be surprised by an author's choice of path and all ends were nicely tied up by the completion of the book. I will try another book from this author (as I have already bought The Alphabet Sisters) and would recommend 'A Taste For It' to anyone who likes a nice easy read - good for a rainy afternoon in Ireland curled up in front of a fire.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cute book by Monica McInerney - actually, her first book, but it's the 3rd I've read. This one features Maura, an Australian chef and winemaker who goes to Ireland for four weeks on a tour to promote Australian food and wine. In Ireland, there are a series of misunderstandings and incidents that fluster Maura while she sells her wine, tries not to fall for a guy she meets, and learns about the Irish countryside and people. There were a lot of cute scenes and great tension between the characters. You don't have to be a wine drinker to enjoy this, as all the dialogue about wine is easy to understand, but it would probably increase your enjoyment because of the descriptions.

This is definitely a quick and easy read, and I would easily recommend it to people seeking a lighthearted, fun romance. The author does such a great job describing the food and the scenery, and it made me want to prepare and eat some gourmet meals of my own. Although a number of the twists/misunderstandings are easy to spot, the story was still fun and engaging, so I didn't mind it too much. I really liked the characters and loved how it revolved around Ireland and around food.

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great chick lit novel with hints of Mills and Boon.
Maura Carmody runs a winery / cafe in Clare, S. Australia and when there is a hint of a vicious food critic coming to their eaterie who they blamed for their friend losing her business Maura swears revenge but unfortunately she has got the wrong person and her attack is aimed at the dashing Dominic who Maura knows she is instantly attracted to.
When she embarks on a tour of Ireland to promote Lorikeet hills wines she inadvertently meets up again with Dominic as he is her wine tour partner around Ireland when her original guide pulls out so thrust together in close proximity are the sparks still going to fly or can they reconcile and find love despite the many obstacles in their path?
Witty, a lovely light read and a total different slant for a story of the chick lit genre.
Well worth reading.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, I have really enjoyed all of Monica McInerney's books that I have read, and A Taste for It is no exception. A Taste for It was McInerney's first novel, and I would never have guessed as much. It was funny, and interesting, and really keep me wanting to know how the different plot lines were going to unravel and be resolved. Another thing that I really liked is, although the main characters centered around a winery, and a wine society, I didn't feel overwhelmed not knowing anything about wine. The language about wine was all very accessible, which was nice, since it could have easily been written so only people with a thorough knowledge of wines and the wine industry would have been able to understand it.

[Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.

I would describe 'A Taste for It' as chick-lit romantic fiction.

The protagonist, Maura, is a chef who runs a restaurant at her brother's winery in the Clare Valley in South Australia. She takes a trip to Ireland to promote Australian wines and produce, and run a cooking school. There she meets the hero of the story, and... well you can guess the rest.

A Taste for It is fairly predictable, but it is a well-paced, easy to read novel. There are wonderful descriptions of both Australian and Irish scenery which makes the reader long for travel, and many detailed descriptions of foods and menus to delight the tastebuds.

Highly recommended for those who enjoy a good chick-lit read.

[Jacinta Hoare · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chick lit is not what I would normally read but the two hours that I spend each day in the car on my drive to work is a great opportunity to listen to an audio book where no thinking is required.

I can't give this book any more than two stars and I did consider a one star rating. However I settled on two stars = "it was OK" because I did listen to the end.

I disliked the character Maura. The author's idea that she "speaks her mind" and is impetuous translated to me that she is unprofessional and childish. The side plot about Maura's birth mother was a clunky and unnecessary distraction adding nothing to the main plot.

Overall the story is a predictable piece of fluff that is great for a holiday read or a commute.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the opening scene was clever and funny. I thought the descriptions of the places (Australia & Ireland) were great - made me homesick for Australia and made me want to visit Ireland. The story itself was a little predictable, but a nice read. I enjoyed the fact that the author was obviously Australian, knowing things only an Aussie would understand. Interesting enought that I'll try another one of her books.

Maura leaves South Australia to go to Ireland to promote her family wine, but her trip has some unexpected hiccups. One of those is Dominic, who's making her think about things she hasn't thought about since she had her heart broken.

[Bronwyn Rykiert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this book were okay and parts weren't, it does not help when you don't like the main character and I thought Moira was a pain, by the way she always jumped to conclusions without asking and it started when she treated Dominique and Kara badly in her resaturant at Lorikeet Hill Winery in the Clare Valley and instead of being contrite and aplogetic when she ran into Dominique again in Ireland she was rude again and believed the story told to her by someone whe hardly knew. This happened all the way through the book - I don't know why Dominique fell in love with her but there you have it, it happens.

[KylieAtkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Monica McInerney and this is her first book. She has a lovely wit and makes you fall in love with her characters. Love how it has Australia in it (as I'm an Aussie) but also England and Ireland as well. (I read this as number 16 on the Goodreads Book Bingo challenge - the first book by a favourite author)

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this light hearted romantic book. I love the way Monica McInerny writes and that I can escape into her books. It’s nice to be able to escape into books like these during the days of self isolation that we’re currently in.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a poorly written romance novel with lots of misunderstandings that are finally fixed in the last few pages. A bit of fun but to silly for my liking.

[Jessica Deany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not finish. So disappointing. It was just really dumb, not Monica's usual style.

[Vanessa Mozayani · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. Likeable characters.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Far-fetched slapstick romance. Not dreadful, but my least favorite McInerney novel (and I'm very thankful I didn't read this first, or I would have missed out on some great stories)

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I wasn't a fan of the main character and the story was very predictable it was a nice easy read.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the author's best work. Formulaic. Predictable. Obvious direction from the beginning. Feel good as you fall asleep reading it.

[Emma Steel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of her best books for me. A slow start, which made me leave it and read other things. Once I got into the story it was a very easy, if predictable read.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel I've read this story before, girl meets handsome stranger, dislikes him at first sight, ends up with him
A liitle formulaic, I think her best work are the Alphabet Sisters series

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a delight to read this author.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice romance but the character of Carla was a bit overdone.

[Jackie Rooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Great characters, good story with anticipation and ends happily ever after.

[Amy Volker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love Monica's books- I think I have now read every single one of them. I don't know if its the settings (Australia and Ireland); or that its always about family; or the main character finding out who they are, who they love, what's important to them or the combination, I just can't put them down. And thus one hits all the checkmarks for me: Clare Valley, wine, food, cooking, a very awesome meet cute, County Clare, lost family, amazing friends, miscommunication, sickness, fire and a happy ending. Love her story.