Christian Fiction Devourers discussion

Lizzy and Jane by Katherine Reay

Lizzy and Jane never saw eye to eye. But when illness brings them together, they discover they may be more like Austen’s famous sisters after all.

Lizzy was only a teenager when her mother died of cancer. Shortly after, Lizzy fled from her home, her family, and her cherished nickname. After working tirelessly to hone her gift of creating magic in the kitchen, Elizabeth has climbed the culinary ladder to become the head chef of her own New York restaurant, Feast. But as her magic begins to elude her, Paul, Feast’s financial backer, brings in someone to share her responsibilities and her kitchen. So Elizabeth flees again.

In a desperate attempt to reconnect with her gift, Elizabeth returns home. But her plans are derailed when she learns that her estranged sister, Jane, is battling cancer. Elizabeth surprises everyone—including herself—when she decides to stay in Seattle and work to prepare healthy, sustaining meals for Jane as she undergoes chemotherapy. She also meets Nick and his winsome son, Matt, who, like Elizabeth, are trying to heal from the wounds of the past.

As she tends to Jane's needs, Elizabeth's powers begin to return to her, along with the family she left behind so long ago. Then Paul tries to entice her back to New York, and she is faced with a hard decision: stay and become Lizzy to her sister’s Jane, or return to New York and the life she worked so hard to create?

Oh!! I remember this one. I really liked it!

I don't know this author yet but from the blurb I expect it to be a good or at least an interesting book and fits perfectly into the last month of my Jane Austen yearly challenge :-)

Natalie and I planned to read it as soon as her semester is over and I had much time to look forward to the buddy read.

I loved this book!

Loraine, would it be an issue if we extented the end date in case Natalie won't be finished by end of July?

I can extend the date for as long as you want. No problem.

Loraine wrote: "I can extend the date for as long as you want. No problem."

Thank you so much! We'll see if there's need later in the month.

I would probably also do a buddy read with an extended date; as I am finishing three other books.

Carolyn wrote: "I would probably also do a buddy read with an extended date; as I am finishing three other books."

I let Natalie know, I'm sure she'll be happy about.

I am enjoying it so far despuite the fact that I don't usually read a lto of contemporary romance. This is also my first book by Katherine Reay. I must admit that I don't really consider myself as big of a Jane Austen fan as a lot of people seem to consider themselves these days.

If I won't get sick again, I'll start our book within the next few days.
I hope you enjoy it as much as you expected or even more!

hopefully, the library will have the book tomorrow.

I started last night and read the first two chapters. I'm not enjoying the book as much as I expected and hope it gets better soon. Regardless if I like it or not I'm planning to finish it.

I'm so behind - I'm not sure I'll be able to finish the book this month - especially with my sister's wedding next week-end. I'm glad I have the e-book so I hope I'll be able to read on the way back home.

Agnieszka, I'm not getting going on this book either. I have one other book to finish from the library; then I will get going on it. this is a new author for me and also from the library; so, I will get into it; but not finishing until next month

Carolyn wrote: "Agnieszka, I'm not getting going on this book either. I have one other book to finish from the library; then I will get going on it. this is a new author for me and also from the library; so, I wil..."

That's fine Carolyn! I expected us to need longer and when an author friend from the thriller group was looking for beta readers I squeezed those (the one already published and #2 in series beta read) in-between. I should finish them until end of July and to back to Lizzy and Jane then :-)

I just changed the end date from end of July to end of August. In case we need longer I can change it again.

I'm enjoying reading this book. It keeps you wondering what will happen next

I finished the book last week. It was a hard read for awhile with the bickering and just having had a family in crisis and passing made it hard for me to read. I did like the ending; but, looking at all the discussion questions at the end of book; I find it to depressing to get into discussion on this book. Just wasn't a good time for me to read this story theme.

Carolyn wrote: "I finished the book last week. It was a hard read for awhile with the bickering and just having had a family in crisis and passing made it hard for me to read. I did like the ending; but, looking a..."

Sorry to hear that Carolyn and for that late response. Unfortunatelly I had trouble with my internet connection.

I was struggling with this book - especially at the beginning. I expected a modern Pride & Prejudice variations and this novel was anything but that. As soon as I changed my expectations I started to enjoy the book much more.
I can understand your issues with the relationship the sisters hat and I'm happy it didn't bother me that much - perhaps because it's too similar to the relationship with my sister I had most of my life - and either accepted it the way life often is or just I didn't really register it much.
I loved all the food references in literature and the way Lizzy was able to link people's preferences to the food they like/need. Despite the tough topic I loved the character development and the realistic way to describe such difficult time in life.
Lizzy's realationship to Nick was all in all quite interesting even if I sometimes thought it's either annoying or unrealistic and I'm no fan of insta-love-romance.

@ Natalie,
Do you need more time to finish the book or did you give up on it and we can close the thread?

Lorraine,

I sent Natalie a message, if I don't hear anything from her by end of this week, I'll archive the thread.

Lorraine,

I wasn't sure if those buddy reads are archived or deleted and moved it here. Since I'm not able to PM you I hope you'll see this message here. Could you PM me so I'll know for the future? Thank you!

We no longer archive Agnieszka. We just delete as there are too many Buddy reads to do that; and also if another group wants to do a Buddy Read on a previous book, that's not a problem.