The Bull Rider's Family / Leigh Duncan / 219 pages

Emma Shane arrives at her new job as chef for the Circle P Ranch only to interrupt the funeral for the man who hired her.  With nothing but an unsigned contract and determination to provide a better life for her four-year-old daughter, she finds the kitchen and gets to work throwing out the food left out for hours during the funeral.  The son of the former owner, Colt Judd, finds a strange woman throwing out food at his father's funeral and releases all his grief and worry by yelling at her and telling her to leave.  What follows are arguments, compromises, and frustrated desires until they both learn that everything they have ever looked for is with each other.


This author has done a beautiful job in creating memorable characters who seem true-to-life.  The four-year-old is adorable and curious; Judd's mother is patient and kind even in her grief.  Judd's brothers have the strong family bonds that Emma is looking for.  This is a wonderful story of love that lives in the real world with other people around.

Hundred-foot Journey / Richard C. Morais 245 p.

Hundred-foot Journey / Richard C. Morais 245 p.

Now a motion picture, this is the story of Hassan Haji, a boy from Mumbai, India. Hassan narrates his own story beginning with his grandfather who starts a restaurant during World War II which his father inherits. The father expands and grows the business.  When his mother dies in a fire, the entire family migrates to London.  There they languish, in sorrow, until his father takes them on a tour of Europe where they discover a small village in France.  There his father turns to what he does best, running an Indian restaurant; and, evokes the ire of the 2 star French chef.  There develops a war albeit a culinary war where Madame Mallory seeks to oust Hassan's father.  She has met her match as he counters each of her moves until a disaster happens.  Madame Mallory finds herself offering a chef position to Hassan and the die is cast for him to pursue his own Michelin stars and, ultimately, his own Parisian restaurant.  Morais rich descriptive prose gives life to the story.  The sights, sounds, and smells float off the page as he describes the trek of the Haji family from Mumbai to Paris. 

Dead Heat / Dick Francis and Felix Francis 342 p.

Max Moreton, chef and owner of the Hay Net in Newmarket, caters the meal for private event at the racetrack where practically everyone gets food poisoning including himself. The next day, at an exclusive luncheon for forty at the sky boxes at the 2000 Guineas race, a bomb explodes killing and injuring many. Soon many of his customers cancel their reservations, the health department closes his restaurant, and violist Caroline Aston files a lawsuit. With his reputation at stake, Max starts asking questions. As his sleuthing uncovers more, attempts to kill him escalate. Francis incorporates rich details about the restaurant business in this fast-paced, intricately plotted suspense.