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From the first sentence I could tell COOKIN’ FOR LOVE was filled with life, originality and a love for cooking. As cookbook author Miriam Levy tries to decide between a low-fat and regular cheesecake the story of her life unfolds in all its vibrant detail. If you start to get hungry while reading this book, the recipes have all been included at the end of the chapters. When she travels to Malaysia with Kate McGrath we even learn how to make macaroons.

Cooking for Love has the flavor of a reality TV show and moments of warmth that seem so genuine, you will keep turning the pages to find out what happens next. There are innumerable twists and turns that make the story very unpredictable.

Sharon Boorstin’s energetic writing style is infused with witty remarks and secret thoughts. As Miriam Levy is falling into her change of life stage, she seeks solace in the adventures of her best friend. As she escapes from an avalanche of family situations, she runs straight into the arms of danger itself.

If you love the Bridget Jones series or adore books with recipes and delicious descriptions of sexy recipes, then this book will find a way into your heart. I found myself laughing and generally more amused by this novel than I have been in a long time. The choices the characters make seem to enhance the fantasy elements and while Kate’s adventures are not explained in detail, Miriam Levy has some passionate dreams and sensual longings. Contains a few erotic twists and is at times a feast of reality itself. At times it is so real, I forgot I was reading a novel.

Looking forward to reading: “Let Us Eat Cake.” This authors writing style really appeals to me because it is infused with energy and decadent descriptions.

~TheRebeccaReview.com

POD-dy Mouth
Wading through the sea of Print-on-Demand titles, one overpriced paperback at a time—and giving you the buried treasure.

Monday, April 18, 2005
COOKIN’ FOR LOVE, by Sharon Boorstin (iUniverse Star)
For those (so many) people that have asked if I write chick lit, here is the answer: no. I don’t like to read chick lit. I find it formulaic and, more often than not, insulting. Even the covers are predictable.

That said, let me introduce a most worthy book: COOKIN’ FOR LOVE by Sharon Boorstin. You might call it chick lit—if your chicks are 49 years old. Maybe this is the vague “hen lit” that people tell me is becoming/was hot. Who knows. In any case, this book is anything but formulaic or insulting.

COOKING tells the story of Miriam Levy, a cookbook author who has (as you can guess) fallen head first into (the end of) mid-life. When her best friend googles an old flame, gets in contact with him and ends up wanting to travel around the world to reignite the fire, Miriam comes along and the adventure gets spicy (ba dump dump.)

The writing is light and fun and full of life and is far better than any of the chick/hen/mommy/girl/slut lit that I have (been forced to) read over the years. Ms. Boorstin is a clever writer and manages to incorporate food in the most creative way (the recipes are available at the end of each chapter.)

But there is another interesting (and admittedly self-serving) substory here: Ms. Boorstin’s first book, LET US EAT CAKE, which was released in 2003—not by iUniverse, but by HarperCollins (ReganBooks) and sold vigorously. So why did COOKING go POD? According to Ms. Boorstin’s website, the publishers found the 49-year-old protagonist an unlikely winner among readers—because readers can’t identify with 49-year-olds. Of course—we all know mature women are not readers; they’re out clubbing. How about the fact that this author had a built-in following of readers? If her first book had sold 100,000 copies, the protagonist could have been 89 and it would’ve been published, believe me. But a print run of, say, 5,000 is not as appealing. When POD becomes the standard print mechanism, no one will care anymore.

What would have happened had POD not come in to save the day (and this book from a lightless desk drawer?)

I think we all know the answer.

posted by yours truly: PODdy Mouth at 7:16 AM