Julie's Review: Comfort Food

Summary: In this smart, delicious novel by the bestselling author of The Friday Night Knitting Club, a celebrity chef shows her friends and family the joy of fulfillment— and manages to spice up her own life at the same time. Shortly before turning the big 5-0, boisterous party planner and Cooking with Gusto! personality Augusta “Gus” Simpson finds herself planning a birthday party she’d rather not—her own. She’s getting tired of being the hostess, the mother hen, the woman who has to plan her own birthday party. What she needs is time on her own with enough distance to give her loved ones the ingredients to put together successful lives without her. Assisted by a handsome up-and-coming chef, Oliver, Gus invites a select group to take an on-air cooking class. But instead of just preaching to the foodie masses, she will teach regular people how to make rich, sensuous meals—real people making real food. Gus decides to bring a vibrant cast of friends and family on the program: Sabrina, her fickle daughter; Troy, Sabrina’s ex-husband; Anna, Gus’s timid neighbor; and Carmen, Gus’s pompous and beautiful competitor at the Cooking Channel. And when she begins to have more than collegial feelings for her sous-chef, Gus realizes that she might be able to rejuvenate not just her professional life, but her personal life as well. ~amazon.com

Review: I've enjoyed Ms. Jacob's Friday Night Knitting Club Novels, so I figured that I would enjoy Comfort Food as well and I did  but I definitely prefer the ladies of the knitting club to the characters in this one. It's not that I didn't like the women and men in the book but in the end I just didn't connect with any of them on a real level. I liked Gus and her family. I couldn't stand Carmen, even in the end. I don't think she really learned much from her experience. She also ended up getting what she wanted even if she didn't really deserve it in the end. I was actually hoping she would have returned home to Spain.

I loved Gus' extended family. Her daughters Aimee and Sabrina were still looking to find their niche in the world. Her best friend Hannah has her own secret and has been hiding from the world for 15 years. Then there is Troy, Sabrina's ex-boyfriend, who still very much wants to be her boyfriend. He's also an entrepreneur of which Gus has invested in his company.

As much at the book is about food, food isn't a major character in the book. Don't get me wrong, some of the recipes sound divine but it's stuff that I would never try to make myself. Gus' life revolves around food. She's always loved to cook but she never planned on it being her career.

This was a good book for reading quickly and to just enjoy for fun. There are some themes throughout the book which isn't surprising with a novel that focuses on family.

If you haven't read Kate Jacobs before, then I recommend the Friday Night Knitting Club Novels over Comfort Food.

Final Take: 3.5/5

Also, check out Jenn's review.