Book Details:
Book Title: Sugar and Spice and All Those Lies by Evy Journey
Category: Adult Fiction, 240 pages
Genre: Literary / Women's Fiction
Publisher: Sojourner Books
Release date: December 2017
Tour dates: Feb 1 to 16, 2018
Content Rating: R (Two bedroom scenes)
Book Description:
Cooking a wonderful meal is an act of love. An act of grace. A gift that affirms and gives life—not only does it nurture those who partake of a meal; it also feeds the soul of the person who creates it. These are lessons Gina learns from her mother.
Gina is a young woman born to poor parents; a nobody (her words) who wants to taste life outside the world she was born into and her passion for cooking is all she has to help her do so. She gets lucky when she’s chosen to cook at a Michelin-starred restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area where she finds a world of a privileged class with money to spare for dinners that cost hundreds of dollars. A world of new friends and new challenges—one that exposes her to fascinating people who’re also gripped by dark motives.
Amidst her culinary adventures, she becomes good friends with pastry chef Marcia, and falls in love, in different ways, with, two very different men: Leon, a rich regular client who has been dating Cristi, her friend from childhood, and Brent, a brooding homicide detective. This other world, it turns out, is also one of unexpected danger that eventually threatens her life.
Can the lessons she learned from her mother about cooking and life help Gina survive and thrive in this other world of privilege, pleasure and unexpected danger?
Review:
I haven't read any prior books by this author but the blurb for this book sounded really interesting so I was looking forward to diving into this book. The story-line itself was entertaining and did keep me pulled in. There were times when the pace of the book slowed down a bit and I wasn't feeling the jealous friend but I get why the author added that layer. I loved Gina's passion and work ethic. Although, I didn't understand why Gina was unhappy about receiving flowers or why she felt a break-up was needed when he is good to her and seems truly invested in her. I wasn't a fan of the double romance but can appreciate the author wanting to add an element of suspense. All in all it was an alright read. I haven't given up on reading books by this author as she obviously has a talent for writing.
Review:
I haven't read any prior books by this author but the blurb for this book sounded really interesting so I was looking forward to diving into this book. The story-line itself was entertaining and did keep me pulled in. There were times when the pace of the book slowed down a bit and I wasn't feeling the jealous friend but I get why the author added that layer. I loved Gina's passion and work ethic. Although, I didn't understand why Gina was unhappy about receiving flowers or why she felt a break-up was needed when he is good to her and seems truly invested in her. I wasn't a fan of the double romance but can appreciate the author wanting to add an element of suspense. All in all it was an alright read. I haven't given up on reading books by this author as she obviously has a talent for writing.
To read reviews, please visit Evy Journey's page on iRead Book Tours.
Guest Post
I would add that it favors preparations
that make ingredients shine.
A French Chef Selling Ready-To-Eat Meals Inspires My Latest Novel
I thought about writing Sugar and Spice and All Those Lies as I was leaving a French “deli”
we’ve gone to a few times. The French chef/owner sells ready-to-eat gourmet
meals in vacuum-sealed bags you heat in a pot of boiling water.
He doesn’t know he’s a model for a character in my
novel. A character whom the reader never meets but who you get to know through
Gina, the main character, and, of course,
through her mother who is the
daughter of the French chef. I only hope
that, if he ever finds out that I murder him in the story, he’ll forgive me.
The area I live in is famous for its Gourmet Ghetto. It
is the birthplace of California cuisine which Wikipedia will tell you
is a style of cuisine marked by an interest in fusion
cuisine (integrating disparate cooking styles and ingredients) and in the
use of freshly prepared local ingredients.
I would add that it favors preparations
that make ingredients shine.
Relatively cheap gourmet doesn’t fully describe the
food scene in this lively area. The diverse population and hungry UC students have
also attracted eateries serving affordable ethnic cuisine, from Asian and
Indian to African and Arabic.
The culinary richness of this setting inspired many scenes
in S&S&L. But—big “but”—the focus in this book differs from that of food
fiction writers whose main interest is in dishes and how to make them.
I chose the sensibilities of the film Babette’s Feast, based on a short story by Danish writer Isak Dinesen
(Out of Africa), to drive this story. S&S&L is more about the
life-affirming, grace-giving effects of both cooking and eating a great meal.
So don’t expect recipes. I’m well aware that would
disappoint many readers.
The thing is the internet can give you almost any
recipe you want. And except for cakes, I don’t often use recipes or stick to
ones I’ve picked up. I happen to have this philosophy about cooking—taste as
you go, use what you have. When it comes
to food, my taste buds and my olfactories rule. I take chances when I cook
so—yes—I’m more likely to make mistakes.
But I’m also more likely to get what I want.
Buy the Book:
About the Author:
She's a writer because beautiful prose seduces her and existential angst continues to plague her despite such preoccupations having gone out of fashion. She takes occasional refuge by invoking the spirit of Jane Austen to spin tales of love, loss, and finding one’s way—stories into which she weaves mystery or intrigue.
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