Have you ever read a book and loved it while reading but became uncertain of it after? I had that experience after reading Kate Jacob’s first book (Friday Night Knitting Club). But I did enjoy reading it, so I decided to check this one out. Plus I love watching the Food Network which factors heavily in this book.

The novel’s main character is a woman named Gus of all things, who after the death of her husband, leaving her a widow with two children to raise, found a way to make money. Gus opened a sandwich shop, or was it a grocery store? Anyway, she eventually serves a Cooking Channel (or in other words, Food Network) executive who gives her a job on his fledgling cable channel. The novel starts after she has been on the Cooking Channel for 12 years and is well known. Gus is approaching a certain age and  finds herself trying to up her ratings to keep her job.

My problems with the novel? All the “incidents” are contrived and convenient. The main character is basically Martha Stewart, even down to her outfit. Two daughters she raised alone, her love of gardening, her large house outside New York City, even down to an incident with money that has her investigated by the FBI. It was unreal. I kept wondering if Jacobs had read all about Martha Stewart and decided to write a fictional version of her or if she just accidentally did it. Anyway, it was painfully obvious that this was a story about Martha Stewart, intentionally or not.

I also found the writing a bit flowery. There were a lot of descriptions of clothing and other mainly non-essential details that didn’t move the plot forward and felt unnecessary. I’m afraid I’m giving this one 2 1/2 stars.