For anyone that doesn’t know me, I am a massive foodie, always have been. I love to try new food, and I also love cooking and baking. I also happen to love foodie fiction. In fact, one of my favourite books I go back to time and time again is Food of Love by Anthony Capella. So, when I saw that our upcoming podcast guest, Jenn Bouchard wrote a book called First Course, I couldn’t resist jumping in.
This book starts off with a bang and not a happy one. Within the first few chapters, our main character, Janie, loses her job as a journalist, loses her boyfriend, and loses both of her parents, all in the space of 24 hours. Then you add the events loosely linked to her such as her sister’s husband cheating on her with a waitress at their favourite restaurant and you begin to realise that life is really out to get her right now. Hectic and intense? You bet!! So, to get away from it all and to help her sister have the space she needs, they go to their family holiday home in Cape Elizabeth.
All goes swimmingly until a mistake by their parent’s alma mater university leads Janie to help out at a careers event at the place her parents always wanted her to attend. Here, she meets school counsellor, Rocky, cue one summer holiday romance. (Also, what is it with the name Rocky and just being an awesome character??)
This is definitely not a slow burn romance; it is very much a whirlwind of a book and we are set the tone of this from the very start. But the main aspect I loved about this book is the area I spoke of at the beginning, the food.
The book doesn’t just add food in as an afterthought. This novel carefully links the importance that food has on this family. Each incident, emotional talk or event is underlined with food, and this highlights the importance of it. From her homemade pizzas to the lasagne, each recipe often has an underlying memory which makes that food special. And it’s not just Janie, each family member has that special dish that Janie makes, which makes things seem better. I don’t know about you, but I have a few dishes which make me feel better, so I can completely relate to this.
Food isn’t just sustenance in this book, it is comfort, it is joy, it is history, it is love. It is all this and more, if you were to remove the food from this book it would be a very different story, and I, for one much prefer it with the culinary references.
Another aspect I enjoyed about this book is our diverse range of characters from Janie, the ambitious, strong-willed, “grownup” of the family, to Alyssa, the older but less responsible sister. Each character is unique and has his or her own flaws which become apparent as the story progresses, there are no perfect Prince Charmings, or princesses in this story. It is full of emotion (and culinary delights) and there is no room for Disney romances here.
Slight warning, this book may make you hungry and may also make you want to cook more if you already enjoy exploring the culinary arts.
This is a moving, romantic, delicious read, and if you like romances with food intertwined, I highly recommend it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – a culinary, romantic delight from start to finish, I loved every forkful!
Do you enjoy foodie romances? Let me know in the comments below and thanks to Jenn for gifting me a copy of First Course in exchange for an honest review
Much love ❤️
First Course is available at most retailers and you can find the Amazon link below
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