When in Doubt, Add Butter

Bestseller Harbison (Shoe Addicts Anonymous) dazzles in her latest, a perfect blend of chick lit and women’s fiction that tells the story of private chef Gemma Craig and her bumpy road to happily-ever-after. In her late 30s, Gemma has abandoned the corporate lifestyle to follow her first love: cooking. With five regular clients—ranging from a boisterous Russian family to an allergy-prone housewife—she’s making a go of it. Happily single, Gemma has a red-hot one-night stand with a guy she meets in a bar, and trades flirty notes with “Mr. Tuesday,” a high-powered lawyer she cooks for yet has never met. Because of some past trauma, Gemma is determined to keep to her well-defined life plan, but complications that arise from the one-night tumble turn her plans upside down. Forced to deal with the past, Gemma struggles to figure out how it will influence her future—with a genuinely surprising twist. Gemma is a sweetly flawed everywoman readers will immediately identify with, and the supporting cast of secondary characters contribute texture and color to this engaging tale. Absolutely first-rate. Agent: Annelise Robbey, the Jane Rotrosen Agency. (July)