All Stirred Up

Restaurant wars lead to a serendipitous second chance at love in Moore’s charming debut, inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Susan Napier’s restaurateur family faces bankruptcy as bad management forces the closure of all but one of their locations. To save their legacy, Susan convinces her family to relocate from London to Edinburgh to revitalize their flagship restaurant. Susan is unprepared for the competition and hostility she faces from her former lover, Chris Baker—now a renowned chef and television personality—who’s returned home to Edinburgh from New York City to open his own restaurant. Staffing issues and family tension add to Susan’s stress, along with her growing guilt over how abruptly she ended things with Chris a decade earlier; all of which comes to a head when they’re tricked into competing against one another in a cooking showdown during the city’s food festival. This chaste love story, peppered with just the right amount of family drama, foodie descriptions, and rom-com hijinks, is a treat. Agent: Steven Chudney, Chudney Agency. (Sept.)