The Summer Job

Dent’s stressful debut sees a woman living out a classic anxiety dream as she fudges her way through a job she’s way underqualified for. When Birdy Finch’s best friend, Heather, decides against taking a job as a sommelier at a Scottish inn, Birdy offers to let Heather’s potential employers know. But, on a whim, she doesn’t—deciding a summer in Scotland is just what she herself needs. Though Birdy has no knowledge of wine, the inn’s website shows a run-down cottage with a small, manageable wine list. So when she arrives, posing as Heather, she’s shocked to find a newly renovated Loch Dorn Estate with a Michelin-starred chef helming the restaurant. She flails through her first days on the job before buckling down to study the extensive wine list. She also discovers an interest in cooking and an equal fascination with dedicated but reserved chef James. But can their budding relationship and her friendships among Loch Dorn’s staff survive after they learn she’s not who she claims? The romance is solid, but a key emotional moment happens off-page, making the ending feel unearned, and the side characters outshine self-centered Birdy, making it hard to forgive her deception as her bumbling puts their jobs at risk. Readers will need a high tolerance for anxiety-inducing humor to get into this one. [em](May) [/em]