Skinny Bitch in Love

The Skinny Bitch brand is brought to life in novel form by Barnouin, starring a skinny, blonde vegan chef in Santa Monica named Clementine. The result is a functional if unremarkable piece of chick-lit; Clementine's rising career as LA's hottest vegan chef is sabotaged by a sulky coworker who slips a pat of butter into Clem's ravioli when a big restaurant critic stops by. Black-listed from every vegan restaurant in town, our heroine starts up a cooking school and personal chef service, and on the way meets two potential paramours%E2%80%94sexy "millionaire", "leather-jacket wearing carnivore", and steakhouse-owner Zach Jeffries; and Alexander Orr, his polar opposite, a "very cute" British vegan chef who mentors at-risk youth and brings soup to grandmas, but whose kisses leave Clementine lukewarm. Hijinks and lots of vegan cooking ensue. Barnouin does above-average job of mapping out a very familiar plot, but it has all the subtlety and spontaneity of The Baby-sitters Club; the constant references to "dead cow" grow tiresome. Nevertheless, it does everything it sets out to do, and those looking for a lazy beach reach or die-hard fans of the Skinny Bitch Empire should find something here to enjoy. (June)