Too Many Cooks

Too Many Cooks

by Dana Bate
Published on October 27th 2015
Pages: 352
Buy on Amazon

When Kelly Madigan is offered a job abroad right after reading a letter from her late mother urging her to take more risks, she sees it as a sign. Kelly’s new ghostwriting assignment means moving to London to work for Natasha Spencer--movie star, lifestyle guru, and wife of a promising English politician. As it turns out, Natasha is also selfish, mercurial, and unwilling to let any actual food past her perfect lips.


Still, in between testing dozens of kale burgers and developing the perfect chocolate mousse, Kelly is having adventures. Some are glamorous; others, like her attraction to her boss’s neglected husband, are veering out of control. Kelly knows there’s no foolproof recipe for a happy life. But how will she know if she’s gone too far in reaching for what she wants?


So I couldn’t sleep one night and finished what I was reading.  I looked for something to download from the library -because I don’t have a bunch of unread books just sitting on my iPad?? Anyway, I wanted something new and this fit the bill.  Good for Foodies Read and light.  I ended up staying up most of the night to read it.

Kelly’s life is undergoing some major changes.  Her mother just died.  She left Kelly a letter with her wishes for her.  One of the main ones was to move out of the Midwest and take some chances with her life.  When the opportunity comes to move to London for a year to ghost write a cookbook for a movie star she jumps at the chance even though it means breaking up with her long term boyfriend (also on her mother’s list of things for her to do).

When she gets to England she discovers that superstar Natasha doesn’t really want anything to do with the cookbook.  She wants Kelly to come up with recipes from her vague descriptions of meals she remembers but doesn’t really even want to taste the food.  The only person who does like the food is Natasha’s husband Hugh.  This leads to flirting and then major attraction.  He insists that he and Natasha have a marriage in name only but should Kelly believe him?

I really enjoyed this book.  There are recipes in the back for some of the food discussed.  I wish there had been a recipe for the kale burgers that she struggles to make for most of the book only to have them dismissed by Natasha every time.  “Not green enough,” etc.

I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.

four-stars