Comfort Food

March 10, 2008
Jacobs follows The Friday Night Knitting Club
with another multigenerational tale, this time on the foodie circuit. Popular Cooking with Gusto!
host Augusta “Gus” Simpson, a widowed mother of two adult daughters who’s about to turn 50, is tiring of her many obligations, which include throwing an annual birthday bash for herself. That trial pales, however, in comparison with the introduction of saucy former beauty queen and YouTube star Carmen Vega as Gus’s cohost: Carmen is younger, hotter and very tight with the boss. It’s soon apparent on the set that this new situation isn’t working, so the two are packed off, along with a forgettable cast of secondaries, to a corporate team-building weekend, complete with New Age guide. When the resort’s head chef calls in sick, a team-building opportunity presents itself. Jacobs gives Gus a reasonable love interest and provides the requisite bickering and backstabbing, but the foodie moments lack passion, and the results yield no stars.

April 1, 2008
Jacobs follows her debut novel, "The Friday Night Knitting Club", with this much stronger second effort. About to turn 50, Augusta "Gus" Simpson is feeling old. When the ratings of the cooking show she hosts fall, the network owner forces Gus to take on a new producer, a new format, and a new cohost, Carmen Vega, Miss Spain 1999. Despite Carmen's culinary institute degree, Gus is not impressed, and it's dislike at first sight. However, the trial show, thrown together with the assistance of Gus's two daughters, an ex-boyfriend, and the hunky producer, ends up a hit, and suddenly, Gus must nurture this uncooperative group. Jacobs adds a touch of reality by including celebrity chefs such as Rachael Ray. The book's only flaw is the unnecessary addition of a character who wins an appearance on the show. Otherwise, Gus and the show's cast, with their humor, moods, and romance, are the sparks that bring this warm and irresistible story to life. Highly recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 1/08; Julia Roberts is set to star in the movie adaptation of "The Friday Night Knitting Club".Ed.]Lesa M. Holstine, Glendale P.L., AZ

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