The Lost Recipe for Happiness

This kitchen romance has many characters; it's good to have the talented Bernadette Dunne helping listeners keep track of them with skillful presentations of their quirks and interior lives. Dunne serves up characters as diverse as celebrity restaurateur Julian Liswood and his adolescent daughter, Portia--though they're just appetizers compared to the main course: chef Elena Alvarez. Dunne gives Elena a wistful, husky voice and a tough yet vulnerable presence as she battles to find her place in the man's world of the professional kitchen. For Dunne, food itself becomes a well-loved character in the story, one she savors when she describes flavors, ingredients, and recipes, lingering over them with the appreciation of a true foodie. Dunne's perfect pace and ear for dialogue greatly enhance a somewhat predictable story. J.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

January 4, 2009
Twenty years ago, Elena Alvarez, the chef heroine of O'Neal's bland kitchen romance, was the sole survivor of a car accident that left her badly scarred and haunted by the sister and boyfriend she lost in the crash. Attempting to escape the specter of the accident and buoyed by her love of cooking, Elena drifted to culinary school in Europe and eventually ends up at an upscale Vancouver restaurant, where her passion and skills capture the attention of celebrity restaurateur Julian Liswood, who hires her as the executive chef of a new restaurant he is opening in Aspen, Colo. Elena relishes the opportunity, even as she recognizes the potential disasters, both romantic and job-related, inherent in the feelings she has for her boss. As the new endeavor finds its footing in Aspen's restaurant scene, she, too, begins to find a home. Unfortunately, O'Neal doesn't bring anything new to an already busy subgenre: the plot is formulaic, the prose is tepid and her main character is too narrowly drawn to have much appeal.