White House executive chef Olivia "Ollie" Paras definitely
has a full plate. Ollie and her fiancée Special Agent in
Charge Leonard "Gav" Gavin have applied for a marriage
license, which will be ready in three days. However, it
will be a minimum of eight weeks before they will be able to
find a justice of the peace to perform the ceremony.
Meanwhile, Ollie is planning a State Dinner next week for
the President of Durasi, who is coming to the White House
for a discussion on peace talks.
Ex-agent Evan Bonder, who runs the Ainsley Street Ministry
now, called Gav and said he needed to talk to Gav on a
private matter. Since Evan can perform wedding ceremonies,
Gav takes Ollie with him to meet the man. However, a
horrible sight awaits them -- Evan and four other men are on
the floor, bound and gagged and very dead. Within minutes
of this discovery a group of FBI agents in hazmat suits are
inside the Ministry, and taking Gav and Ollie out for
questioning and decontamination. Since Gav is still on
leave due to an on-the-job injury, he has no jurisdiction in
this matter, and the lead agent, SA Tyree, doing the
investigation, is no friend of Gav's.
HOME OF THE BRAISED moves from one crisis to another, and it
seems that Ollie is involved in all of them. On top of the
terrorist attack on the Ministry, the secretary of defense
is murdered, and Ollie's body guard is acting rather
strangely. Julie Hyzy has created one of this reviewer's
favorite heroines in Ollie Paras. She is exciting, strong,
very capable, and I'd love to cook like she does. The
kitchen crew, plus Virgil, an irritating chef for the
President's family; and Peter Everett Sargeant, III, Ollie's
boss and one time nemesis, who is now the Chief Usher.
HOME OF THE BRAISED is exciting and dynamic with fully
formed characters, and Ms. Hyzy's enthusiastic voice and
story lines. This story can definitely be read as a stand-
alone, but if you are new to this series you can do yourself
a favor by reading the prior titles just for pure
entertainment and insights into the White House kitchen.
With the pressure of an upcoming state dinner that could
make or break the president's foreign policy, White House
executive chef Olivia Paras has precious little time to
focus on her wedding plans or to catch a murderer! Tensions
are running high as the White House staff adjusts to a new
chief usher and prepares for a high-stakes state dinner,
where everything must be perfect.
But as the date for the
event approaches, things go disastrously wrong when the
secretary of defense is found dead in his home, seemingly
killed during a break-in. At the same time Olivia's fiance,
Gav, is looking into the mysterious murder of an old friend.
Is there a connection? Despite an increase in security
following the secretary's death, Ollie learns the president
is in imminent danger at the dinner and must do everything
in her power to get to him before it's too late.
Includes Recipes for a complete presidential menu!
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