Experiencing a severe crush on Michael Slayton since childhood, Julie Mueller moved on in life when he did not respond to her advances. Julie, now the divorced mother of a teenage daughter, is working as a TV reporter. Julie's passion is food even though she doesn't cook, much to the disappointment of her mother, Elizabeth.
Believing that Julie is unhappy with an unfulfilled life, Elizabeth presents Julie with cooking lessons with a famous chef knowing that Michael will also be attending. A seven- year misunderstanding stands between Julie and Michael as they try to rekindle their old friendship.
When Elizabeth has a stroke and is hospitalized, Julie has a new understanding of the depth of her feelings for her mother and the importance of family. Julie and Michael must strive to overcome their differences as they try to share their lives.
Sarah Strohmeyer has created a story of incredibly sharp insights into the power of love between a mother and a daughter, which is not always recognized until it's too late. There's much written on the description of preparing desserts, which I found a little too detailed and less interesting. Once I reached the heart of the storyline, I found it fun to read with a delightful mixture of humor.
An irresistibly delicious novel about the power of
love⦠and dessert. Like other well-meaning
mothers, Julie Muellerβs believed she did the right thing
when she secretly ended her teenage daughterβs crush on
Michael Slayton, a wild older neighborhood
heartthrob with a penchant for Shakespeare and the
pedigree of trailer trash. Twenty years later,
Betty Mueller has come to realize that was a big mistake.
Her daughter Julie β divorced and raising a teenage
daughter alone β is a workaholic obsessed with her career.
And Michael, the one man who could make her happy, is the
one man to whom she wonβt speak. Now dying and
determined to make amends, Betty stages her last great
feat of motherhood by reuniting the couple in a dessert
class where she hopes the sweetness of a chocolate almond
Torta Caprese will erase the bitterness of a
wretched misunderstanding. βSweet love, renew thy
force; be it not said thy edge should blunter be than
appetite,β Shakespeare once pleadedβthough it will require
more than poetry and passion fruit for Julie and Michael
to renew their love. It will, in fact, require
the sweetest sacrifice of all.
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