Tilly Danes and Jordan Kelly, famous chefs, are both judges on the panel for the Culinary Channel's competition Personal Chef Showdown. Tilly and Jordan have known each other for a few years, and still don't see eye to eye, most of the time; but they agree on Max: he's insufferable.

When both are publicly insulted by international food critic Maxwell Etheridge on his blog, they decide to pay him a visit to demand explanations. They came separately but when they inadvertently meet near his hotel room, they choose to put on a united front and go together. Surprisingly, his door is unlocked and they hear water running. They go in, and they know something is definitely wrong; then they find him in his bathtub, dead, with his penis cut off. It was definitely not an accident, and a lot of people didn't like Max.

I thought it was a nice touch that Tilly is a Southern belle whose specialities are down home cooking; she's spunky and yet leads a quiet life. On the other hand, Jordan is a Yankee, a known ladies' man, with a more sophisticated palate, and Ms. Love Barr does a great job at capitalising on these differences; it makes for very amusing banter between them. They get on each other's nerves, which makes for very funny quips, and I like how realistically the author handles how their relationship changes: Tilly had been attracted to Jordan for some time, but he comes around slowly. Tilly sounds so authentic that I kept hearing Dolly Parton's voice while reading! Dyann Love Barr has a fluid writing style that is perfect for this type of whodunit, and she is quite witty as well.

RECIPE FOR LOVE is a light, humorous murder mystery, with a sweet romance, but you'd better not read it on an empty stomach, because all that Southern food will make your mouth water!