THE COINCIDENCE OF COCONUT CAKE

I live in a small coastal state,a place known for its pristine beauty and sun-bleached beaches,bordered with abundant swaying coconut trees.Needless to say,one of the main ingredients in our cuisine is coconut,in almost all its forms,grated,shredded,bite sized pieces,toasted shavings...you name it and we can make a full course meal out of it.I adore all things coconut,just like the protagonist in this book and believe me, Coconut Cake is as close to Nirvana as it can get.I managed to wolf down almost three quarters of it the last time it was baked and faced nasty blood work results ,but thats a story for another day.

So why am I raving about coconut cake?:)Coz when I spotted this cover and this book,I knew I just had to read it and thanks a ton to Net Galley and the publishers,Gallery,Threshold,Pocket Books for giving me a chance to do that.

This story is about Lou,a talented Milwaukee chef and how an incident with her cheating fiance,costs her,her beloved restaurant 'Luella's'.
A Britisher with a stiff-upper lip, Al,who is not too fond of Wisconsin is keeping himself employed by writing scathing reviews of local restaurants in the Milwaukee newspaper under a pseudonym.However,little does he know that he has arrived on the worst day of the chefs (Lou's) life.Who would have thought that her heartbreak would coincide with an anonymous visit from the exacting critic and one scathing review is all it takes to see her promising business suddenly facing closure.

However,as the cities most infamous restaurant critic,Al prefers to keep his professional identity a secret.Coincidentally he runs into Lou as shes drowning her sorrows in a pub and playfully challenges her to show him the best of Milwaukee and she's game but only if they never discuss work,which Al readily agrees to.As Al and Lou explore the sights and sounds of her hometown,they begin to fall for each other-until Al realizes that it was his review that put the future of Luella's in jeopardy.When the truth comes out,the two star-crossed foodies must find a way to overlook the past in order to forge a new future together.

My Views:This book was exactly as I had anticipated it would be.A light,fun read,not too demanding,something I could just pick up at whatever time of the day or night and continue from where I had left off.It was like one of those holiday movies,where you know everything is going to sort itself out eventually but you still want to watch them and believe in all the goodness in people and the world.

I cant help but talk about the food first.I loved the mouth-watering food descriptions.Most of the food was new to me and I had a blast reading about the Milwaukee food scene.I was fascinated with fried cheese curds,frozen custard and the Wisconsin butterburger.It was fun to read about a totally different place with a totally different culture,the summerfests,the music scene.So much to absorb for one who comes from the other side of the world.Full marks for weaving that effortlessly into the story.Do not read this on an empty stomach.You have been warned!

The characters were well-developed and their different personalities did come through clearly.I thought Devlin was a total douche.I liked Al and Lou.Lou is really so passionate about her work and easy going and fun loving at the same time.I liked Al better later in the book when he started to loosen up,when he was less cynical,when he realised that what really mattered in life is contentedness.

The cast of secondary characters made it even more enjoyable.I loved John,the fashionista in disguise.Harley was really all mush inside.Gertrude and Ottos parallel story was awesome.You could pick up nuggets of wisdom from the way they live life.

However the part in which Lou and Al know so little of each other and yet manage to fall head-over-heels in love was a bit tough to digest.But all's fair in love and books ;)
Also...
'The helpful thought for which you look is written somehere in a book' :)
When I finished reading this book and pondered a bit about it,I realised that this simple fun read had its own message at the end.To live life and be content with what you have.That ultimately its your attitude towards life that changes it for better or for worse.Resilience is ultimately what matters in the face of adversity.That sometimes,its ok to give second chances,a person probably does deserve forgiveness as long as his or her intentions are good.And most importantly never to judge a new business from one bad review.A lot of hardwork goes into a new venture and it is important to give everyone a fair chance to prove themselves,especially in the age of online reviews,where anything can happen at the click of a mouse.

There was once sentence in the book which I reread -One reckless evening he (Al) even drank tap water in a small Indian village an hour outside Mumbai.I really laughed at this.Oh come on we are not that bad!

I wonder if the author ever imagined that a small-town Indian would perhaps be reading her book :))

This was a breezy read and I did finish reading it fast.Surely recommended for foodie romance lovers.This book is slated for release on July 21st 2015.There's even a recipe of Coconut Cake at the end.

I rate it a three and a half out of five.