Victoria Rienzi writes mysteries under the name of Vick Reed. When it's determined that she needs a temporary break from writing her series, she returns home to her roots to write about her family. But when she arrives she doesn't expect to see the man who sent her running away in the first place...working in her family's restaurant as a sous chef.

Once she realizes she'll have to work with him she decides to make the best of it and tells him she refuses to discuss their past together. But that's not all: she learns from her family that a smarmy TV producer is going to film a reality TV show in their little town, and they've organized a protest against it.

But things take a turn when Gio Parisi - the person running the show - turns up at the restaurant and Victoria realizes she needs to serve him and get him out before her family returns and finds him there. But what she also doesn't expect is that when she heads out to the kitchen garden not too long after, she finds Gio dead nearby...

Now the restaurant is losing customers because everyone thinks he developed food poisoning from their food. And Vick also discovers that her nonna wants her to put her deductive skills to use to find the killer before they have to close their doors for good...

I know this series didn't last too long, but it sounded cute anyway, so I prevailed...at least until I discovered we're up to our ears again in a love triangle. When, oh, when will authors realize a love triangle is not all that interesting to read about? Personally, I detest them. Think of it this way: What if the situation were reversed and it were one man stringing along two women? You'd think him a dog and the women trying to snag him were desperate. So why is this any different? It's not much better, waffling between two men, really. Is there a lack of women in this town (or any of the others we read about)? Most people don't date two people at the same time (at least with the other person's knowledge) waiting for them to make a decision on which man she'll choose. Geez, enough with the love triangles already. If you're going to throw in a romance, make it a romance, not another silly woman who hasn't got the brains to decide which man she wants in her life.

Anyway, although others might find the idea interesting, it's gotten to the point with me that if I even get a whiff of a love triangle I stop reading the book and vow never to pick up any more in the series; and if the author writes a different series, I usually look for it at the bookstore and if that one goes in the same direction, I never read another by the author. I want to be entertained, not read a soap opera.

Besides that little tidbit of annoyance, the characters are all stereotypical - Italian family has a decades-old restaurant, a crusty nonna, an over-the-top mother who wants grandchildren (Thank God for parents who understand their children aren't baby-making machines who marry and then are expected to pop them out on a regular basis just to keep their mother happy). Babies come in their own time and at the right time, and mothers like this are the reason people move as far away from them as possible; the son is a police officer, and of course, the ex-boyfriend is dark and brooding.

While the ending tied everything up together nicely, just as it's supposed to, it also did the typical will-she-or-won't-she with the "boyfriends" whom, of course, she managed to alienate in this book in the usual way but will probably have them chomping at the bit for her in the next. It doesn't really matter, because I won't be there to read it. ( )

Super cute. Can't wait to read more in this series. ( )

I needed to read a culinary mystery for a challenge/game I'm doing in one of my cozy discussion groups and I was moderately curious about this new series.

It was a quick read but I'm left feeling ambivalent about the book. Meh. Look, it's not a bad book; it's just not a great book. But most cozy firsts aren't. Great books.

So. What I liked. The writer does an excellent job with place and setting. The Jersey Shore is vividly written - the boardwalk and the vendors descriptive enough you can almost smell the salt and the vendor food.

The Premise is also an interesting one (actually it's one I'm surprised hasn't been done more). The protagonist, Victoria (Vic), is a mystery author. She's taking a break from her series to write "the book of her heart" - a fictional story based on her family's history. To do this she moves home to the Jersey Shore and back to the heart of her family.

The characters are more good than bad. They are all colourfully written. Some are better done than others. There's a serious threat of clichés on the horizon, as well as a better-than-average chance of stereotypes, but in this book they are still only just on the horizon and most of the characters are, for the most part, likeable. I like the ongoing, somewhat realistic conflict between Vic's Brother and his wife. It adds a bit of oomph to the story line in between plot points.

What I didn't like. Really, there isn't that much that I flat out disliked. Vic and her sister in law keep referring to each other as SIL. Lord love a duck that is Annoying! (with a capital A!!). If the author changes only one thing - make that stop! Then there's Nonna. I had a Nonna. She was born in Italy and came to America. She was a sweet, loveable grandma - not the lemon-faced nonna in this book. I don't pretend to have cornered the market on Nonna's, but does this Nonna have to be such a sour old bat? Can't she just be an affectionate curmudgeon? This depiction doesn't feel realistic and definitely not sympathetic. Also, the distinct aroma of a love triangle. If it happens, I'm outta here. Just say no!

The plot was, well, it was ok. The author did a good job of running us around with a dismal lack of clues (although, much to her credit she does an excellent job giving the reader a major clue at the beginning hidden exceptionally well. I saw it but convinced myself I'd misread it.). Truthfully, I felt like the book could have been 50 pages shorter with no detriment at all to the story. I was ready for the denouement long before it happened. There's a snappy ending though.

As is probably evident by this sort of all-over-the-place review, I'm not completely sold. Nor am I completely turned off by the book. I'll probably read the second one to see where things go from here. I'm betting it will be a more tightly written book.

Some recipes at the end that look like they might be really yummy. ( )