Jenny Nelson (1)

I love to cook and enjoy hearing people tell me I am good at it. The reality is that I follow a recipe with the best of them. The fact that I need to follow someone else's directions in the kitchen has not stopped me from the occasional daydream about working as a chef in a restaurant. Luckily there are creative, wonderful, impeccably trained chefs out there who can actually indulge their dream.

Georgia, the main character in Georgia's Kitchen, is a rising star in the restaurant world, show more working as head chef in the kitchen of another chef's eponymously named restaurant. She is engaged to a successful lawyer whom her mother adores. She has dreams of one day opening her own restaurant. It seems like her life is charmed. But then her life comes crashing down around her ears: a poor review unfairly blamed on her, fired from her job, and dumped by her fiance. So she reevaluates her life and heads to Italy to refresh her skills and work in a rustic Italian kitchen in a brand new restaurant. Once she arrives in Tuscany, she discovers that the amazing job she's come for isn't exactly what she's expected. And what Italian-set novel would be complete without a gorgeous neighbor? Gianni owns the vineyard next door to the restaurant and he is completely tempting to Georgia. But the focus here is really on Georgia and the life she is creating, learning, and testing.

Nelson captures the allure of Tuscany and does a wonderful job evoking the place. While the plot is romantic and charming, Nelson does a good job creating Georgia as a main character who learns to be true to herself rather than writing a standard "woman handed life-long dream thanks to intervention of gorgeous man" novel. In fact, all of the characters do a pretty good job of defying stereotype and come off as entertaining and sympathetic to the reader. There's a feeling of gentle insistence as the plot unspools toward Georgia's ultimate decision. The supporting characters are well drawn and the tale, while occasionally predictable, is ultimately delightfully feel-good. There's enough meat here to make this a winner for book clubs although you might run into the problem of everyone liking it too much to have a varied discussion. Not necessarily a bad problem to have. A fun and mouth-watering read, I thoroughly enjoyed Georgia and want her to come and cook for me. show less

This is a great escape book. It’s fun and easy to read and beautifully captures the toughness of New York City and the charm of the Italian country side. If you’ve every been to Italy, you’ll know that Jenny Nelson’s description of Tuscany, it’s delicacies and heartwarming people are real and will have you scanning the travel section of your local paper for Italian excursions. After some unnerving circumstances, Georgia decides to break clean of New York and use her culinary skills show more to start fresh in Italy. I enjoy reading about strong inspirational females and Georgia is just this. She is delightful and flawed, but also intelligent and determined. She’s a modern woman, vulnerable but not afraid to take a chance. I loved following her around NYC and Tuscany as she reached for her dreams and immersed me in her culinary world. In short, it starts a bit slow, but stick with it, it’s a good story and great light read.

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I wanted to read Georgia's Kitchen initially merely for the Italian connection. I have never been to Italy but I have long dreamt of travelling there and I counted on this book allowing me to live out my passport-laced fantasies. Georgia's Kitchen did that and more.

The book was a scrumptious treat from start to finish, between the descriptive and mouth watering foods described to the warm terracota of Tuscany to the desire for Georgia to open her own restaurant.

I loved the character of show more Georgia, from the funny way her parents met and she was conceived to her troubling relationship with her mother to her devotion to her deceased grandmother to her loyal friends and adorable dog. I was invested in Georgia and her story and author Jenny Nelson deserves praise for accomplishing this task.

I also appreciated that Georgia had to struggle and work hard not only during her stay in Tuscany but also in order to accomplish her dream, owning her very own restaurant. It wasn't an overnight process and it made the story much more relatable.

The supporting characters in Georgia's Kitchen were a delightful mix of flighty, fun, sarcastic and stuffy, from the Marco employees to the kitchen staff in Tuscany to the New York investors.

I enjoyed my stay, albeit a too brief one, with Georgia and I think women of all ages will too. I hope that Ms. Nelson will allow us to catch up with Georgia again in the future. show less

When Georgia's life comes crumbling down around her she picks up the pieces by changing location, lifestyle, leaving family and friends behind. She finds herself working with an old friend at an up-and-coming restaurant, with a staff that's helpful and encouraging, she makes new friends and even finds a love interest in a neighbor... but although Italy holds its appeal, her dream has always been to own a restaurant in New York.

Ms. Nelson creates a wonderful protagonist in Georgia. She's show more tough but you can't help to feel bad for her with all the unlucky events she's going through. You like her from the start and will definitely be rooting for her. The supporting characters were just as fun and endearing. But my favorite were the descriptions of Tuscany itself. You will find yourself picturing the rustic backdrop, hearing the sounds and smelling its scent. Ms. Nelson definitely captures the tiny details and creates a very vivid setting. And then there were the descriptions of food - the details were so rich that I could actually envision and practically smell what was being cooked. Mouth watering.

All in all, fans of chick-lit, romance and foodies will all find something in Georgia's Kitchen. It is light, entertaining and very charming. show less