Thursday

Dining with Joy by Rachel Hauck

Book Description:  Joy Ballard has a secret: she’s a cooking show host who can’t really cook. When her South Carolina-based cooking show, Dining With Joy, is picked up by a major network, Joy Ballard’s world heats up like a lowcountry boil.Joy needs help. Then she meets chef Luke Davis who moved to Beaufort after losing his Manhattan restaurant. A cook at the Frogmore Cafe, he’s paying debts and longing to regain his reputation in the elite foodie world.  Luke and Joy mix like oil and water…until Joy is exposed on national television. With her career and his reputation both under fire, they’ll have to work together to fix the mess. Is it possible that they can learn to feast on God’s love and dine with joy?


My Review:  Joy Ballard has taken over dad's cooking show, Dining With Charles, after her dad suffers a fatal heart attack and Joy is in desperate need of cooking skills.  For three years she and her manager have fooled the public and her TV followers because Joy can't cook!  Then her manager sells the show and just in time Mr. Right, enter, Luke Davis, hunk and a chef to boot!  Literally saves the day for Joy!
Luke is not only gorgeous but can cook!  Whereas, Joy can't boil water!  Hence, the story Dining With Joy, is all about love, cook-offs and just maybe one shouldn't have a cooking show if one can't cook!
Luke is terribly in debt and working as a lowly cook at the Frogmore Cafe.  Luke is honest, trustworthy and can cook!  Whereas, Joy is sweet, innocent and can't cook!  Luke met Joy briefly through Elle but Joy doesn't seem to remember their meeting.  At times Joy seems terribly wrapped in herself and yet she loves her family, helps raise her nieces who are living with Joy's mom while mom and dad get their lives straighten out and she loves God even though it seems to be a fairly immature love for a thirty year old woman.  The interaction between Joy and her nieces made me laugh.out.loud!  Rachel Hauck is right on target with teen attitudes.  
This is a light --- read in a day type of story.  It isn't filled with earth shaking love scenes but you are gracefully ushered in the love life of Luke and Joy much like a southern charm that one encounters in the south.  The southern charm in this read spills over from page to page.  Can one drink too much sweet tea?  Not in this book! And, OH!, the Orangina Drink!  Maybe you do have to be from the south to recognize this wonderful, refreshing soda.  It is simply the best!
The title of this read is so on target for this book....Dining With Joy is all about the joy we experience when we dine with friends and family OR with a person named Joy. 

I enjoyed this 4 star read and loved the recipes and ideas for cooking that are presented at the  end of this story.  Can't wait to try Charles Ballard's Banana Bread recipe!
Dining With Joy is simply a cook's.fun.fiction.read or a wannabes.cooking.guide! 

*I reviewed this book for BookSneeze/Thomas Nelson Publishing*










1 comment:

  1. Definitely my kind of book. I love books with stories and recipes. Great review!

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