Second-chance romance, culinary culture, and a beautiful seaside setting sweetly combine in Effie Olsen's Summer Special, a deliciously appetizing rom-com by food writer Rochelle Bilow (Ruby Spencer's Whisky Year).
Effie Olsen is single and 33 years old when she gets "fired from her dream job" as a chef in San Francisco. Broke and without a backup plan, she packs "the contents of her entire life" into a suitcase and returns to her "absurdly small, insufferably chatty" hometown of Alder Isle, Maine, for the first time in 16 years. Effie takes refuge with her father and younger sister, a "Generation Z financial prodigy," under the pretext of a summer visit.
Effie's return also reunites her with Ernie Callahan, her former best friend from high school. Ernie works as a butcher and prep cook at Brown Butter, a farm-to-table restaurant operated by a sexist male head chef who offers Effie a job. Working under the same roof, Effie and Ernie easily rekindle their friendship and create a "bucket list" of activities: watching sunsets, indulging in enormous lobster rolls, and even trying salsa dancing. But as she forms new memories with Ernie, a situation arises at the restaurant that calls professional integrity into question--and might prevent their friendship from becoming something more.
Bilow has worked as a line cook and at Bon Appétit magazine. Her insider knowledge is a key ingredient in this romance, adding depth and authenticity to this spicy and satisfying story that blends the pleasures of true love with elements of self-discovery. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines