The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique
Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
1 of 1 copy available
Kate Jenkins doesn’t believe in fate. She believes in a clear vision, meticulous planning, and hard work in order to achieve her culinary dreams. On the cusp of opening her own Parisian restaurant, Bistro Exotique, she isn’t even concerned when her standoffish—and annoyingly sexy—neighbor dismisses her as a crazy American tourist or when she meets the wildly eccentric Garrance, the self-proclaimed Spice Master of Paris, who ominously warns her of the previous owner’s failures.
Confident and optimistic, Kate keeps calm and cooks on. Until a series of unfortunate events derail her plans and her entire staff quits.
Kate is about to throw in the kitchen towel on her lifelong dream when Garrance offers to use her mastery of scents and spices to help her, but it comes at a price: Kate must work with Garrance’s son, Charles, a world-class chef and total jerk. After Kate hesitantly concedes to the deal, she slowly learns to open her heart and mind to new concepts, not quite sure if the magic she’s experiencing comes from Garrance’s spices, from within herself, or from the growing chemistry with Charles. One thing is certain, though: her kitchen is getting increasingly hot.
* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of recipes and a readers guide from the book.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
December 6, 2022 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593627327
- File size: 269646 KB
- Duration: 09:21:45
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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October 10, 2022
Vérant (Sophie Valroux’s Paris Stars) returns to France and food with this enjoyable if predictable outing. Narrator Kate Jenkins is days away from opening Bistro Exotique, her dream restaurant in Paris, where she hopes to demonstrate her theory that “food is passion in its purest form.” Shortly before the opening, she meets her mysterious neighbor and landlord, Garrance, a “spice lady, scent master, and herbalist,” as well as a man she dubs Anti-Keanu because his looks remind her of Keanu Reeves, even if he’s rude. When the first lunch service is a disaster, Kate has mere weeks to turn things around before she’ll lose her lease. Garrance, meanwhile, vetoes some decorating decisions and insists Kate open her kitchen to Anti-Keanu, whose name is Charles and who turns out to be a famous chef as well as Garrance’s son. An enemies-to-lovers plot ensues, in which Kate negotiates her dueling passions for cooking and Charles. While the humor falls flat, as do some of the subplots (Charles’s evil supermodel ex-girlfriend), Kate makes for an endearingly plucky heroine, and colorful side characters abound, like Kate’s sex therapist mother, Cri-Cri. This won’t get a Michelin rating, but it will do in a pinch. Agent: Jessica Mileo, InkWell Management.
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