Innovative Online Book Tours Book Review: Too Many Cooks w/Giveaway

Author:  Shirley Ann Wilder
Title:  Too Many Cooks
Publisher: Boroughs Publishing Group
Publish Date: July 18, 2012
Review Copy Provided By: Innovative Online Book Tours and the author

Book Blurb: Bitter news leads a San Diego widow and widower to true love—and to a scheme to marry off their adult children, a plan that goes deliciously awry. Gaetano Lorenzo was the sweetest man that the widowed Estelle Bennett had ever met. That morning began terribly, with awful news, but now the owner and head chef of a local San Diego ristorante was offering up Italian delights: red wine, delicious food, walks on the beach, laughter when she’d never thought she’d laugh again…. Estelle felt twenty-five. She and Gaetano had found the recipe for love, and a simple variation might just get their adult children to settle down, too. A scoop of sugar, two ladlefuls of lust, a pinch of deception and a whole 24 oz.-can of danger— Suddenly, ingredients were coming from everywhere! But kitchens are crazy places, and variety is the spice of life. And for anything to get cooked, things have to get hot.

Review: I have to say, I've really been reading a lot of books that are food related lately. I'm not sure if this is a good thing for my waistline, because inevitably all of these books make me hungry.

 It is a quick read and a fun read, although it is a romance, there's some serious stuff going on as well. I love that its really two love stories in one, the relationship between the parents and then the children.

The book starts out concentrating on the relationship between Estelle and Gaetano. I really loved their story, because most romance novels seem to think that people over 50 sometimes fall in love, have sex and even, GASP get married. Though from the very beginning you know Estelle doesn't have Leukemia. This is a romance novel, after all, and Estelle deserves a HEA.

The other story is the love between Alex and Gina, Estelle and Gaetano's children! This starts out bad, gets worse, turns awful and then they fall in love. Of course, Gina gets kidnapped by a psycho client that became obsessed with her, and that really opens Alex's eyes to his love for her.

I liked Shirley's writing style and I loved the characters. This was a sweet short read that was totally fun.

Rating: 4 flowers

Author Bio: From the time she could hold a pencil, Shirley Ann Wilder wrote stories. Being the youngest of six children, she was overlooked many times but found wonder and magic in reading books. As a youngster she was especially fond of horse books and read every one of Walter Farley’s Black Stallion books.

That passion for horses carried over into her adult life and with her husband and four children, raised Quarter Horses and German Shepherds. Shirley’s other passion was writing, but it was put on hold until the three sons and one daughter were in high school.

After developing a severe allergy to the equine species and having to give up the major part of horse involvement, Shirley wrote a weekly column for a community newspaper and a monthly column entitled “On the Wilder Side” for the California Horseman’s News in the which she recounted the humorous episodes that happened during the Wilder Family’s horse era. Shirley also published in college literary magazines, but her real quest was to write novels.

 After taking numerous writing classes and amassing many unfinished manuscripts, one of her writing instructors suggested she join Romance Writers of America. Taking that advice she also joined the local San Diego RWA chapter has since completed six novels.  She served on the Executive Board as Co-President of RWA- San Diego for 2006 and 2007 and held several other chair positions. She credits her fellow writers for the support and encouragement that has kept her writing during recent difficult times.

Shirley Ann was widowed in January of 2008 when her husband died of stage four colon cancer after battling it bravely for three years and four months. Three of her grown children live near her in suburbs of San Diego and one son lives in Kentucky.  They have blessed her with four granddaughters and one grandson.

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