bitterwaitress

As someone who reads hundreds of books a year, the majority of the pleasure reading being of the romance novel variety, finding a new author to treasure is akin to finding a chef who marries flavors so well you could cry. It doesn’t happen all that often, and even more rarely when an author is only starting out. With that thought in mind that I turned to the first page in this book, written by identical twins with much experience behind an apron, and I quickly discovered, natural skill behind a keyboard. I tossed the book into my backpack to read between classes and soon after I read the first page I realized how much trouble I was in. There was no way I could wait until my next break to finish the chapter, let alone the entire book. 

 

For anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant - or any service job really - and been made to suffer the self-important attitudes of patrons and management alike, this book is for you. The heroine of the story, an up and coming executive, sure never intended to find herself standing at the end of tables full of patrons critiquing everything from her appearance to her knowledge of obscure ingredient growth patterns. Yet in much the same manner as anyone finds their way into the restaurant world, that’s exactly where she suddenly must put herself in order to pay the rent. At that make or break point in life, a person can really uncover who they truly are, a fact that Erin realizes when she has to make some tough choices and face some rough home truths. Dealing with arrogantly skilled chefs, their over-stressed and oftentimes juvenile actions, and owners who know it all even as they know nothing is a requirement in the industry, and poor Erin’s completely out of her element. Luckily the cast of characters present in every restaurant is there to help. The fabulously gay aspiring actor who can turn the most dour table into well wishers, the lifer with achy feet who has never known anything else, the brooding server who just knows he could do it all better if he was the owner. With them in her corner, how can Erin fail to please the boss or the psychotically demented manager? 

 

I devoured this book the way a nightclub girl devours a short stack and coffee in the wee hours of the morning. Like the finest of restaurants, this book definitely earns its stars. 

 

 

MiC