Hadley Beckett's Next Dish
by Bethany Turner
Published by Revell
Publication Date May 5, 2020
Genres: Clean Romance
Setting: Tennessee, New York Contemporary
Main Character Ages: 25-34, 35-60
Written for: Adults
Pages: 334
Synopsis:
Celebrity chef Maxwell Cavanaugh is known for many things: his multiple Michelin stars, his top-rated Culinary Channel show To the Max, and most of all his horrible temper. Hadley Beckett, host of the Culinary Channel's other top-rated show, At Home with Hadley, is beloved for her Southern charm and for making her viewers feel like family.
When Max experiences a very public temper tantrum, he's sent packing to get his life in order. When he returns, career in shambles, his only chance to get back on TV and in the public's good graces is to work alongside Hadley.
As these polar-opposite celeb chefs begin to peel away the layers of public persona and reputation, they will not only discover the key ingredients for getting along, but also learn the secret recipe for unexpected forgiveness . . . and maybe even love. In the meantime, hide the knives.
Fan-favorite Bethany Turner serves up a heaping helping of humor and romance with this thoroughly modern story centered on cooking, enemies, and second chances.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. This gift did not influence my opinion or review.
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Food, flirtation, and fun.
After a disastrous meeting on a food competition, in which Max proved himself to be a complete jerk, Hadley would have been happy never to see him again. And yet, life seldom turns out the way we plan, does it?
So, Max. Seriously, he was a real piece of work! Obnoxious, chauvinistic, rude, foul-mouthed. Oh, and drunk on public television. None of the chefs on the show escaped his attitude. And yet, after time in rehab where he truly began to examine himself, he really did change. Was he perfect? Hah! That would have been too easy, as well as unrealistic. However, he certainly changed for the better and had me rooting for him.
Hadley was so cute. A Southern gal from Tennessee, she was very down-to-earth. So much so that Max doubted her to be genuine. I couldn’t help but like Hadley right away. I loved her anger-management technique of reciting kitchen items for each letter of the alphabet!
I really enjoyed the cooking aspects of the show. It was fun how different Hadley’s and Max’s styles and types of foods they specialized in were. They reflected the differences in their personalities well. The behind-the-scenes type details about being a celebrity chef were the whipped cream and the cherry on top!
Despite finding common ground, the two chefs continued to struggle with tempers and trust. The twists were fun as both Hadley and Max experienced personal transformations.
Full of humorous banter, delicious food, and sweet romantic moments, Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish was a delight to the senses! Oh, and I had fun with the chapter names, too! Each was named after steps in a recipe. It would have been fun to see them all listed together (my pre-order copy didn’t have this) so I could see if they actually made sense as directions for a single recipe. Probably not, but. . .
A few specifics that I enjoyed about the story
- When they dissected the smells in the air to figure out what Max wanted to order for breakfast
- In fact, all the ways Max encouraged Hadley to use her “greatest tool” for cooking – her nose
- The way Hadley’s neck colored when she was angry. Or embarrassed. Or thinking about Max.
- The transformed Max. He really turned out to be a great guy
- The first recipes they cooked on the new program and the process of the cooking
- Their escapes from the cameras when things got obnoxious
Although this thoroughly fun and enjoyable story is listed on Amazon as Christian fiction, I don’t classify it that way. While it is entirely clean and even has references to prayer and Jesus, there is nothing about Max’s life change attributed to the redemptive power of the Lord. The spiritual items were not a theme in the story.
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About Bethany Turner
Bethany Turner is the author of The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck and the director of administration for Rock Springs Church in Southwest Colorado. A former bank executive and a three-time cancer survivor (all before she turned 35), Bethany knows that when God has plans for your life, it doesn’t matter what anyone else has to say. Because of that, she’s chosen to follow his call to write. She lives with her husband and their two sons in Colorado, where she writes for a new generation of readers who crave fiction that tackles the thorny issues of life with humor and insight.
