Good Things is a book I found through word of mouth. So many people were saying such good things about its sequel, Table Manners when it came out that I thought I would see what was the fuss was all about. I was surprised to learn that Table Manners was a sequel and went to find its predecessor and found Good Things. One of the reviews that made me want to read Tables Manners was the review that Becky at One Literature Nut wrote. Thanks Becky for this find!
The plot from amazon.com:
In one fell swoop, Seattle's answer to Martha Stewart, Deidre McIntosh, is sent into a tailspin. Her popular show is cancelled and she loses her gay roommate and confidante, William. To top off her bad luck, she has to move because her name isn't on the lease. Amid this chaos appears the hunk of her dreams, Kevin Johnson. After a one-night stand, he offers Deidre the use of his country retreat, which she reluctantly decides to use. As she stays in Kevin's rustic cabin far from her life in the city, Deidre tries to figure out what really matters to her, and how to recapture the experience of helping people that she'd achieved on her show. She would also like to capture Kevin. The bucolic setting and King's interesting characters create a fresh and thoroughly enjoyable story as enticing as the delectable recipes at the end of the book.
Patty Engelmann Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
My thoughts: After reading Good Things, I can see why everyone wanted to read Table Manners. I can't say too many times how I loved this book. I picked it and told myself "I'll just read chapter one to see what it's about" I was reading another book at the time, and didn't want to start a new one. However, once I started this book, I couldn't put it down! I loved how this wasn't just a romance. It was a book about friendships, following your dream, not giving up and taking risks. I also liked how Deidre stayed independent throughout the book, and didn't give into every little thing that Kevin wanted once they got together. I also liked while there was drama in the relationship, there was actually a romance! I've read so many books where the couple doesn't get together until the last 100 pages, that this was a refreshing read. I can't wait to read Table Manners!
What I also liked about this book was that it's so much more then a romance. It's also about friendships, self discovery and believing in yourself. Maybe because I'm in my late 30s, but I found it refreshing that the heroine in the story wasn't 22 and right out of college. I loved the fact that Deidre was 40. I also loved the fact that there were recipes at the end of the book of everything Deidre cooked in the book. Some of them look rather complicated, but there are a few that I'm really going to have to try!
I also thought it was kinda of cool when I posted to twitter from goodreads that Mia King RT'd one of my tweets that I was reading her book. It's the first time something like that has has happened to me on twitter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for all of your helpful hints about how to keep track of where you found the book from. I think I'm going to try the goodreads method!
