Bon Appetit
Sandra Byrd
Waterbrook, Sep 2008, $13.99
ISBN: 9781400073283
Lexi Stuart dreams of becoming a pastry chef, but that means risking everything for special on the job training in France. Her boss Luc suggests a swap for six months with his sister Dominique. She decides to go for it leaving behind L’Esperance the French bakery she works at in Seattle and her boyfriend Dan to work and learn at a bakery run by grumpy Madame Odette in Presque le Chateau.
The adjustment does not go smooth as her twentyish American enthusiasm is looked at with disdain by many of the locals. Still she works hard and joins a church. However, she begins to feel welcomed when she meets preadolescent Celine and her father Philippe, an attractive widower. As her time overseas begins to count down, Lexi has to choose between Washington State and rural France; both feel like home.
The sequel to the mouth watering LET THEM EAT CAKE is an enjoyable tale as Lexi struggles for acceptance in France where from her first entrance at the airport is scorned and laughed at. Readers will appreciate the tasty bakery scenes as “Mamam” initially treats her new employee like an ugly American. Although the romantic subplot feels too sweet. Sandra Byrd provides her audience with a deep look at France and French pastry cooking.
Harriet Klausner
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