The Underdog

De: Felicity Cloake

A charming, witty romcom and coming of age story set in London’s restaurant scene

Katie is thirty-six, has recently been dumped by her dull-yet-deceitful fiancé and in a (not-unrelated) moment of madness, abandoned a Solid, Decently Paid Career to pursue her dream of becoming a chef. But, after a year of expensive cookery school and months in Michelin-star kitchens blow-drying edible ferns for free, she finds herself making sandwiches (heritage duck egg and black garlic mayonnaise on sourdough, admittedly, but sandwiches all the same) in a north London café and stuck in an ill-advised situationship with a twentysomething who thinks he’s the next star of The Bear.

Then, a gorgeous doctor strolls in and orders an espresso. Katie is briefly charmed… until she sees the scruffy mutt at his feet. Katie hates dogs — and Dr Dipesh never goes anywhere without Alan. Can she overlook this major red flag? Will she ever convince her mother she’s not having a midlife crisis? And, when a drunken mishap involving a restaurant critic turns Katie’s life upside down, will she ever see Dip, Alan or the inside of a kitchen again?

©2025 Felicity Cloake (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers