Recipe for Second Chances

De: Ali Rosen

Narrado por: Natasha Chandel

The ones that got away reunite at a big Italian wedding in this second-chance romance from debut author Ali Rosen, the James Beard Award-nominated writer and host of Potluck with Ali Rosen.

Stella Park is elated to celebrate her best friend’s wedding in the Italian countryside—and maybe she also needs this escape from her personal and her professional life. Writing recipes for a living isn’t all it’s cooked up to be.

But the revelry is short lived when she runs into the ex she hasn’t seen since she broke his heart ten years ago, Samuel Gordon. As her past gets propelled to the forefront, Stella tries not to question the choices she made a decade ago.

When Stella and Samuel keep getting pushed together during a weekend filled with delectable food, Indian and Italian wedding traditions, and unplanned detours in gorgeous locales, she attempts to ignore that maybe he really was the one that got away.

Playing it safe has always been Stella’s dependable rule book. But maybe Samuel is worth the risk—and perhaps some love stories just need more time to marinate.

©2023 Ali Rosen (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Cookbook writer Rosen makes a delicious fiction debut with this witty, forced-proximity, friends-to-lovers tale. It's no surprise that Rosen's rich description of Indian and Italian fare is mouthwatering.… This audio will appeal to listeners seeking a playful nom-nom rom-com full of food, friendship, and fun. Recommended for fans of Christina Lauren, Jennifer Weiner, and Amanda Aksel.”—Library Journal

“Cookbook author [Ali] Rosen makes her fiction debut with this romantic foodie trip to Italy…Rosen makes the most out of the lush, romantic setting and her descriptions of food will have readers’ mouths watering. This is a treat.”—Publishers Weekly

“In her fiction debut, cookbook author Rosen (Modern Freezer Meals) creates main characters with believable motivations and emotional baggage in an engaging second-chance romance.”—Library Journal

Great locations and a sweet leading man

Samuel is my new book boyfriend! Loved that it was set in NYC, Scotland, and Italy. The travel was an armchair vacation.

Sweet, but slow

Based on the premise, I was hoping for more of the story to revolve around food. The plot was nice, but kind of repetitive.

Kept my interest

Not a great book but still, good. It kept me interested but not to the point where I could not put the book down.
Narration was good but I found the volume on it was low. I had to turn the volume up pretty high to be able to hear parts of it.

Perfect Title

This romance, told in two timelines 10 years apart, though frustrating, does reward your patience in the end. You will have to be patient, however, because the whiny, gets-in-her-own-way, protagonist will test you, as she tests the boy/man who falls in love with her at first sight. Hang in there, it's worth it.

good book

This was a really good book! I liked this author, I'll definitely have to read more!

Could have been enjoyable

The main character was way too whiny and dramatic and it ruined a story that could have otherwise been cute.

Cute & light summer read.

Overall, I feel like the book was a casual cute read. I do think that the main character’s inner monologues were annoying. And I do think her inner conflict was drawn on but for a casual read it’s okay.

Like listening to a dear friend

This is my first Ali Rosen novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Ali writes like a best friend sharing a life story with you. I want all of these characters to be my friends. I laughed out loud, I awww-ed, and I rooted for certain characters. This is not a cozy book by any means but it does give warm fuzzy feelings/vibes.

Cute but a bit slow

This was a pretty typical romcom, but I have to say, not a lot happened. It was pretty slow, and as others have said, the main character is pretty annoying.

I think that the timeline of 9-10 years is very drastic as well. Maybe I’m not realistic, but for me, waiting that long with no serious relationships for either of them, along with the fact that their good friends had been dating that long and were just now getting married… that just seems like a crazy long time gap.

The writing was just okay, could use some improvement.

Just a couple of little things as well- (maybe more for the author than those reading it) at one point the main character refers to her older sister’s ex-husband and says “He bought me my first tampons because I was too embarrassed to tell my mom.” Umm what? Her relationship with her parents was supposedly really good. That was weird.

Then later in the story, a friend of the male love interest- who is supposed to be super nice and likeable and his closest friend- refers to one of his lifelong mottos (something like “being there for the big moments”) and says it’s a “stupid phrase.” Aw. How sweet of her.

Anyway, long story short, an okay debut novel, but maybe try again.

too simple...juvenile

this book is too simple and juvenile. my bookclub picked this and none of us could finish it