When they were teens, Olivia and Carmello met and fell in love as they worked together in Celia's Place, Carmello's mother's restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island. Raised by activist parents who never stayed in one place long, Olivia finally found a sense of home in the restaurant, which provided her with stability and fed her desire to become a chef. At 20, however, Olivia left Providence to seek her food fortunes elsewhere, and while Carmello wanted to go with her, his loyalty to his mother and her health needs kept him home, and destroyed their relationship. A decade later, Celia has died after a long battle with cancer, leaving Olivia a 25% stake in the restaurant that she hasn't seen in years. While she's still drifting between jobs as a personal chef, Olivia has a bit of time on her hands, and decides to head back to Providence to see what she can do for Celia's Place... and perhaps reignite the relationship to which she compares all others.
Usually, a multicultural second chance romance with lots of droolworthy food, single parents, and good representation of living with mental and physical health issues is a slam-dunk recipe for me. And for the most part, this romance was excellent. HOWEVER, the plot devices related to Celia's will soured it for me, as all of it seemed contrived. But if you're able to look past that, this one is a fun read, though it will make you hungry.
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