Tuesday, February 24, 2015

A Table with a View

A Table by the Window by Hillary Manton Lodge is a book that was supplied for review by Monmouth Publishing.    Lodge has a wonderful way of melding together the plot and old family recipes with the welding bead of strong characters.  Using two different, strong cultures that are known for their food and hospitality, Lodge created a main character (with a parent from each culture) and wove the reader beautifully into the history of a family, the restaurant business, siblings, and most importantly the main character.  On top of all of this, the main entree of this story is online dating and the way that God can use overlooked mistakes, such as a power outage, to bring two people together who need to be together.  Like a good recipe brings good ingredients together Lodge brought all of her plot lines, characters, and settings together to create a compelling story that left the reader waiting for a second book.  The first book did end a little too openly, surprising the reader, but--upon reflection--it was also a good ending place.  And the icing on the cake to this was the included recipes; that was a particular favorite.  Well done Hillary Manton Lodge.  Hopefully the sequel comes out soon!