Monday, October 20, 2008

Bon Appetit novel by Sandra Byrd free copy


I will send a copy of Bon Appetit by Sandra Byrd to a randomly selected person who leaves a comment on my blog from Oct. 20 to Oct. 24.

This novel is a light and engaging confection about Lexi and her adventures in her new home in a small village outside of Paris, where she is enrolled in a pastry school, which is run by a severe pastry chef who is not fond of Americans.
Lexi is twenty something, and made a dramatic move away from her parents and her ex-boyfriend Dan in Seattle, to a sojourn at the cooking school.

There are tantalizingly delicious recipes included here, descriptions of delectable pastries, and Bible verses, as Lexi studies the Scripture of Jean, which is French for John. She chalks up on an extra menu board the verses from Jean that her church is studying. Lexi is beguiled by a delightful child named Celine and Celine’s widowed father Philippe adds a bit of spice to Lexi’s life.

For tension in her life, Lexi encounters “faux amis” or false friends, who may be sabotaging her in the pastry school. “Faux amis” also refers to words that sound alike in French and English, as Lexi learns to her embarassment when she tells a chef that Americans add preservatives to pastries. The English word “preservative” and the French “preservatif” have shockingly different meanings.
As you read, you will wonder if Lexi will end up with Dan or with Philippe, if she will pass the pastry program which is very difficult, and where she will live in future: in France or in Seattle.

I imagine that the previous novel “Let Them Eat Cake” and a sequel in this French Twist series to be published in 2009, are certain to be as much fun to read as “Bon Appetit.”

9 comments:

Price said...

Oh, I love France...and prolly need to read some fiction this fall!

Flower said...

The Bon Appetit novel sounds very interesting. I'm sure the story rings true to many a cooking heart!! It sounds like a book any cook would enjoy!
I have to say that the more I read about you...I want to know more!! I entered the Back Home site yesterday and found it to be full of good articles. Would it be a good one for the Northwest gardener and naturalist? Mother Earth is a magazine that I have enjoyed reading and didn't even know there was another of it's kind.

Alyce said...

This sounds like a fun read. I'm looking forward to visiting France some time in the next year, and so I'm into everything France right now.

Anonymous said...

Would love to win! Heard about some of the delicious recipes it includes ;)

ylin.0621[at]yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Sounds delicious!

lidochinkywinky@msn.com

Anonymous said...

Sounds like an interesting read!

MonieG said...

This sounds like a great book and I can only imagine how decadent the recipes would be.

Kaye said...

IF it includes pastry, it has to be good!

florida982002@yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

I love to cook and enjoy books like this one! And France is my passion(don't tell my husband :) ) So in this book I have everything I love in ONE!
Thank you.

natatheangel AT yahoo DOT com