Sam is a restaurant
critic. He takes his job seriously, so seriously that when the family
moves to Philadelphia for his new job, he refuses to let Lila make friends
with the new neighbors. He believes that he has to be anonymous when
he visits a restaurant so he isn't given special treatment because of
his review.
Lila is pregnant
with their second child. She has given up her job as a
trouble-shooter for a hotel chain, and the misses it. She loved
managing crises. Of course, being a mom involves crises, but it's not
the same. Gradually, Lila makes friends, but this leads to a strain
on the marriage.
I found this book
hard to get into. I chose it because I thought the background of the
restaurant business would be interesting. I admit the author did a
good job describing what happens in the restaurant business and how a
food critic operates. However, I could not like the main characters.
Sam is paranoid
about his job. I thought his insistence on Lila having no contact
with her new neighbors was way over the top. Lila wasn't a character
I could relate to either. She misses her old job to the point where
she is missing out on the fun of being a mom. This may be a good book
for someone dealing with the same problem, but I found her inability
to adapt rather selfish. In fact, they both seemed selfish.
This is a quick read
and would work well for a young mother facing some of the same issues
as Lila. However, I can't recommend it highly because the characters
didn't seem real to me. Sam is too paranoid and Lila, while unhappy,
doesn't try hard to work things out with him.
I received this book
for Net Galley for this review.
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