Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Book Review: Skinny Bitch In Love


Skinny Bitch in LoveAuthor: Kim Barnouin
Publication Date: June 4, 2013
Publisher: Gallery Books

From the coauthor of the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestselling Skinny Bitch life­style series—a clever, kick-ass novel about friendship, romance, and making healthy choices both in and out of the kitchen.

Clementine Cooper is a born vegan, com­mitted in every way to the healthy lifestyle she was raised with on her father’s organic farm. But how bad could a little butter be? Bad enough to get the ambitious and talented sous chef fired when an influential food critic discovers dairy in Clem’s butternut squash ravioli with garlic sage sauce. Though she was sabotaged by a backstab­bing coworker, Clem finds herself unceremo­niously blackballed from every vegan kitchen in L.A.


Like any vegan chef worth her salt, however, Clem knows how to turn lemons into delicious, cruelty-free lemonade cupcakes. She launches the Skinny Bitch Cooking School in hopes of soon opening her own café in an empty space near her apartment. But on the first day of class, sexy millionaire restaurateur Zach Jeffries puts a fork in her idea with his own plans for the space—a steakhouse. Clem is livid. For a carnivore, Zach is more complicated than she anticipated. He’s also a very good kisser. But could dating one of the most eligible bachelors in the city—and a meat-eater—be as bad for Clem as high-fructose corn syrup? Shouldn’t she fall instead for a man who seems to be her perfect match in every way—like Alexander Orr, a very cute, very sweet vegan chef?


Clem thought she was open-minded, but as she confronts the challenges of budding entrepre­neurship, old rivals, ex-boyfriends, and tempting suitors, she begins to wonder if she can ever say “I love you” to a man who hates tofu.


He didn’t need to know that until I discovered Frizz-Ease as a fourteen-year-old, I also had Bellatrix Lestrange’s hair, only blond.

 
I was a lot of things, but naïve wasn’t one of the. Within twenty minutes, Ty would be named pastry chef at another top restaurant, but I wasn’t kidding about my not being able to “work in this town again.” A vegan chef who cheated to make the food more irresistible to a non-vegan critic? Through. Done. Over.

 
I realized I wasn’t all clenched and miserable the way I’d been for the past twenty-four hours. I might be blackballed in L.A. with barely any money, but I had a plan.


Clementine Cooper was raised on a fully organic farm, by her parents, and as a result of that she has full appreciation for vegan food and keeping your body clean. In this novel we follow Clementine as she gets fired from an elite chef position at the popular restaurant, Fresh, and then pursues her lifelong dream of opening her own restaurant, Clementine’s No Crap Café. At first she panics at the idea of being without a job, but with the help of her friends she realizes that there are other things she can do to put her cooking talents to use. But when a new restaurant moves in right across the street from her apartment, the place where she planned to open her own business, she becomes furious. Not to mention the name of this new restaurant is called, The Silver Steer, and will be serving the types of food that she has sworn off for life.

 
Clementine’s life story was actually what got me so interested in reading this book. She was raised on an organic farm where her father and mother taught her and her siblings how to farm, garden, and eat the right way! Her sister’s name is Apple and her brother’s name is Kale. I just found this all to be extremely interesting. She talks about the times on the farm/garden with her father, and her bond with him really comes out through their amazing passion for vegan foods. I have never tried to be a vegetarian or to eat vegan, but this book really put that lifestyle in perspective. I could tell that the author may have been writing from her own point of view at some points because of the many references to the fact that yes, vegans do get enough vitamins and nutrients from their diets.

 
The romance in this book was nice, sweet, and fast-paced as you expect any summer read to be. Zach Jeffries wasn’t my favorite male character lately, but he did have his good points. I especially liked his attraction and persistence towards Clementine because I felt that she was an awesome character!

 
Lastly, I really enjoyed Clementine’s friends probably more so than I enjoyed reading about her love life. Sara and Ty were excellent components to this story, and were both amazing characters and friends to Clementine when she needed them the most. I loved Clementine’s cooking classes where we got to meet a few new people and hear Clementine go on about her amazing meals some more! Do not read this book when you are hungry! Clementine makes even going vegan sound good!

 
***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Gallery Books in exchange for my honest review***






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