“The Glass Kitchen” by Linda Francis Lee
Blurb: Portia Cuthcart and her two sisters find their way from Texas to Manhattan over the years, the heiresses to a dilapidated brownstone on the Upper West Side. Portia is running from a bad divorce and the knowledge that she has always been a little bit different, a little bit strange: the talented cook who knew exactly what to serve on what occasion, even to the point of predicting events that hadn’t even happened yet. But she doesn’t cook anymore. She has tamped down this “knowing.” It has caused her way too many problems. When she meets twelve-year-old Ariel Kane, she sees a girl in desperate need of a mother and a family in dire need of fried chicken, biscuits, and strawberry rhubarb pie. Widowed Gabriel Kane has his hands full with two daughters on the cusp on womanhood, plus the Kane family have so many secrets and rivalries of their own. Ariel, especially, must find a way to bring them all together with the help of Portia: the non-cook, the non-believer in happy endings. Portia, who just might have to rethink the pages of her own story and take a few chances to claim what she wants deep down inside…
My Review: My original date for this review wasn’t supposed to be until July, but when I started this book on a lazy Friday night, I couldn’t put this book down, nor did I want to. I was quickly hooked by Portia’s “knowing” with food, wondering where it would take her along her journey.
I loved the characters that the author created, as they held my attention, and I couldn’t get enough of them. It’s obvious that Portia and Gabriel have chemistry from the moment they met, but it’s also easy to see that he tries his best to ignore it. To some, he might come off as a jerk, but after reading more about him and his past, it was easy to understand why he acts how he does. As for his daughter, Ariel, I loved her. She acts way beyond her years, but that’s something I liked about her, and it seemed to add mystery to the story, too.
As for the “knowing”, I found it to be a very refreshing storyline. Nothing in this book has been overused, nor have I read anything like it. “The Glass Kitchen” had it all — intrigue, romance, mystery, and a happy ending, (I even got a little sappy during the last chapter).
This is my first book to read by Linda Francis Lee, and it don’t be my last. If you’re looking for a page-turner, which would make for a great beach read, you will love this book.
I give “The Glass Kitchen” 5 stars!
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About author, Linda Francis Lee: Linda Francis Lee is a native Texan now living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The author of twenty books that are published in twenty countries, when Linda isn’t writing she loves to run in Central Park and spend time with her husband, family, and friends.
