Excellent! 'The Saturday Night Supper Club' - A Supper Club Novel 1 - by Carla Laureano

This was a wonderful story that will make your mouth water!  There were so many yummy dishes I wanted to try.  Rachel Bishop is an award-winning chef running a restaurant in Denver when an article mentioning a sexist critic's remarks about her restaurant goes viral.  Rachel hates the spotlight but blurts out a statement taken the wrong way and suddenly there's a Twitter campaign against her.  Her partners force her out and she's not sure what to do.  She's a pariah in the restaurant business.

Alex Kanin had no idea what would happen when he wrote anonymously about a Denver chef and a critic or that Rachel would lose her restaurant.  He feels responsible and vows to make it up to her.  He feels so guilty he's developed writer's block, so the quicker he can fix Rachel's life the better.  She comes up with a pop-up supper club idea where they make some meals for influential people and, with his connections to possible investors, it seems like a win-win.  Alex comes to find there's more to Rachel than just being a chef and Alex isn't the jerk she thought he was.  The only problem might be resisting the attraction between them.

This was a well-written story with some cute romantic elements and some funny banter.  There were many moments that made me laugh and plenty that made me want to eat!  I loved both characters as Alex was such a stand-up guy who wanted to do the right thing, even if it hurt, and Rachel was so talented and yet kept herself cut off from love because of what she'd gone through in the past.  They talked about their faith journeys a little bit and prayed for guidance.  I liked Rachel's gratitude journal.  It's incredibly important to find things to be thankful for and yet can be really hard sometimes.  It was interesting to find out some background to Alex's story as he grew up in a Russian household in America; it gave the story a unique element.  I also liked the bits about his rock climbing.  Rachel's friends were great!  They were always there for her and the next book is about her friend, Melody.  I can't wait!  The story dealt with some different issues, like not living up to your parents' expectations, finding your identity, low self-esteem and social media.  There were a few things that felt open-ended but I'm hoping we get answers in the coming books.  I highly recommend it!

I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

First Chapter pdf
Author Q & A

Author Bio

C. E. Laureano Carla Laureano is the RITA® Award-winning author of contemporary inspirational romance and Celtic fantasy (as C.E. Laureano). A graduate of Pepperdine University, she worked as a sales and marketing executive for nearly a decade before leaving corporate life behind to write fiction full-time. She currently lives in Denver with her husband and two sons, where she writes during the day and cooks things at night.