Review: Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake
by Amy E. Reichert
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication date: July 21, 2015
Genre: Romance
Rating:

In downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Lou works tirelessly to build her beloved yet struggling French restaurant, Luella’s, into a success. She cheerfully balances her demanding business and even more demanding fiancé…until the morning she discovers him in the buff—with an intern.

Witty yet gruff British transplant Al is keeping himself employed and entertained by writing scathing reviews of local restaurants in the Milwaukee newspaper under a pseudonym. When an anonymous tip sends him to Luella’s, little does he know he’s arrived on the worst day of the chef’s life. The review practically writes itself: underdone fish, scorched sauce, distracted service—he unleashes his worst.

The day that Al’s mean-spirited review of Luella’s runs, the two cross paths in a pub: Lou drowning her sorrows, and Al celebrating his latest publication. As they chat, Al playfully challenges Lou to show him the best of Milwaukee and she’s game—but only if they never discuss work, which Al readily agrees to. As they explore the city’s local delicacies and their mutual attraction, Lou’s restaurant faces closure, while Al’s column gains popularity. It’s only a matter of time before the two fall in love…but when the truth comes out, can Lou overlook the past to chase her future?

Set in the lovely, quirky heart of Wisconsin, The Coincidence of Coconut Cake is a charming love story of misunderstandings, mistaken identity, and the power of food to bring two people together.

This is a super cute romance between a chef/restaurant owner and the columnist who wrote a bad review of their establishment. You see, when Lou finds her fiance playing hide the pickle with someone from his office, her day takes a turn for the worst. Instead of having a great day at work, she has one of the worst days of history. Not only does she mess up orders, serve under-cooked food, and snaps at her waitstaff, but she does all this unbeknownst to her on the day that the infamous A. L. Woodski is dining in her establishment. So, to rub salt in the wound, she ends up with a scathing review of her restaurant. However, what she doesn’t know is that A. L. Woodski is none other than the handsome Al she recently met who’s been charming his way into her life.

I really liked that we got both POV’s in this story. It really helped paint a full picture of what was going on. Al has no clue that Luella’s is owned and run by Lou, the beautiful lady he bumped into on the street. Especially since the restaurant is signed under Elizabeth, not Lou. So these two have no clue about the other until much later in the story. The fact that we got that insight helped the reader understand that Al wasn’t a bad guy. Heck, we were witness to the awful experience he had an Luella’s. So we understand how he could have written a scathing review, because his time at the restaurant was horrible and he wound up sick from it. However, as the story progresses and Al finds out that Lou is the owner of Luella’s and all her talk about struggling at work is in part due to his awful review of the place, he feels responsible and tries to make things right. So, even though Al is this supposed “bad guy” to Lou and her friends, he really wasn’t that horrible at all.

One thing that I feel like you should know as a reader is that you are going to walk away from this book extremely hungry and wanting cake. The author does a great job following Lou and Al around as they sample and make various dishes. The descriptions are so on point that I could almost taste the dishes they were eating. So, be sure to have a snack handy because you will be hungry most of the time while reading this story.

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake was a cute romantic read. The author took her time bringing these two character together and over time they formed a pretty tight bond. Between the amazing secondary characters, to the food descriptions, the book was an absolute delight! Definitely pick this up if you are in the mood for a little bit of romance.