A Taste of Sage
A Novel
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4.2 • 9 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
An Entertainment Weekly "New Books to Read" Pick • One of Buzzfeed's "Summer Romance Novels to Read"
From talented new writer Yaffa S. Santos, a hilarious and heartwarming rom-com about chefs, cooking, love, and self-discovery—a cross between The Hating Game and Sweetbitter
Lumi Santana is a chef with the gift of synesthesia—she can perceive a person’s emotions by tasting their cooking. Despite being raised by a single mother who taught her that dreams and true love were silly fairy tales, she takes a chance and puts her heart and savings into opening a fusion restaurant in Manhattan. The restaurant offers a mix of the Dominican cuisine she grew up with and other world cuisines that have been a source of culinary inspiration to her.
When Lumi’s venture fails, she is forced to take a position as a sous chef at a staid French restaurant in midtown owned by Julien Dax, a celebrated chef known for his acid tongue and brilliant smile. Lumi and Julien don’t get along in the kitchen and she secretly vows never to taste his cooking. Little does she know that her resolve doesn’t stand a chance against his culinary prowess.
As Julien produces one delectable dish after another, Lumi can no longer resist his creations. She isn’t prepared for the intense feelings that follow, throwing a curveball in her plan to move on as soon as possible. Plus, there’s the matter of Esme, Julien’s receptionist, who seems to always be near and watching. As the attraction between Lumi and Julien simmers, Lumi experiences a tragedy that not only complicates her professional plans, but her love life as well...
Clever, witty, and romantic, A Taste of Sage will delight and entertain until the last page.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Santo cooks up a disappointingly bland debut romance between chefs. After the failure of Lumi Santana's experimental Dominican restaurant in Manhattan, Lumi reluctantly takes a position as sous chef in Julien Dax's traditional French restaurant. At first, Lumi and Julien butt heads, as Lumi attempts her own spin on traditional dishes, but Julien is attracted by Lumi's beauty, and Lumi who possesses the ability to discern a chef's emotions when she eats their food is intrigued by the depth of flavor and feeling in Julien's cooking, and the two begin a romance. After Julien's secretary, Esme, secretly assists in cooking a dessert, Lumi claims she can taste the bitter flavors of Esme's jealousy of Lumi. Still, the women's conflict fails to adequately complicate the plot, which plods along toward its happy ending with few surprises for the protagonists and little to no character development for Santos's supporting cast of largely indistinguishable colleagues and friends. Santos's creativity and humor, however, shine through occasionally in the recipes that accompany many chapters (for Lumi's Rice Chex Smoothie, preparation instructions simply read, "Don't"; others, such as a bouillabaisse with rouille, sound appetizing). Unfortunately, her recipe for romance is not equally inspired.
