Virtually Perfect
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Not so long ago, Lizzie Glass had a successful TV show, a cookbook deal, and a social diary crammed with parties and events. But fame doesn’t stay fresh for long. Her show fizzles, her magazine column is canceled, and Lizzie’s only option is a summer job as personal chef to the Silvesters, a wealthy and eccentric family.
Their beach house is a lavish, beautifully decorated palace on the Jersey Shore, and Lizzie gets to work catering to Kathryn and Jim Silvester’s fashionably restrictive diets. But it’s their
twenty-something daughter who presents Lizzie with her biggest challenge—professionally and personally. A self-proclaimed “wellness warrior,” Zoe Silvester has a hugely popular website and app that promotes healthy living and organic, unprocessed foods. Yet Lizzie soon realizes that The Clean Life site has a dirty little secret. In fact, Zoe’s entire online persona is based on a dangerous hoax that runs deep and will damage lives. Exposing Zoe won’t just jeopardize Lizzie’s job and a promising new relationship—it may expose the cracks in her own past.
Sharply observed, witty, and thoughtful, Paige Roberts’ debut novel is a compelling look at one woman’s journey toward reinventing herself—and seeing through the façade of others—to discover the imperfect but sometimes wonderful truth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Roberts's debut novel is both entertaining and incisive. Thirty-year-old Lizzie Glass feels she's already a has-been. Her television cooking show, Healthy U, has been cancelled, along with her magazine column. Her only way to make ends meet is to take a summer job as the live-in private chef for millionaires Jim and Kathryn Silvester at their Jersey Shore beach house. As she meets Silvester family members and friends, Lizzie's life will be most affected by the Silvesters' 23-year-old daughter, Zoe, who has a successful "clean living" health website and brand. Meanwhile, Lizzie's mom, Susan, has her own problems that she doesn't want to burden Lizzie with, but ultimately Susan's and Zoe's lives intersect and Lizzie is determined to help. Lizzie's intelligence and moral compass ground the story, and although she is flawed herself, her self-awareness makes her an inspiring heroine. Readers are treated to ample helpings of snappy dialogue and vivid characters. The book contains plenty of humor, but the ending turns more serious, giving readers some food for thought.
