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Recipe for Love

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 478 ratings · 63 reviews

Take one aspiring cook, one judge, and a spoonful of romance...

When Zoe Harper wins a coveted place in a televised cookery competition she's thrilled. It's a chance to cook her way to fame and fortune and the little delicatessen she's set her heart on.

The first task has hardly begun when she finds herself with rather too much on her plate. Not only has she got to contend w...more

Hardcover, 400 pages

Published March 1st 2012 by Century (first published January 1st 2012)

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Jul 09, 2012 MB rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012, romance-and-chicklit

Thoughts while reading: I am having a real problem with the fact that both of the main characters are essentially cheaters. Totally strips away the romance for me when I can't respect the characters. Basically she would have failed the marshmallow test as a 5-year-old (no impulse control) and he seems to have no personal integrity (or impulse control).

Not liking this one much.

Finished it: Still feel that way. I enjoyed the cooking contest but the romance was unromantic for me.

If you want more...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Julie Lees rated it 4 of 5 stars

Katie Fforde’s recent offering, ‘Recipe for Love’, introduces us to Zoe Harper, an independent and capable young woman who has secured a place in a televised cookery competition.

Following in the wake of the success of ‘The Great British Bake Off’, Fforde has cashed in on the appeal of Paul Hollywood by creating her own delicious judge, Gideon Irving.

When Gideon drives his car, inadvertently, into a ditch on the way to the venue, Zoe is on hand to come to his aid. And Zoe’s compulsion to help doe...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Julie Bonello rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As delicious as a chocolate souffle and as uplifting as sunshine on a rainy day, Recipe for Love is a fun, witty and warm-hearted romantic comedy from the wonderful Katie Fforde!

Winning a coveted spot in a television cookery competition was a dream come true for Zoe Harper. Nobody – least of all Zoe – imagined that she would get through the rigorous selection process or that she would be chosen as a finalist for such a prestigious contest. Determined to make the most of this opportunity, Zoe pac...more As delicious as a chocolate souffle and as uplifting as sunshine on a rainy day, Recipe for Love is a fun, witty and warm-hearted romantic comedy from the wonderful Katie Fforde!

Winning a coveted spot in a television cookery competition was a dream come true for Zoe Harper. Nobody – least of all Zoe – imagined that she would get through the rigorous selection process or that she would be chosen as a finalist for such a prestigious contest. Determined to make the most of this opportunity, Zoe packs her bags and heads off to a beautiful stately home in a picturesque village in the countryside where filming for the show will take place. An excited Zoe cannot believe her luck – nor can she believe that on her arrival she immediately manages to get on the wrong side of one of the culinary world’s most fearsome food critics – and competition judge! – Gideon Irving…

But Zoe is not about to let her little contretemps with Gideon get in the way of her winning this competition. She is adamant that she will give this contest her all and that she will not let anything or anybody stand in the way of achieving her dream – not even her bitchy roommate Cher who seems determined on doing her utmost to spoil Zoe’s chances! Despite all the obstacles standing in her way, Zoe manages to dazzle the judges with her flair for cookery, her passion for food and her ability to rise to every challenge that is set. But just when it looks like victory could be within reach for Zoe, she is shocked when she realises that she has only gone and fallen madly in love with the infuriating, aggravating and drop dead gorgeous Gideon Irving! What will Zoe do? Will she relinquish her place in the competition all for the sake of a casual relationship with a man who has made it perfectly clear that he’s allergic to commitment?

The last thing Gideon Irving had expected when he had agreed to judge a cookery contest was on falling in love with one of the contestants. But grudging admiration for kind-hearted Zoe quickly gave way to an attraction that simply couldn’t be denied. Although Gideon was well aware that falling in love with one of the contestants was against the rules, the saturnine critic finds himself more than willing to throw away the rule book and to kiss the woman whom he just cannot stop thinking about!

As the competition final looms closer, it soon becomes apparent that for Zoe and Gideon there is more than a top prize in a television contest at stake. But are they both prepared to put their hearts on the line and admit the truth about their feelings for one another? Or will they let this chance at happiness slip through their fingers?

Katie Fforde is an absolutely superb writer of romantic comedy and she has truly outdone herself with Recipe for Love! Sparkling with charm, humour and heart, Recipe for Love is an unputdownable tale of fabulous food, the bonds of friendship and the power of unexpected romance that kept me engrossed from beginning to end! I warmed to Zoe from the moment she appeared on the page and Gideon was an absolutely gorgeous hero – think Mr Darcy with a whisk!-no woman will be able to resist!

Fabulously feel-good and wonderfully romantic, Recipe for Love is another winner from the queen of romantic comedy: Katie Fforde!(less)

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Mar 06, 2012 Rea Sinfield rated it 4 of 5 stars

Plot
Take one aspiring cook, one judge, and a spoonful of romance...
When Zoe Harper wins a coveted place in a televised cookery competition she's thrilled. It's a chance to cook her way to fame and fortune and the little delicatessen she's set her heart on.

The first task has hardly begun when she finds herself with rather too much on her plate. Not only has she got to contend with the fiercely competitive and downright devious Cher, but she's fast developing an inconvenient crush on one of the ju...more Plot
Take one aspiring cook, one judge, and a spoonful of romance...
When Zoe Harper wins a coveted place in a televised cookery competition she's thrilled. It's a chance to cook her way to fame and fortune and the little delicatessen she's set her heart on.

The first task has hardly begun when she finds herself with rather too much on her plate. Not only has she got to contend with the fiercely competitive and downright devious Cher, but she's fast developing an inconvenient crush on one of the judges - the truly delicious Gideon Irving.
All too soon there's more than canapés, cupcakes and cordon bleu at stake.

Will Zoe win the competition or is Gideon one temptation too far? And is Zoe really prepared to risk it all for love?

My Opinion
I have recently finished Summer of Love by Katie Fforde which I loved and so when I got the chance to read her latest book Recipe for Love I jumped at the chance. Katie is back again with her beautiful cosy writing style which instantly draws you into the story. I am sure most of you are familiar with Katie Fforde’s work but for any of you who have yet to read one of her books let me explain that Katie’s writing style is like a massage in writing form!

What I found different with this book compared to her previous books is that it had more of a modern feel to it and with this it brought different characters. For the first time in Katie’s books there was a character I did not like from the word go and that was Cher. This wasn’t a problem as her character is not meant to be liked after the situations she put Zoe in but she really did grate on me and I just wanted to shake Zoe and get her to stand up for herself more as I am sure most people would in her situation.

Zoe was a very warm and caring character and would do anything to help other people even if it meant putting herself in risky situations. I also loved the character of Gideon the judge although I did find him very similar to some of Katie Fforde’s previous male characters but it’s that age old saying if it’s not broke don’t fix it!

The storyline was something completely different to the authors previous books with the whole cooking competition which is what gives it a more modern feel but not to worry if any of you are like me and love the cosy country setting that Katie usually creates as there is still a good helping of this throughout the book.

So yet again our Queen of cosy chick-lit provides us with another must read. Thank you Katie Fforde let’s hope it’s not too long for the next book!(less)

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Jun 08, 2012 Bron rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit, easy-read, england, simple-love-story

Another fantastically simple, yet engrossing read by Katie Fforde! I love the straight forward romantic plots, the Englishness of her books, and the unusually handcrafty type jobs all the leading women are given. This story included all of those traits, and was the story of Zoe, who had entered a cooking competition with the aim to win, and open her own deli.

The story takes us behind the scenes at the cooking competition, where we meet Cher the very gorgeous and determined competitor, get a sli...more

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May 18, 2013 Matilda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cute

Reading has never got any tougher than this ( if you don’t get the quote, it’s what the people on master chef always say- and if your still confused this book is about cooking!)
OK so this book is about cooking romance and A FIGHT ~~TO THE DEATH~~ FOR THE BEST CHEF.
If you want to know more here is what’s the book synopsis is

When Zoe Harper wins a coveted place in a televised cookery competition she's thrilled. It's a chance to cook her way to fame and fortune and the little delicatessen she's set h...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Tali rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit

So I was trying to find something pleasant and non-demanding to read and this is exactly what this book gave me. It's a fairly simple romance story that's mixed the setting of a cookery contest. The only part of the story I really disliked was when the heroine, Zoe, vows to stay away from the hero, Gideon, and only manages it for about two minutes - I prefer my protagonists to have some willpower. Other than that though, this was a really nice book to read. The evil Cher was a strangely ineffect...more

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Aug 22, 2012 BestChickLit.com rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is basically Master Chef for literacy fans. An absolute smasher of a book, with various different characters all thrown into the mix, and Zoe is great, ploughing through every obstacle in her way. Fenella and Rupert are fabulous comforting characters, straight out of a Fiona Walker novel, providing a storyline of a different direction.

Gideon is a bit smarmy really, although not an entirely bad character, and you do begin to understand why Zoe likes him.The plot twist is an expected one. How...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Elaine Pollitt rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very easy to read book but I'm afraid I found it very predictable and very unbelievable, Gideon was a most unlikeable guy and have they never heard of mobiles? If they were that much in love surely they would have made contact earlier than they did. I also found the relationship between Zoe and Fenella/Rupert totally unbelievable, have they no friends they could rely on to help them with their new business and baby, they had to rely on this total stranger who liked to clean other people's kitc...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Kirsty (Book - Love - Bug) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Katie Fforde has distinctively simple, yet beautiful, book covers and Recipe for Love is no exception.

I truly loved the characters in this book, except Cher (I wanted to pull her hair and push her face first into the mud) and Rupert's parents are hilariously awful! I also loved the concept of this - it was like a cross between Masterchef and The Great British Bake Off. If you hate cooking, don't let this put you off - the book doesn't require you to be a cooking-lover. There are certainly some d...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Jacqueline rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was heading for a four star until three quarters in when it just seemed to lose its way. Long, pointless sub plots centering on the catering arrangements for a christening and daft caricatures of over-bearing parents-in-law. I was also rather underwhelmed by the dramatic tension supposedly created when the character added too much salt to her recipe. Yes, really.

I think the real reason I was miffed was that there were no rudie bits in this at all. At least usually in a Katie Fforde she buil...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Patricia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, paperback

When I saw that Katie Fforde had written a book about cooking I thought it must be perfect since I love both her romance stories and cooking. The result though was quite disappointing, she did a great job with the cooking contest thing, she did mention very real things and the whole contest was pretty neat. The romance though was weak, far fetched and since I counted like 3 or 4 times they were really together I think that the whole "I love you and can't leave without you" bit was sort of immatu...more

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May 06, 2013 Michelle Ganter rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 06, 2013 Rebeca Rus rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mira qué me gusta Katie Fforde... ¡y la cocina! Tenía muchas esperanzas puestas en este libro pero me ha decepcionado bastante. Se nota que la autora ha investigado muchísimo sobre el mundo de la cocina profesional y los concursos de jóvenes talentos culinarios pero... ay, la historia en sí no me gusta cómo la ha estructurado. Me ha faltado más tensión sexual no resuelta entre los protagonistas y más drama. Tenía todos los elementos para ser una de esas novelas que te ponen los pelos de picos pa...more

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May 03, 2013 Hasna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my first katie fforde book and I looove it. Since I love enjoying food reviews and cookery contest and at the same time wanna read something sweet and heartwarming, this book gave them all. The only thing annoying me was that Zoe and Gideon seemengly didnt live in modern world. Can uou believe they're totally not exchange their mobile number and not texting each other, come on...can we live without gadget these days?. But still I'm satisfied reading this book and longing to read her othe...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Mikey Fernández rated it 4 of 5 stars

Such a lovely book to disappear into. A great example of fun care-free chick lit. The perfect blend of romance, comedy and food I needed to just not think about anything else. Zoe is a very loveable character, as Gideon is snobish enough so you love/hate him.

The array of secondary characters is lovely and provide great fun: even Ruppert's parents.

This is the first book I read by Katie Fforde, but I'm going to download some of her other novels in Amazon right now.

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Feb 21, 2013 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Love, love, love, loved it!

I'm a Katie Fforde fan, and this bookd didn't dissapoint.

The characters were exactly that, and some of them you just loved to hate, Cher being the perfect villain who you just wanted to strangle but made the book & the story what it was.

I had a soft spot for Zoe, and wanted all her dreams to come true! The backdrop of the cookery competition I loved, but then I'm a fan of Masterchef, GBBO etc

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Mar 07, 2013 Sheila rated it 4 of 5 stars

Great book most of the way through. I read it in just over a week which means it has to be pretty compulsive. Katie had done her research well concerning the cooking aspect, the cookery competition seemed very real and compelling, and as usual Katie's characters shone from the grouchy but lovable hero, Gideon Irving, to the competent and resourceful heroine, Zoe Harper. Also a number of others - the blonde, rich nymphomaniac and bitch, Cher and the lovable Fen and Rupert and Sarah and Hugo. The...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Marion Tuckwell rated it 5 of 5 stars

I brought this book from my local brunch of Waterstones on the recommendedation of the bookseller! It was the best advice I had taken! I had read Summer of Love by the same author while on honeymoon about 2 years before getting this one! I had forgotten how good Katie Ffrodes writing is! As I was going on hoilday I took this book with me a finished within 4 days! If you love your romance novels read this book now!

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Jul 23, 2012 Jenn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Exactly what I'm looking for in a good Katie Fforde novel - a charming heroine embarking on a new adventure and finding intelligent, non-trashy romance along the way. In Recipe for Love, our protagonist is a contestant in a reality TV cooking show. (Or, as the Brits would apparently say, "a cookery competition.") Since I love watching those types of shows, I found this novel especially enjoyable.

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Mar 12, 2012 Karen Gooderham rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I loved this book so much that I read it in 24 hours. Katie Fforde is one of my favoriate authors. I loved the main character of the book Zoe and the whole outlook of the book. If you think 'The Great British Bake Off' - but with a bit of a twist to it. Then it will give you a bit of an idea to what the book is about aswell as humor and romance. I did not like Cher at all and I thing this was how she was suppose to come across and it works.

Another great read from Katie FForde - can't wait for th...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Maurynne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: british-women-s-fic

I agree it's not the best Katie Fforde, but it was pretty good. It's the first time I remember her doing repeating characters--sarah the wedding planner makes an appearance, and the cooking show is being filmed at Rupert and Fenella's. Zoe is great. Thought the ending was a little rushed. Maybe it's because I didn't want it to end, and the next Jill Mansell has been postponed a month.

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Sep 16, 2012 Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars

I thought this was a rather sweet. Nothing amazing. I quite liked Zoe's character throughout the book as well as Gideon's. I found myself dozing off at times during her food preperation and the descriptions of the contestants but all in all, I reccommend this book for a light and entertaining read.

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Jun 22, 2012 Dymphna rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a another great book by one of my favourite authors.
Since I hugely enjoy watching cookery programmes on television, this was a book I was really looking forward to and it didn't disappoint.
Lovely characters with some old favourites plus an amazing setting and a nasty 'villain' makes this just the book I needed to put a smile back on my face.

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Jul 30, 2012 Belinda rated it 2 of 5 stars

The heroine is annoyingly average, the holes in the plot are so huge you could drive a truck through them and the improbability rating is so high that the whole thing became frankly unenjoyable. Katie Fforde has written other books that are much better than this.

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Sep 16, 2012 Mekerei rated it 3 of 5 stars

Typical girl meets judge, falls in love, misunderstanding; then happily ever after.

Needed a happy ending after The Orphan Master's Son

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Jul 25, 2012 Brenda Christiansen rated it 2 of 5 stars

I generally enjoy all of Katie Fforde's books but this one was a bit of a disappointment. I didn't like that both of the main characters were cheaters. It made it hard to root for them to get together in the end.

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Jul 25, 2012 Lorna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Katie is another great chick lit writer, you know exactly what to expect and she does deliver. A good story and characters that take you along on their journey. Enjoyable, funny and very entertaining.

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May 01, 2012 Erica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Nothing like a good chick lit story to lighten my week. Katie Fforde is one of the best in this genre. Likeable characters, fun situations and always a happy ending. What more could you ask?

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Mar 25, 2012 Kim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, kindle

Katie Fforde is one of my favourite authors and this one certainly didn't disappoint. I read it in a couple of days because I didn't want to put it down. I loved the cookery competition and hated the Cher character- she was so underhand!

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About Katie Fforde

Catherine Rose Gordon-Cumming was born 27 September 1952 in England, UK, the daughter of Shirley Barbara Laub and Michael Willoughby Gordon-Cumming. Her grandfather was Sir William Gordon-Cumming. Her sister is fellow writer Jane Gordon-Cumming. Katie married with Desmond Fforde, cousin of the also writer Jasper Fforde. She had three children: Guy, Francis and Briony and didn't start writing befor...more

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