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Too Many Cooks

4.22 of 5 stars 4.22 · rating details · 9 ratings · 6 reviews

Bitter news leads a San Diego widow and widower to true love—and to a scheme to marry off their adult children, a plan that goes deliciously awry.

Gaetano Lorenzo was the sweetest man that the widowed Estelle Bennett had ever met. That morning began terribly, with awful news, but now the owner and head chef of a local San Diego ristorante was offering up Italian delights: r...more

ebook, 221 pages

Published July 18th 2012 by Boroughs Publishing Group

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Sep 03, 2012 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-tour, contemporary, romance

Too Many Cooks is a sweet romance about finding love when you least expect it. I see Estelle and Gaetano like most parents. They want their kids happy, and happy equals married and having babies. Estelle misunderstands a conversation the she over hears her doctor have and assumes that she is dying. After fleeing before speaking to the doctor she stops off at a restaurant to have a drink. a simple drink turns into crying on the shoulder of chef and owner Gaetano. Gaetano in a great Italian chef...more Too Many Cooks is a sweet romance about finding love when you least expect it. I see Estelle and Gaetano like most parents. They want their kids happy, and happy equals married and having babies. Estelle misunderstands a conversation the she over hears her doctor have and assumes that she is dying. After fleeing before speaking to the doctor she stops off at a restaurant to have a drink. a simple drink turns into crying on the shoulder of chef and owner Gaetano. Gaetano in a great Italian chef with a big heart. He comforts Estelle. They end up forging a plan to bring their kids together. Seems like it may work but Gina and Alex are stubborn. this stubbornness prevents them from really getting to know one another. Gaetano and Estelle grow closer each day. their friendship blossoms into much more. They worry the kids will never be as happy and in love as them.

I thought this story was cute but I didn't like the storyline revolving Boris. He is a client of Gina's and is harassing her. It felt like this part of the story was placed here to create a reason for Gina and Alex to get together. Yeah they were taking a little longer to get to were they should be but in time I think without Boris they would have worked. This part of the story stuck out but not in a good way. It was out of place. I think that Alex and Gina work. They push each others buttons in a good way. I think that they are happy in their lives with their thriving careers, but their parents feel different. Most parents do. Whose parents don't question you about settling down once you hit 25? Estelle and Gaetano mean well, they just want to secure their children's happiness by finding them love.

Overall I thought that this was a sweet love story. It is appealing as a quick weekend read, but not something I would write home about. It does have some flaws in the plot but it did have a few things I enjoyed too.

I received this book courtesy of the author and Innovative Online Books Tours for an honest review. (less)

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Aug 27, 2012 Ruth Hill rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-books, romance

Don't let the brevity of this book make you think it is not worth reading! I say that first and foremost because this is possibly the first short book to which I have been able to give an amazing 5-star rating, and I can say whole-heartedly that this book deserves all the accolades I am giving it.

The romance, story line, and even mystery made this book an absolute winner. I loved every character, and I almost could not put this book down. I had a portion of the "mystery" figured out from the beg...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Andrea Guy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads, ebook, innovativebooktours, quick-reads, readingromanceschallenge2012, romance

I have to say, I've really been reading a lot of books that are food related lately. I'm not sure if this is a good thing for my waistline, because inevitably all of these books make me hungry.

It is a quick read and a fun read, although it is a romance, there's some serious stuff going on as well. I love that its really two love stories in one, the relationship between the parents and then the children.

The book starts out concentrating on the relationship between Estelle and Gaetano. I really l...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Kimba (Caffeinated Book Reviewer) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Too Many Cooks is a funny and sweet novel with an added touch of suspense. Set in San Diego, Wilder share with us the delightful story of a widowed woman and a widower who set into motion a scheme to marry off their adult children only to find something more. This was a delicious read that I consumed in a single evening.

The tale begins when we meet Estelle Bennett. She is a widower and mother to twenty-nine year old Alex a successful photographer who travels all over the world but remains single...more Too Many Cooks is a funny and sweet novel with an added touch of suspense. Set in San Diego, Wilder share with us the delightful story of a widowed woman and a widower who set into motion a scheme to marry off their adult children only to find something more. This was a delicious read that I consumed in a single evening.

The tale begins when we meet Estelle Bennett. She is a widower and mother to twenty-nine year old Alex a successful photographer who travels all over the world but remains single and unsettled. Estelle has just received the worse news and decides to stop for a drink in the middle of the afternoon. She stops at Gatetano’s restaurant for a glass of wine. Owner Gaetano Lorenzo loves preparing food and helping his customers. When he notices Estelle, he senses something is wrong and sets out to take care of her. He gets her the best wine, and hand selects her meal. Estelle is shocked when the handsome Gaetano sits and eats with her. The two quickly fall into conversation and share photos of their children. They talk about wanting their children to find someone and settle down. Gaetano has a lovely daughter named Gina, who spends all of her time winning cases as a lawyer and has no social life. After a few glasses of wine, and his kind words, Estelle shares her devastating news. The tale that unfolds is predictable but delightful as these two begin a friendship and set out to help their children.

I connected with Estelle and found her to be a witty, sensible woman. While she loved her deceased husband the feelings awakening in her have her glowing like a teen. While she works to deal with her new reality, she finds herself enjoying life. Gaetano is so lovable and how I think of a typical Italian father. He adores his daughter, loves his restaurant and meddles in the lives of people he cares about. I loved the interactions between Estelle and Gaetano. His sweet talk was both romantic and hilarious. Alex is devastatingly handsome and loves his job. He has had a tough time keeping a relationship, since his it requires so much travel. Gina cannot cook, is a neat freak and has to win in the court room. She’d like a social life but pressures at her firm keep her from pursuing one. Alex and Gina were hilarious together and watching them come together despite numerous obstacles was fun.

Wilder’s tale is character driven and the scenario used to take Estelle out of her comfort zone and smack dab into the joy of living was refreshing. While I will admit the plot was predictable, a twist in the tale added mystery and suspense. The story flowed well and the characters had depth and believability. I found myself rooting for them and became wrapped up in the outcome.

I want to thank the author and Innovative Online Book Tours for providing this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.
Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer (less)

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Sep 11, 2012 Toni Sinns rated it 4 of 5 stars

1 Widowed woman + 1 widowed man + A lovely Italian restaurant + A crazy plan + 1 single son + 1 single daughter = 2 unique and intertwined love stories that will have you laughing, crying, worrying, hopeful, and flipping the pages as you watch the world unfold.

Is it really to crazy to hold on to old traditions in new worlds? Is the new way of doing things to fast paced to notice the small things? Does a disease really make you look at your life differently?

The truth is Love finds itself in ma...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Pamela rated it 5 of 5 stars

So much fun! Fell in love with Gaetano myself.... Looking forward to more from Shirley Ann Wilder!

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Jan 22, 2013 Jen - At Random marked it as to-read

Shelves: foodies, i-own, tbr-i-own

Nov 14, 2012 Turning Pages rated it 4 of 5 stars

Oct 18, 2012 Denise Wedge marked it as to-read

Sep 16, 2012 A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol) marked it as to-read

Shelves: romance

Sep 11, 2012 Linda Cook marked it as to-read

Sep 11, 2012 DeeJ marked it as to-read

Sep 02, 2012 Morgan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sep 22, 2012 Billie is currently reading it

Aug 26, 2012 Jacqueline marked it as to-read

Oct 26, 2012 Dani C. (Paulette's Papers) marked it as i-own-kindle

Aug 24, 2012 Kathy Garat marked it as to-read

Aug 15, 2012 Lacrisha rated it 5 of 5 stars

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About Shirley Ann Wilder

From the time she could hold a pencil, Shirley Ann Wilder wrote stories. Being the youngest of six children, she was overlooked many times but found wonder and magic in reading books. As a youngster she was especially fond of horse books and read every one of Walter Farley’s Black Stallion books.

That passion for horses carried over into her adult life and with her husband and four children, raised...more From the time she could hold a pencil, Shirley Ann Wilder wrote stories. Being the youngest of six children, she was overlooked many times but found wonder and magic in reading books. As a youngster she was especially fond of horse books and read every one of Walter Farley’s Black Stallion books.

That passion for horses carried over into her adult life and with her husband and four children, raised Quarter Horses and German Shepherds. Shirley’s other passion was writing, but it was put on hold until the three sons and one daughter were in high school.

After developing a severe allergy to the equine species and having to give up the major part of horse involvement, Shirley wrote a weekly column for a community newspaper and a monthly column entitled “On the Wilder Side” for the California Horseman’s News in the which she recounted the humorous episodes that happened during the Wilder Family’s horse era. Shirley also published in college literary magazines, but her real quest was to write novels.

After taking numerous writing classes and amassing many unfinished manuscripts, one of her writing instructors suggested she join Romance Writers of America. Taking that advice she also joined the local San Diego RWA chapter has since completed six novels. She served on the Executive Board as Co-President of RWA- San Diego for 2006 and 2007 and held several other chair positions. She credits her fellow writers for the support and encouragement that has kept her writing during recent difficult times.

Shirley Ann was widowed in January of 2008 when her husband died of stage four colon cancer after battling it bravely for three years and four months. Three of her grown children live near her in suburbs of San Diego and one son lives in Kentucky. They have blessed her with four granddaughters and one grandson.

Since her husband’s death, Shirley has become an advocate for colonoscopies and is currently working on a non-fiction book about the grieving process and all one encounters when suffering the loss of a mate. “John was my hero and I will miss him forever, but he always encouraged me to keep writing and to stay strong.(less)

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