The Way to a Woman's Heart
by Christina Jones
Genre: Chick Lit, Culinary Theme, Contemporary
Publication: February 2011
Format: Paperback, 455 pages
Buy: Amazon, Book Depository
The Way to a Woman’s Heart is mainly about Ella, who went to this remote English country village called Hideaway Farm as a nanny to get away from her life and boyfriend, Mark. Ella wants to have her own kids and Mark wasn’t fond of kids. Ella thought that by separated with Mark for three months, Mark might think that he can’t live without her and change his mind about having kids.
When Ella met Poll and George (Poll’s son) in Hideaway Farm, she was quickly smitten. Poll then told Ella about her plan to open her home to help those who need a home and that she need Ella to look after young George while she was taking care of the others. Of course, Ella wasn’t sure of the idea, but thought that she will go along with Poll’s plan. Poll then revealed that she had ‘adopted’ three people – Ash (a young chef who lost his home and job because his chef refuse to let his partner, Roy stay with them) Billy (who was accused for murdering his wife) and Trixie (who was accused as an arsonist and lost her home in a fire). They get along just well and found out that they all shared two things in common – cooking and T.V cookery show called Dewberrys Dinners.
When they found out that their favorite Dewberry’s Dinners comes to Hideaway Farm looking for their latest contestant and looking for a venue to film the show, they all (unknown to each other) applied to the show. And thus, their journey to win cash prize and a chance to own their own restaurant begins.
I haven’t read anything written by Christina Jones before, and I thought that I should give The Way to a Woman’s Heart a try. But, this book wasn’t really what I thought it would be. I think I might be deceived by its cover, title and summary (which is the reason why I bought the book in the first place)!
The Way to a Woman’s Heart is a light read with light romance, humor and a little magical element in it (with Trixie believing in fairies). But I thought that the book was more into romance. But sadly, it is not. Although there was a hint of romance, I think it wasn’t enough. There were so little scene of Ella and Ash to the point that I wasn’t really sure when they start to like each other (I just knew that Ella thought of him as hot and handsome and that she like him instantly when they met). Then, there was the romance between Poll and Billy, which sadly didn’t get much coverage as well, except that they start to like each other in first sight.
The story had a slow pace at the beginning with the author trying to introduce the characters into the book. I think that the book finally picked up its pace when the Dewberry’s Dinners TV program is being introduced (which is 1/3 through the book). I thought the book had too much trivial dialogue. It would be better if the author use them to enhance the character’s relationship. I was disappointed with this book but overall, it was an okay read.
Book Cover's Description
Cooking seemed like the perfect distraction - until a delicious chef was thrown in the mix ...
Escaping from corporate city life into the heart of the Berkshire countryside, Ella Maloney hopes to find rural tranquillity and a chance to sort out the problems in her long-term relationship. On arriving, she realises tranquillity is in short supply, but welcomes the distraction her chaotic new life offers - until she meets devastatingly gorgeous, but equally attached, chef Ash Lawrence, and realises that he's maybe one distraction too many.
And when Ella's favourite top-rated TV cookery programme - Dewberry's Dinners - comes looking for a venue to film their latest show, she pulls out all the culinary stops in an attempt to keep her mind on the task in hand (and not on the sexy Ash), but it's hard to keep your head when all around you people are losing theirs ...
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