20 Fantastic and Flavorful Food Fiction Reads

Heartless

by Marissa Meyer

Have you ever wanted to know the origin story for the Queen of Hearts? In this Alice's Adventures in Wonderland prequel, Catherine is a talented baker and her greatest dream is opening a cupcake shop. Instead, she's navigating a secret courtship even as she snags the unwanted attention of the unmarried King. Stock up on baking supplies before you start because Catherine's cupcakes are sure to inspire you...and cupcakes may be exactly what you crave because of this heartbreaking read.

Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies

by Laura Esquivel

Set in turn-of-the-century Mexico, Laura Esquivel imbues her novel with magical realism to great effect. As the youngest daughter, Tita De Garza is forbidden to marry as she must care for her mother until she dies. When she and Pedro fall in love, he marries her sister so they can at least be near each other. If that sounds like a recipe for torture, you're right. As the family deals with one tragedy after another, Tita pours her emotions into her cooking as she preserves their recipes, causing everyone who eats the food to react in different ways. It will have you yearning for Tita and Pedro to somehow find a way back to one another.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

by Fannie Flagg

Barbecue, laughter, and the occasional side of murder. Meet tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth who ran a diner in Whistle Stop, Alabama in the 1930s, as told by Mrs. Threadgoode to Evelyn (and us) 50 years later. Evelyn has been in need of a jump-start for her middle aged life, making this a great choice for anyone wanting to read about seasoned female protagonists.

American Dreamer: A Multicultural Romance (Dreamers Book 1)

by Adriana Herrera

This contemporary romance debut is going to make you hungry. Moving from NYC to Ithaca, Dominican Republic immigrant Nesto gives himself six months to make a real go of his Afro-Caribbean food truck business. Youth services librarian Jude is trying to get funding for a library bookmobile as a way of getting services to more rural areas. Neither man can afford the distraction but some chances are worth taking. The food descriptions are amazing, as is Nesto's philosophy of food as a way of maintaining cultural roots and nourishing his community in the US. You'll wish you could get in on the meals he makes for Jude, too. (Open door.)

The Mistress of Spices

by Chitra Divakaruni

Divakaruni's first novel tells the story of Tilo, a young Indian girl trained in the magical powers of spices and their blends. She disguises herself in a run-down spice shop in Oakland, California, where she uses her powers to improve the lives of the immigrant Indians who come to her for spices, but her longing to find a love of her own tempts her to leave her magical post in search of her own fate.

Tikka Chance on Me

by Suleikha Snyder

Opposites attract between bad boy biker Trucker and good girl waitress Pinky in this contemporary romance novella. Trucker always comes in to her family’s Indian restaurant and one day they finally move past their assumptions of one another and realize they have more in common than they ever could have guessed. A fun read. (Open door.)

The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living

by Louise Miller

This was a fun, more-or-less lighthearted read about a Boston pastry chef who flees to the country after literally setting her workplace on fire with a flambéed dessert. Reviewers called this parts Jan Karon and parts Gilmore Girls. Perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan's The Little Beach Street Bakery or Laura Dave's Eight Hundred Grapes.

Idlewild

by Jude Sierra

Asher has one last shot to make the Detroit gastro pub he started with his late husband work. He starts by firing the old staff and hiring replacements, including recent college grad Tyler who needs money for med school. Their relationship evolves from business to friendship and then later, something more. A great behind-the-scenes on the restaurant industry and Detroit’s revival. (Semi-open door.)

The School of Essential Ingredients

by Erica Bauermeister

From the publisher: "Once a month, eight students gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class. Among them is Claire, a young woman coming to terms with her new identity as a mother; Tom, a lawyer whose life has been overturned by loss; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer adapting to life in America; and Carl and Helen, a long-married couple whose union contains surprises the rest of the class would never suspect. The students have come to learn the art behind Lillian's soulful dishes, but it soon becomes clear that each seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. And soon they are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of what they create."

The Marriage Game

by Sara Desai

Layla returns home to San Francisco after her life falls apart. Her father offers her the office upstairs from his Michelin starred Indian restaurant (helpful) and secretly creates an online dating profile for her and arranges a series of blind dates (not helpful.) Sam thought he was renting the office upstairs but finds out he’ll have to share it with Layla and her potential suitors. These two opposites will have you smiling as you read!

Sourdough

by Robin Sloan

From the publisher: "In his much-anticipated new audiobook, Robin Sloan does for the world of food what he did for the world of books in Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. Lois Clary is a software engineer at General Dexterity, a San Francisco robotics company with world-changing ambitions. She codes all day and collapses at night, her human contact limited to the two brothers who run the neighborhood hole-in-the-wall from which she orders dinner every evening. Then, disaster! Visa issues. The brothers close up shop, and fast. But they have one last delivery for Lois: their culture, the sourdough starter used to bake their bread. She must keep it alive, they tell her - feed it daily, play it music, and learn to bake with it. Soon, not only is she eating her own homemade bread, she's providing loaves daily to the General Dexterity cafeteria. The company chef urges her to take her product to the farmer's market, and a whole new world opens up."

The Way You Make Me Feel

by Maurene Goo

Clara is sentenced to a summer working at her father’s food truck after one prank goes too far. Hamlet works at the coffee shop next to one of the food truck stops. A funny coming of age YA tale about friendship, crushes, and finding yourself in the most unexpected places.

The Proposal

by Jasmine Guillory

Entertainment Weekly calls this "a swoony rom-com brimming with humor and charm." From the publisher: "The author of The Wedding Date serves up a novel about what happens when a public proposal doesn't turn into a happy ending, thanks to a woman who knows exactly how to make one on her own... When someone asks you to spend your life with him, it shouldn't come as a surprise--or happen in front of 45,000 people. At the game with his sister, Carlos Ibarra comes to Nik's rescue and rushes her away from a camera crew. He's even there for her when the video goes viral and Nik's social media blows up—in a bad way. Nik knows that in the wilds of LA, a handsome doctor like Carlos can't be looking for anything serious, so she embarks on an epic rebound with him, filled with food, fun, and fantastic sex. But when their glorified hookups start breaking the rules, one of them has to be smart enough to put on the brakes..."

The Lager Queen of Minnesota

by J. Ryan Stradal

A novel of family, Midwestern values, hard work, fate and the secrets of making a world-class beer.

Garden Spells

by Sarah Addison Allen

Sweet, sparkly, and thoroughly Southern. Like all the women in her family, Claire Waverley possesses a unique magic: she uses edible flowers to prepare foods that affect the eater in “curious ways.” Years ago, Claire’s sister fled town—and her Waverley gift—but she discovers her own sort of magic when she returns. What to say about this book? The romance verges on twee, the magic is impossible, but put them together and it sings. If you’re not down with supernatural food or a magical apple tree, skip this one—but you should know how many readers call this “a wonderful surprise.” Allen’s long-anticipated next novel, Other Birds, is due out August 30. Open-ish door. For fans of Emily Henry’s Book Lovers and Maria de los Santos’s Love Walked In.

Small Change

by Roan Parrish

We've got a tattoo shop owner heroine and a cinnamon roll of a hero who owns a sandwich shop and just wants to make sure she's well fed in this contemporary romance.

Little Beach Street Bakery

by Jenny Colgan

Polly’s life is in ruins: in one fell swoop, she’s lost her business, her boyfriend, and her flat. She can’t afford a place in town, so she’s forced to move out of the city—way out of the city, to a remote British island town, in a flat above an abandoned shop. (Everyone’s reaction to her new home: shouldn’t this place be condemned?) Polly turns to baking to cheer herself up, and before long her favorite hobby turns into something more substantial than she ever dared to dream. (Many readers will appreciate the lack of lascivious scenes. Her characters aren’t all chaste, but that action happens offscreen.) A sweet and multilayered story about starting over, with lots of heart, perfect for fans of Emily Giffin and Jojo Moyes.

With the Fire on High

by Elizabeth Acevedo

Seventeen-year old single mother Emoni has always been told she has a magical touch in the kitchen. She dreams of a career as a chef but she doesn't have the time or money for her school's new culinary arts class, not if she's going to still be able to work part-time and provide for her child. She's torn in a lot of directions but her passion for food is clear. Told in stunning prose, this novel captured my heart—and made me want to bake! Acevedo creates fabulous characters to root for, and you'll be cheering for Emoni as you listen.

All Four Stars

by Tara Dairman

Unbeknownst to everyone, NYC’s toughest restaurant critic is an 11 year old girl. Gladys started cooking impressive gourmet meals when she was 7 but she has to find a new outlet when her parents cut her off from the kitchen after a mishap. When she accidentally gets contacted to write a restaurant review, it seems like a sign. There’s just the little matter of keeping her identity a secret. A fun middle grade read.

Recipe for Persuasion

by Sonali Dev

This follow-up to Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors stands on its own. In this loose retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Ashna is a Bay Area chef so desperate to save her family’s failing restaurant she agrees to compete on the reality tv show Cooking with the Stars. That’s where she reconnects with her first love—now a Brazilian soccer star—on live tv, for the first time since he disappeared twelve years ago on the worst night of her life. Dev puts her own spin on Austen’s classic, while highlighting the timeless themes of the original: a young woman sensitive to her family’s criticism, a disadvantaged young man with no credentials but a bright future, an unexpected second chance at first love. A sensitive, satisfying update.

20 Fantastic and Flavorful Food Fiction Reads

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