Beth Harbison - The Cookbook Club

MUST LOVE BUTTER: The Cookbook Club is now open to members. Foodies come join us! No diets! No skipping dessert!
Margo Everson sees the call out for the cookbook club and knows she’s found her people. Recently dumped by her self-absorbed husband, who frankly isn’t much of a loss, she has little to show for her marriage but his ‘parting gift’—a dilapidated old farm house—and a collection of well-loved cookbooks
Aja Alexander just hopes her new-found friends won’t notice that that every time she looks at food, she gets queasy. It’s hard hiding a pregnancy, especially one she can’t bring herself to share with her wealthy boyfriend and his snooty mother.
Trista Walker left the cutthroat world of the law behind and decided her fate was to open a restaurant…not the most secure choice ever. But there she could she indulge her passion for creating delectable meals and make money at the same time.
The women bond immediately, but it’s not all popovers with melted brie and blackberry jam. Margo’s farm house is about to fall down around her ears; Trista’s restaurant needs a makeover and rat-removal fast; and as for Aja, just how long can you hide a baby bump anyway?
In this delightful novel, these women form bonds that go beyond a love grilled garlic and soy sauce shrimp. Because what is more important in life than friendship…and food?

Comment: I got interested in this book in 2020, most likely because I saw it being recommended somewhere. The idea of a cookbook club seemed intriguing and I wondered how the certainly different protagonists would be like and which connection they would have with food.

There are three protagonists in this book and they randomly meet and start the cookbook club, for all have the passion for food in common: Margo recently saw her marriage end but cookbooks are her joy, Trista left her job to open up a bar which she hopes to gradually turn into a restaurant and Aja discovers she is pregnant but her boyfriend doesn't seem to want anything with her anymore so food is her refuge.

The three ladies meet once a month to discuss recipes but the truth is that a lot happens to them in between and more than just sharing recipes, they also find friendship and understanding in one another. Could it be that their personal lives can improve as much as their ability to create new dishes?

Since I had previously liked other books where food or cooking or baking had been key elements, I thought I'd find comfort in reading this book for that alone. I will confess, however, that I expected the story to feature even more food talk and food situations than what was included. I understand that the balance between this and the development of the protagonist's lives would be important, but it did seem to me that there was more about them individually and their respective love for food than actual club stuff. Basically, the club meeting part of the story was more an afterthought.

The book isn't long and we need to divide our attention to three main characters but I liked the three of them and not only when they were interacting. Although this isn't primarily a story about romantic relationships, there are romantic elements which elevated the story for me, but I can see how distracting it might be for those who were mostly looking for to read about food or that might have wanted a more woman's fiction type of plot.

Of the three protagonists, I would say I wasn't as invested in Aja. She and her boyfriend break up when Aja meets his mother Lucinda, who seems to be a snob. However, Aja's knowledge on gardening allows her to be hired precisely by Lucinda, and although she denies it at first, Lucinda guesses the father of her child is her son. This is a weird set up and I felt Aja's story line was a little hard to envision, but her attempt to fix the garden means she is physically at Lucinda's house a lot and they become allies of some kind. A lot of Aja's relationship to the club is about how much she eats certain things due to her pregnancy and how she likes to learn more recipes, but I will say this, if Aja were not a main character, I don't think her presence would be missed (by me).

I liked Margo and Trista's stories more because they are the ones who find romance in the process.

Margo and her husband divorce, she keeps an old farm house and, as per romanceland rules, of course an old friend she had a crush on and who went to become very famous, contacts her out of the blue to be a caretaker at that farm, so that he can have a place to be away from the hassle of fame. He finds out she does you tube videos about preparing some dishes for her parents and their friends and, somehow, they reconnect over this and the farm and we learn they have been in love with each other for a long time and never told the other. Although this sounds very cliched, I still liked them as individuals, I liked them together and I felt the cooking part was a cute element to Margo's story line.

Trista was my favorite main character, she left her job as a lawyer over some stuff which is only revealed at the end (and that I found it to be, honestly, quite ridiculous) and decides to become a restaurant/bar owner. She is starting slowly, trying to have steady clients and making changes in a gradual process. She is planning on adding new types of food and makes many experiences. One day she meets Brice and they seem to match but he is engaged and even finds a way to convince her to hire his stepbrother, whom Trista already knew from school. The world is small and while she and Brice seem to be able to talk easily, he cannot be interested, or so she thinks.

These characters should not have that much in common and the story doesn't really get as much depth as I think certain things would achieve, but three main characters to develop can be quite a lot. Nevertheless, I liked the story and I was interested in seeing how they would go from one situation to the next, how would everyone find what they were looking for, mainly the success of their endeavors. I can see how this might not appeal to some readers but it worked out enough for me to appreciate the characters' personalities and the food talk, even though the club part was not that much of a factor.

Grade: 7/10