Sugar and Spice and All Those Lies

Chanterelles garnished with cream and mayhem.

Tantalizing...alluring...satisfyingly luscious Women's Fiction-San Francisco Book Review

Cooking a sumptuous meal is an act of love. An act of grace. An art and passion Gina inherits from her grandfather -a French chef felled by a robber's bullet.

Raised in a marginal neighborhood, she's keen to taste life in the world where she's been chosen to cook. A scintillating world of wealth and privilege, great food, new challenges and fascinating friends.

But beneath this new world, unexpected danger lurks. Gina's passion for cooking is all she has to help her navigate it.

Amidst her culinary adventures, she befriends the pastry chef, worldly loyal Marcia. She falls in love in different ways with two very different men. Leon is a rich playboy, carefree and complicated but charming, persistent, and true to the demands of his legacy. Serious and idealistic Brent is a lawyer turned brooding detective. Haunted by the many violent crimes he has worked on, he prefers to be alone.

Can the lessons Gina learned about cooking and life help her survive and thrive in this other world of privilege, pleasure, and menace?