The Trouble with Mary

Rating:
Summary: Spit Fire and Tomato Sauce
Review: What do you get when you mix Italian food, Baltimore, Family and Romance? You end up with a very comical,down to earth, pull at your heartstring novel by Millie Criswell.

The Novel is called "The Trouble with Mary". Mary Russo is the middle daughter of an over protective; yet loving Italian Family living in Little Italy. Wanting to break away and become her "Own Woman"; Mary starts her own Italian Restaurant. Enter Daniel Gallagher: Baltimore Sun Food Critic. This Food Critic has more then just a taste for Italian food. Sit back, and watch the Pasta Fly!

Rating:
Summary: A terrific read! (four-plus stars)
Review: When I saw Janet Evanovich recommending the book, I knew I had to get it. Indeed, the cast does remind me of a Plum novel, filled with rich and varied characters with their own delicious foibles, most of whom operate in the comfortable family atmosphere.

Speaking of delicious, each chapter begins with a recipe. The ONLY problem I had with the book is that some of the recipes seemed to have skipped a step here and there. Guess I'll just have to experiment.

But back to the real meat: the book. Great chemistry between hero and heroine; nice, tight plot with lots of humor. The only beef I really had was that I expected the subplot with the brother to be resolved, and I wanted to learn more about the sister, whose marriage does not seem to be in the best of shape. When finished, I saw that the brother's story makes up the next book, and I'm presuming that Sis gets the third. I'll have my eye out for both, for this truly was just a fun, fun read and I expect to be hearing great things from Millie Criswell.

Rating:
Summary: Laugh Out Loud!
Review: Yes, we have all seen this plot somewhere before, but if you like Janet Evanovich's humor, you will like this book. Mary Russo opens her own Italian restaurant. Dan Gallagher, a sports writer forced to turn restaurant critic, bombs her food in a review. She storms into his office to give him a piece of her mind and the book takes off from there. Sweet, very funny, ethnic humor, just a fun read. Nothing heavy. It will make a plane trip zoom by fast. All the characters are a delight. Looking forward to Annie's story.