Catering to Love

Gabrielle Johnson tests more than new recipes after her parents use their home as collateral to finance her dream restaurant. The Inn at Carters’ Mill in New Hope, Pennsylvania, is just a half-day’s drive but a world away from her failed catering business in New York. Nell and John Carter are retiring and want to sell but not to their moody sous-chef, who wanted them to carry the loan for him. Instead, they carry it for Gabi.

Gabi is thrilled to leave behind her transitional job teaching cooking classes. Hanging out with Cassie and Jamie, her two best friends, has been fun, but she misses the hustle of restaurant life. Carters’ sous-chef, Corey Edwards, is living that life but is mired in bitterness he can’t escape.

When Gabi meets Corey, sparks fly. But the only thing he can remember is his failed restaurant—and the woman he blames for it—and he snarls. Gabi gets busy working with her young staff: Leslie on pastry, Joey on meats, and Steven on the fish grill. And Corey? She waits him out. He’s a pro, and she needs him. And, well, there’s that attraction thing.

Stephanie, clerk at a local motel, turns into a valued friend. She even works the grand opening Gabi holds to draw local customers she needs to pay her rising bills. A big success, it also sharpens Gabi’s ideas for the new menu she is counting on to establish her restaurant’s reputation as the local landmark.

When Corey spills a bit of his past, they have way more than a truce. But then, inexplicably, he picks a fight with her and quits! She is devastated. As pressure mounts to launch the new menu, Gabi tests the strength of her relationships. Her New York rescue squad, those fabulous best friends, have the skills—and the loving humor—to save the day, but is that the best she can expect?

Sixteen recipes, from Gabi’s “Pick-Me-Up” Slow Cooker Chicken to Corey’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” Cherry Crumble, amusingly reveal their makers’ inner thoughts, along with ingredients and instructions.