Good Things

Live Simple, and Simply Live is a popular Seattle cooking and lifestyle show and host Deidre McIntosh is perfectly happy. She has a loyal following, enjoys her work, lives in a great condo for little rent rooming with her gay best friend William, and is able to afford the things she wants in life.

In the space of a very short week, her situation goes from peak to valley and it is a nasty plummet from that height. A rival channel decides to put forth a similar show during the same time slot with a catty socialite hostess. Her own station decides to cancel her show instead of competing. Then William breaks the news that he is in love and wants to move in with his boyfriend. Since Deidre’s name never made it onto the lease she is suddenly left without a job, without a place to stay and without much in prospects. Oh, and thanks to her self-indulgent shopping all of these years, her savings are going to dwindle fast.

Enter Kevin Johnson…met by chance and terribly attractive. He offers her his place in the country as somewhere to stay until she plans out what she wants to do next. Since Deidre’s options are so limited she takes him up on his offer and proceeds to rediscover the joys of simple living even as she brainstorms on how to get back on track in the city.

One’s main complaint is the somewhat over-the-top run of bad luck for the heroine to set up the story and some difficult to believe callousness on the part of those that are closest to her. This and a couple of extraordinary coincidences give a contrived feel over a couple of parts of the book.

Readers will enjoy seeing Deidre grow from depending on others to becoming someone who is willing to learn to take care of herself and her interests. That she is able to find a measure of satisfaction in doing the simple everyday things like cooking and cleaning while looking for a new focus and helping the people around her makes it easy to warm to this heroine.

Kevin is an interesting hero. Wealthy, caring, loyal, pragmatic, and from a doozy of a family. We don’t get to spend as much time getting to know the hero as the heroine, but what we do learn about him personally we like.

One of the secondary characters, Lindsey, owner of the Wishbone at Jacob’s Point is particularly no-nonsense and a help on Deidre’s journey. The small town charm of both owner and her diner adds personality to the book.

This is an appealing story of being forced to take a step back and rediscovering the joys in accomplishing the less glamorous things. It is in many ways a predictable story but one that is great fun to read all the same. Readers will be left with a smile for a triumphant woman who worked hard for her victory, and over a dozen tempting recipes to accompany the tale. Maple walnut scone anyone?

April 2007