HOT DISH

Author: Connie Brockway ISBN: 045121983X 11/2006 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: NAL/SIGNET

HERE SHE IS... Years ago, Jenn Lind's family's dynasty crashed, forcing them to move out of their Raleigh penthouse and into a cabin in Fawn Creek, Minnesota. But Jenn saw a way out: She'd win the Buttercup pageant, grab the scholarship, and run far, far away. The plan almost worked too until some conniving townspeople cheated her out of her tiara. Still, she swore she'd make it out someday.... MISS MINNESOTA? Twenty years later, she's on the cusp of real stardom. She's about to leave for New York to be crowned queen of daytime TV when Fawn Creek asks her to be grand marshal of the town's sesquicentennial. Her network accepts, delighted over the potential PR, especially since she'll be sharing the "honor" with international celebrity Steve Jaax, a man she got tangled up with once long ago. Between the all too attractive Steve, the townspeople, and a hundred-pound butter sculpture, Jenn may never escape Fawn Creek. Or even worse, she might.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I have to admit that I was a little reluctant to read Connie Brockway's first contemporary release, HOT DISH. I am a huge Connie Brockway fan and I wasn't sure I was going to like the switch from "Historical Connie" to "Contemporary Connie". When I received HOT DISH I put it aside, figuring I'll get to it later. Later turned into "much later" and so I finally decided to spend a quiet evening (maybe not so quiet since I have three children) and open up the book and dive in. I admit that at first I thought it was strange reading Brockway's "contemporary voice". I felt the same way when I read Suzanne Enoch's first contemporary book, too. However, it didn't take me long to get used to "Contemporary Connie' and it was at that point that I started to enjoy her new release and first contemporary, HOT DISH.

HOT DISH in no way resembles any of her historicals. Don't let that change your mind about reading it; in true Brockway style she created a cast of interesting characters, an eccentric plot and a sweet romance.

Whoever said that you can't go home again was right—sort of!

Jenn Lind is going back to her hometown of Fawn Creek, Minnesota. Actually, she has no choice but to go back to Fawn Creek, be co-grand marshal of the town's sesquicentennial and face a sexy man from her past. Should I add that there's a melting 100-pound butter sculpture of her bust held up for ransom?

If all this seems too much for a book, it is, sort of, but Brockway knows how to go about writing a great book and she put that knowledge to work with HOT DISH. Don't let her first contemporary pass you by; HOT DISH is a great story about a woman who desperately wanted to leave home but manages to go back there and face her past head on. Although I still have a soft spot for Brockway's historicals, and not to mention that her Rose Hunters Trilogy is one of my favorite series, I am excited to read her next contemporary novel!

Julie Kornhausl