Book review: Breakfast in Bed by Eleanor Moran

In just nine months, Amber Price has gone from smugly oblivious wife to shell-shocked single and it’s not easy getting acclimatised.

The only thing that’s keeping her head above water is the chance of winning a job in the kitchen of tasty top chef Oscar Retford, famous for his furious temper, addiction to firing people and smouldering good looks...

If you like your summer reads slick, smart and sexy, then Eleanor Moran serves up a sizzling treat in this entertaining kitchen drama which is as hot as a night out at Gordon Ramsay’s.

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Fast-paced, funny and yet winsomely warm, Breakfast in Bed is a dish best enjoyed at about 37,000ft, by the pool or under a shady palm.

Amber thought she had the ‘real thing’ with hubby Dom but now aged 31 and waiting for her final divorce papers after discovering he was having an affair, she’s moved in with best friend Milly.

When she’s not turning Milly’s home into something resembling a bomb site, Amber is currently working as a sous chef at a charming but ‘terminally unadventurous’ bistro in London’s leafy Richmond.

A buyer has been found for her former marital home and there is virtually no trace left of her ten years with Dom. She doesn’t want to miss him but she does...

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The interview with Oscar Retford at his newly opened restaurant Ghusto doesn’t go according to plan and the celebrity chef is a terrifying force of nature who spits out molten anger when his staff don’t come up to scratch.

Against the odds, Amber lands the job and is promptly put in charge of fish, earning her the rather rank nickname ‘Fish Girl.’

As Amber regains control of her life again and the heat turns up in the kitchen, the lowly fish chef starts to fall for handsome Oscar even though his fiery temper and withering one-liners are not her idea of romantic bliss.

But with passions running high and the past rapidly catching up with her, Amber might just have cooked up a recipe for disaster...

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Moran’s role as an executive producer of BBC television drama has given her a professional feel for visual impact and sparkling dialogue, and she uses her well-researched story as a stage set for Amber’s rollercoaster ride through the tough and competitive world of a top-flight London restaurant.

A mouth-watering feast of fun...

(Sphere, paperback, £6.99)

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