The Sweet Life of Stella Madison

It's not easy being the daughter of a famous chef and a restaurant owner when your idea of a great meal is the kind that's served via a drive-through window.

Seventeen-year-old Stella Madison's food-loving parents have been separated for years, but they're still as sweet to each other as can be, which is just the way Stella likes it. When their connections help her land a summer job at the local newspaper, the salary is hard to resist. There's only one catch: she's expected to write about food.

Now Stella will need all the advice she can get to complete her assignments. Luckily, she has Jeremy, the hot new intern at her mom's restaurant, who's more than happy to help. Soon, Stella can't stop thinking about Jeremy--but where does that leave Stella's boyfriend, Max, who recently dropped the L-word? If that's not confusing enough, her dad's interest in the pretentious programming director of the Food Network seems to go beyond the culinary, and it looks like her mother might be cooking up a romance of her own….

The Sweet Life of Stella Madison is a warmhearted, delectable novel about what it means to love and be loved, especially when there are a few too many cooks in the kitchen.

Praise for The Sweet Life of Stella Madison:

"Sweet Life is brimming with teen appeal. Zeises has created a refreshing protagonist sure to captivate readers, who will enjoy following along as she learns about romance through food, and vice versa." - School Library Journal

"The author keeps the narrative moving along at a good clip with some well-developed, recognizable characters ... that will appeal widely among teen girls. Good, chatty fun." - Kirkus Reviews

"There is some real substance to this book ... a very 'sweet' story about a girl navigating through the messy details of relationships, both her own and her parents', but also one about a young woman coming to draw upon her own talents. A great summer read." - Bookends (a Booklist blog)

"This book's got all the right ingredients: friends, family, boys, and food. The perfect summer read!" - Sarah Dessen, New York Times bestselling author of Along for the Ride and Lock and Key

"Stella Madison's summer of food and love is a great read full of broken hearts, broken promises, and broken eggs. A must for anyone who eats." - E. Lockhart, author of The Boyfriend List and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

Excerpt

My boyfriend, Max, and I are lying on his twin bed, limbs tangled, foreheads pressed together, trying to catch our collective breath after a dizzying _forty-five-_minute make-out session, when he says the three most terrifying words in the English language:

"I love you."

Read more...

Want to know what inspired Lara to write this book? Click here.

If you enjoy cooking, or an aspiring cook, or even someone who simply likes to eat other people's cooking, make sure to swing by Lara's LiveJournal every Wednesday for her recipe of the week.

If You Liked The Sweet Life of Stella Madison, You Might Enjoy:

• THE TREASURE MAP OF BOYS: NOEL, JACKSON, FINN, HUTCH, GIDEON - AND ME, RUBY OLIVER by E. Lockhart (conflicted protagonist attracted to multiple boys)
• WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW by Sonya Sones (novel in verse with a conflicted protagonist attracted to multiple boys)
• SUMMER BOYS by Hailey Abbot (summer story with three conflicted protagonists and their multiple boys)
• THE DIVORCE EXPRESS by Paula Danziger (classic YA novel about a girl dealing with her parents' breakup)
• I'M JUST HERE FOR THE FOOD by Alton Brown (fantastic starter book for the aspiring home chef - I also highly recommending setting your DVR to record his show
• GOOD EATS on the Food Network, if you haven't already)
• HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING: 2,000 SIMPLE RECIPES FOR GREAT FOOD (TENTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) by Mark Bittman (a must for home cooks of any level)

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