Books like How to Eat A Cupcake — picked by fans

This is a cute rom-com featuring unique characters, food, and nosy families. Being Puerto Rican, I gravitated immediately to the Puerto Rican flag on the cover.

I loved everything about it: the characters (especially the abuelos), the setting of the Puerto Rican restaurant and the whiskey distillery, the Spanish sprinkled every now and then, and the plot.

I was rooting for Kamilah and Liam to fulfill their career goals and fall in love. I loved that both Kamilah and Liam are flawed and need to grow in order to achieve their goals and have a mature romantic relationship. 

This is a cute story about finding your path and being true to yourself. I love coconut cake, so the cover really grabbed me (and the author includes a recipe in the book!).

Lou owns a French restaurant because she thought it would help her establish herself and get a steady clientele when, in reality, she would’ve preferred a more intimate restaurant featuring the comfort food she learned to cook from her grandmother. When a food critic gives her a scathing review, and she’s forced to close the restaurant, she hones in on what she actually wants and connects to her authentic self.

The book also explores the foodie scene in Wisconsin, which was a great addition and really makes you want to visit and taste the food.

This was a feel-good read about a 3-generation rivalry between two sisters in a small town involving fried chicken. (You cannot go wrong with southern food in a novel, I’m just saying.)

What I thoroughly enjoyed about this book was how the plot got thicker and thicker, revealing the backstory throughout the story in a way that made me #TeamAmanda one minute and #TeamMae the next. I like digging deep into a character’s life, and this one did so in a way that made me sympathetic to both sisters, rooting for their reunion until the very end.

I’m trying my best not to give away the ending…suffice it to say; it helped me reframe my thinking around getting to the heart of a long feud that started before you even got here.

This is a humorous story about starting over, family, and having the courage to take risks.

Jessie starts a business creating meal kit supplements inspired by her Korean heritage. I loved the originality of this business, which combines not only food prep but technology since Jessie uses YouTube cooking videos to promote her business.

Lucky for me, my husband has become an expert in Korean cooking, and I was familiar with some of the dishes described. I, of course, had him cook Korean food while I was reading this book. The author also includes a recipe that I can’t wait to try.

Before I could write my book, I needed a more in-depth look at the world of domestic service in the early 20th century! Reading the memoirs of Margaret Powell provided a wonderful springboard for me to connect my great-grandmother/protagonist world!

Born in 1907, Margaret started work at age 13. She details the ups and downs of an Edwardian kitchen maid. From servants randomly giving birth in the closet to masters with strange obsessions, this story brings a firsthand perspective into the "downstairs world" life of domestic service.

I devoured Eli Brown's book. What a wild and exhilarating ride! The premise of a pirate captain kidnapping a chef and demanding a fancy weekly meal to save his life was genius. In fact, I was almost jealous. Not that I want to be kidnapped, but I would enjoy the pressure of creating something beautiful out of almost nothing, like being a contestant on a game show, but with more to lose.

My stomach growled through most of the book as I could practically smell the herbs and spices wafting off the page. I was most impressed by how far beyond the usual pirate fare this book went and how beautifully the unexpected and compelling romance naturally blossomed. It was such a clever blend of high-seas adventure and this really tender, delicious relationship. It was definitely a book that left me completely satisfied...and so hungry!

Though this is a work of fiction, it might be the most scientifically accurate depiction ever written of cats and their shenanigans. I wasn’t at all surprised to learn that Kraken was based on Delemhach’s actual cat. This novel made me think of my old boy and the various crimes he used to commit against our household (RIP Harry, yowler of the night, destroyer of couches, and cuddle-bug extraordinaire). Upon finishing it, I felt the urge to adopt one. Or two. 

… Or fifteen. 

Food can be a signal of our differences and bring us together. Chef Roy Choi is ethnically Korean (like me!) and believes food can represent love and culture.

It’s a treat to see his story illustrated by renowned graffiti artist Man One and read about how Chef Choi merges different cultures to create street food that is unique and appealing. As a bonus, the book has interspersed Korean words with their definitions!

When Prudence Emery and I set out to collaborate on our first mystery novel, we searched around for inspiration.

I found it rereading Someone Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe. Published in 1976, it cleverly dealt with food and the murder of—you guessed it—Europe’s great chefs. But what most appealed to me was its entertaining mix of humor, sex, and suspense.

The perfect recipe, Prudence and I decided, for our mysteries—with a little Charade and To Catch a Thief thrown in for good measure. 

I had the chance to interview chef Edward Lee on my podcast ‘flavors unknown’ and to personally experience his passion for recent American food culture. The importance of immigrant cuisine in today’s food described in his book was a great influence on me when I was working on my book. He tackles the question of “authenticity” in immigrant cooking. He says that authentic is not the correct word. Immigrant food is “frozen in time,” reflecting the culinary moment when the immigrants left their homes. I love Edward Lee’s book as it captures the complexity of American cuisine.