It’s fun featuring debut authors here! Joining me here is Lisa Joy‘s and debut ‘chick lit romance’ Yes, Chef!Lisa admits that she has borrowed from her own life experience which fortunately is not as fraught as her character Becca Stone!
Becca is disillusioned by her tedious and thankless job taking reservations in one of London’s most successful restaurant empires. When she is unexpectedly catapulted into working as PA to celebrity chef, Damien Malone, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime.
Becca is quickly caught up in an exciting whirlwind of travel, reality TV and opening nights, and even her usually abysmal love life seemingly takes a turn for the better. But as Becca is slowly consumed by the chaos of life in the spotlight, she begins to lose touch with reality.
Lisa Joy is enjoying lots of lemon flavoured dishes and success with her debut novel
When Damien reveals his real personality Becca is soon struggling with his increasingly outrageous demands and sleazy advances.
It takes a disastrous trip to Italy for Becca to realise she may have thrown aside what is most important to her.
Inspired by real-life adventures, this deliciously funny and romantic story reveals a tantalizing glimpse of the trendy restaurant scene: a world where chefs are treated like rock stars, and cooking isn’t all that goes on in the kitchen.
Lisa Joy began writing stories in her teenage years but most of her free time was taken up in ballet classes.
At age 21, foodie Lisa decided she wasn’t cut out for the famished life of a ballerina, and travelled to London, where she worked as a television producer’s PA, in fashion retail and the restaurant business.
Lisa fell head over heels in love with London where she lived for 7 years, travelling Europe, eating amazing food and the occasional stint on stage and screen.
Upon returning to Australia her writing took a dramatic turn for the better after she attended a commercial fiction masterclass with author Fiona McIntosh.
Stephanie Alexander’s Lemon Delicious Pudding looks, well, delish!
Lisa now lives in the picturesque Dandenong ranges outside Melbourne on a vegetable farm with her fiancé and four chooks. And yes, she is PA to a celebrated chef who is absolutely nothing like Damien.
Well, our profile on Lisa and Yes, Chef! wouldn’t be complete if she didn’t share a recipe!
“My favourite recipe at the moment is Stephanie Alexander’s Lemon Delicious. We have a huge lemon tree on our farm that’s never seems to stop giving so I’m always on the lookout for great lemon recipes. It also uses 3 eggs which is great since we have four chooks that are all laying every day now!”
Here’s a link to her recipe: http://www.penguin.com.au/lantern/kitchen/recipes/lemon-delicious-pudding