The Way Life Should Be

June 4, 2007
Thirty-three-year-old New Yorker Angela Russo, dissatisfied with a career that amounts to “gliding across a smooth plateau of predictability” and fed up with “abysmal” blind dates, responds to an online personal ad written by Rich, a sailing instructor from Mount Desert Island, Maine. Angela begins to fall in love with the idea of Maine life just as much as she finds herself falling for Rich, and when her career suddenly goes up in flames, she moves to Mount Desert Island. Once she arrives, however, she learns that her vision of perfect New England life—and her perfect New England man—is far removed from reality. Rather than return to New York, Angela rents a rundown cottage and begins teaching an impromptu cooking class (based on recipes from her Italian grandmother). She befriends an eclectic handful of locals and carves out a new identity for herself. Initially, this tale of a lovelorn city girl out of her element feels like another foray into well-covered territory. But Kline (Desire Lines
; Sweet Water
) has a perfect sense of character and timing, and her vivid digressions on food (recipes are included) add sugar and spice to what could have been a stale premise.

August 1, 2007
Narrator Angela Russo's sardonic and self-deprecating humor saves Kline's ("Desire Lines") third novel from being just another story of a single woman (age 33), frustrated with life in the city (New York), leaving for a simpler place (Maine), hoping she has found Mr. Right (or, in this case, "Maine Catch," his online dating site screen name). Seen through Angela's eyes, what could have been stock characters on the road to self-discoverythe Italian grandmother, remarried father, concerned friend from high school, new gay friend in Maine, callow lover, handsome strangerturn out to be real people with pasts of their own. Hurtling into a new life after a career-ending event-planning disaster, Angela observes her own behavior critically, surprised at how she is able to throw caution to the wind. As winter approaches on Mount Desert Island, Angela's passion for cooking is reawakened, and she begins to believe in the gift ("il regalo") her grandmother told her she had. Recommended for public libraries, especially where Elizabeth Berg and Elinor Lipman are popular.Laurie A. Cavanrugh, Brockton P.L., MA

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2007
Angela Russo, a 33-year-old event planner in New York City, has a job she finds monotonous, a lackluster love life, and a best friend who suggests trying an online dating service. Angela signs up and, on a whim, extends the sites geography search to include Maine, picturing herself in a cozy, rustic cottage by the shore. Before the inveterate Italian cook can say cacciatore, shes met her Maine manthe handsome sailing instructor Richard Saunders. He sends her a flurry of haikus and flirtatious e-mails, and after a professional disaster befalls her, Angela finds herself driving up the coast to explore a new life with him. When she arrives in Maine, however, it is not the picture-perfect storybook scene she anticipated. But with her love of cooking and dreams of a cottage by the sea as guiding lights, Angela learns to live life and achieve success on her own terms.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)