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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

urbanbooksource.com review of The Cassandra Cookbook

Here's the review of the Cassandra Cookbook from urbanbooksource.com

http://www.theurbanbooksource.com/reviews/books/casscookbook.php


A bakery is a wonderful business. There's nothing like the smell and
taste of freshly baked goodies made from scratch. Then, there's the
thrill of seeing your customers enjoying your baking. For anyone
that loves to bake, has a passion for baked goods, and enjoys the
art of food, owning a bakery would be ideal.

In the book, The Cassandra Cookbook written by Shawn James, Cassandra Lee has dreamed
of taking over “Cassandra”, her parents’ bakery since she was a little girl. Cassandra’s
parents, Carlton and Helen Lee, opened the bakery when their daughter was a baby. Started
in 1974, Cassandra has been a staple in the downtown Brooklyn community for several
years. The well-known bakery is famous for providing baked goods that make your taste
buds pop with flavor.

Cassandra’s dream turns into a nightmare when her parents tell her they plan to retire and
sell the bakery. Corporate giant ITC Foods makes Cassandra’s parents an offer they cannot
refuse. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Cassandra catches her down low fiancĂ© Gerald
Davis in the arms of another man days before their wedding and honeymoon.
Although she is devastated at her parents’ decision to sell the bakery, Cassandra convinces
them to let her represent them in the transaction so she can ensure they receive the best
deal possible. Simon James, the ITC Foods representative assigned to complete the
Cassandra bakery deal, begins to have feelings for Cassandra turning their professional
relationship into a personal one. Simon later makes a confession to Cassandra which leaves
her heartbroken. To smooth things over, Simon comes up with an idea in order to finally
make Cassandra’s dream come true.

What did you like about the book?
I liked the overall theme and plot of the book.
What did you dislike about the book?

I disliked the amount of grammatical errors throughout the book. I think the author also
used words like ‘pink’ and ‘digress’ too frequently to the point where I found it a bit
annoying.

What could the author do to improve the book?
The author could edit the grammatical errors in portions of this bo

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Sexy Ebony BBW AA Book Club Review of The Cassandra Cookbook

Detailed below is the Sexy Ebony BBWAA Book Club review of The Cassandra Cookbook

You can read the review here:

http://sexyebonyreviews.blogspot.com/

Virtualbookworm.com Publishing: August 2008
978-1602642294
Reviewer: Lashonda
Rating: 4
Cassandra Lee has the world at her doorstep, or so it seems. She has worked to make her parents' bakery a success, working along with her father and getting her culinary degree. Her fresh outlook and innovative ideas have helped the bakery achieve tremendous success in the midst of a failing economy. During a meeting with her parents, she learns that the bakery she has worked towards owning is in negotiation to be sold so her parents can retire.To further complicate things, only days before her wedding she walks in on her fiancé cheating, with another man. Devastated by the curves her life has taken Cassandra works to get over her heartache and help her parents to close the deal that will allow them to retire.

Told in 1st person from several characters point of view, The Cassandra Cookbook, shares the joys and pains of love, family and professional success. The characters have depth and deal with the real life choices people make to get ahead and find success in life. The writing style grants readers a peek inside of the mind of each character adding to the emotional ties felt with each character.Overall this was this was a good book with a well developed storyline.

I did find the cover to be a bit of a turn off and there were a few editing errors that took away through off the general flow of the book.Looking for a whole lot of drama with a little romance thrown in, The Cassandra Cookbook fits the bill. There are life lessons and food for thought sprinkled into the pages of this story.