NEW RELEASE
Good Enough to Eat - Stacey Ballis (2010)
After Melanie Hoffman loses half of her body weight, she leaves her job as a lawyer and opens a gourmet take-out cafe, bringing healthy and delicious foods to the masses. She is finally healthy, active and has never been happier. That is until her husband decides he liked her better when she was bigger and leaves her for her former best friend who, incidentally, is twice Melanie's size. With a group of truly eclectic and wonderful friends supporting her along the way, Melanie navigates through her new life as a thin, single businesswoman. Financial difficulties force her to take in a roommate, free-spirited Nadia, and she begins dating Nathan, a documentary filmmaker whom she meets on a trip to D.C. Even with all of the positive changes in her life, Melanie is still plagued by self-doubts about herself and her abilities, which provide for a rich story that could belong to any of the women I know just trying to make it through the day. Good Enough to Eat is the best book I've read in a long time. The dialogue is witty, the writing crisp, and the characters came to life the minute I started reading. The story is a fresh take on the classic chick lit genre, as Melanie tackles the issues she has with her business and relationships. I was completely hooked before I finished the first chapter and was truly sad when I finally came to the very satisfying end of the book. (LEK)
Chicago author Stacey Ballis returns with a new release in September. Good Enough to Eat turns the familiar tale of girl loses weight, then gains guy on its head. The summary says: "Melanie Hoffman is a former high-powered lawyer with a high-calorie lifestyle, who loses half her body weight. She studies holistic nutrition and opens a gourmet take-out cafe, Dining by Design, specialising in healthy and delicious food. But the first protein muffin is barely on the rack, when the unthinkable happens. Melanie's husband leaves her - for a woman twice her size! Blindsided by a financial crisis that could bankrupt her, Melanie reaches out to a quirky pink-haired twenty-something roommate named Nadia and becomes involved in a budding romance with a local documentary filmmaker. ... Melanie discovers that her weight loss is merely the beginning of an amazing journey of self-discovery. She still has a lot to learn about her friends, her relationships with men, and herself." The book also includes recipes of lots of comfort food.