THE SECRET FRENCH RECIPES OF SOPHIE VALROUX

First of two novels in a series featuring an American chef who, after being disgraced in the New York culinary world, gets a second chance in France when she takes over her grandmother's restaurant at a historic French chateau.

French-born chef Sophie Valroux had one dream: to be part of the 1% of female chefs running a three-starred Michelin restaurant. From spending summers with her grandmother, who taught her the power of cooking and food, to climbing the ranks at the CIA, Sophie finds herself on the cusp of getting everything she's dreamed of. Until her career goes up in flames. Sabotaged by a controlling ex-boyfriend and fellow chef, Sophie becomes the scapegoat for her restaurant losing one of its Michelin stars and is fired, her name making headlines in the food world.

To add fuel to the fire, with her reputation ruined and confidence shaken, Sophie receives a heartbreaking phone call to learn that her Grandmother has suffered a stroke and needs her to fly back to France to take over the family estate. When she arrives, Sophie discovers the simple home she remembers from her childhood is now a luxurious Relais & Château - complete with two restaurants and a vineyard - that the entire village depends on for jobs and survival. As Sophie tries to reestablish herself in the kitchen, she comes to understand the lengths people will go to for success and love, and how dreams can change.

With its rich atmosphere and tantalizing drama, this is a novel that combines the depth of Eight Hundred Grapes and the heart of The Little Paris Bookshop. It's the perfect read for those craving an escape to the French countryside.

Samantha Vérant is a travel addict, a self-professed oenophile, and a determined, if unconventional, American at-home French chef. She's written two memoirs, her debut Seven Letters from Paris, (Sourcebooks, 2014) which has been translated in thirteen territories, and its sequel How to Make a French Family in (Sourcebooks, 2016), which has been translated in four. She lives in southwest France, where she's married to a sexy French rocket scientist she met in 1989, but ignored for twenty years.