Cheat Day
Lots of food for thought here - ha ha! This book is about …. appetites - and a clever double meaning to ‘cheating.’ Kit is in a rut - married for 7 years to David, working off and on at her sister Melissa and cousin Angelo’s bakery (Sweet Cheeks) in NYC - off when she feels unappreciated - on when she is bored, and she lives in the same house where she grew up. To feel a sense of purpose and control in her life, Kit embarks on fad diets and eating regimes (‘programs’). Her Italian family background and her sometimes bakery job haven’t done her body image any favors. I’m not giving anything away (read the title!) by revealing she starts an affair with hunky hipster Matt who is doing a carpentry project at the bakery. What saves this book from being standard chick lit, or a Harlequin equivalent, is the introspection involved on Kit’s part and the painful conflict she is having with herself. And the family relationships - she and Melissa are a pair! Angelo is the commentator. Sly humor, like the title, also elevates the book to a worthwhile read. - Carrie