As all residents of Los Angeles know, there is no shortage of good food in our busy urban city. If you’re a foodie and want four-star dining, it’s available at a high price (along with a hefty valet parking fee). If you’re a food truck aficionado, there are nights in Venice and daily on campuses across the city where food trucks sit and wait for those who can’t live without their fusion bowls. If you’re a fast food junkie, just take a drive down any street and you’ll be able to get whatever fat-filled burger you want (including an actual Fatburger!).
So, what does Libby, the heroine in my novel Let’s Get Lost, do in the opening scene? As a well-paid executive in a finance company, she is taking her three best friends to The Ivy in West Hollywood, one of the toniest places in the city and a popular spot where celebrities eat and interested paparazzi station themselves as they wait for the perfect photograph.
Libby selects this upscale celebrity hangout because she is high on life, loves the restaurant’s Homemade Wild Maine Lobster Ravioli and has the best news to share: after 10 years with Chad, he has finally popped the question! But, her dreams of walking down the aisle in a specially designed Vera Wang wedding dress are soon shattered when her friends tell her that Chad is having an affair.
To prove them wrong, Libby decides to spy on him. She sneaks into the mountains where Chad, an outdoor specialist, is leading a tour of elite campers. But things go horribly wrong for this uber-urban gal and she ends up stranded, only to be discovered by Kit, a jazz-playing saxophonist who has escaped to the mountains to get some much-needed R&R.
Unlike Libby, Kit is well-versed in camping. As he shepherds her to safety through three days of torturous mountain hikes, spring storms and scary wildlife, Kit introduces Libby to experiences with food that she never wanted or thought she would ever need. During their adventure on the mountain, Kit shows her the wonders of cooking and eating a fish that she actually catches herself! He teaches her the difference between edible mushrooms and poisonous ones. He shows her how to stay alive eating little more than berries. A woman for whom camping is being in a hotel without internet, she at first hates every moment of Kit’s outdoor education…until she realizes she might actually be in love with him.
Once Libby and Kit are rescued and she learns the happy news that Chad has been faithful all along, can she and Kit forget those three days when they were lost on the mountain together? Will she forever think of Kit when she buys store-bought blueberries? Will she ever look at mushrooms the same way again? More importantly, can Libby and Kit resume their previous lives…or will they realize they need to get lost with each other all over again?
Thanks for stopping by to share your food for thought, Janna!
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