A Novel

It’s taken Chef Josie Babineaux six months to reconcile the debts left from her husband Brian’s gambling along with her broken heart. But now with a promising tourist season heating up and a travel magazine declaring her the spice queen of the bayou, she may be able to save her family’s historic Cajun restaurant. Repairing her relationship with her daughter, Minnow, while hiding the true reason she left her husband is a bigger issue.

Just as the first tourists arrive, an explosion at the oil rig where Brian works changes everything, for both the family and the island community. The near loss of her children’s father upends Josie’s fragile new plans, and she’s left wondering what it would be like to go forward alone—and whether that’s what she really wants.

As the disaster endangers the restaurant’s menu, clientele, and even its mascot, Gumbo—a brown pelican dear to Minnow’s heart—Josie realizes her family needs more than financial recovery. Only honesty and intense effort can clean up the guilt and hurt pooling under the surface. And maybe, with enough heart, and some extra hot chilis, this family can find renewal.