Meet Charlotte–a.k.a Charlie–Brown: a recent college grad and newly minted New Yorker, eager to begin her grown-up life. All kinds of “firsts” await her in the big city: her first real job, first crack at actual dating, and most important, her first time living on her own. Enter Charlie’s mom, who suggests that her daughter might want to learn some grown-up skills–like cooking–to go with her fifth-floor walk-up.

Together with her friends, Charlie forms a cooking club to convene once a month, to share food and swap recipes—not to mention compare the gossipy details of their new lives. As the girls begin to gain some culinary expertise, Charlie decides to use her newfound skills to ensnare the man of her dreams: a certain Mr. J.P. Morgan, a roguish investment banker who can charm Charlie with a glance but remains hopelessly aloof. She also lands a job as assistant to Jane Baker, the domestic diva of daytime television, which only fuels Charlie’s nesting instincts with J.P. But as Charlie becomes ever savvier in the kitchen she grows savvier about love as well–and comes to discover that even the most delicious-looking package can lack substance and real flavor underneath.

With the cooking club’s recipes in each chapter and a sparkling voice that bubbles along like champagne, Spooning introduces a heroine whose zest for finding Mr. Right–as well as her inner Nigella Lawson–will endear her to readers everywhere.