The Villa Matisse by Jane Jennings

A well-paid Christmas job cooking for a wealthy English family in their luxurious holiday home on the French Riviera – what’s not to like? Or so thinks Alix Bailey: private chef and single parent who is always up for a challenge.

With her son, Carl, off skiing with his father, what could possibly go wrong? Answer: absolutely everything.

True, the Villa Matisse would be a dream if its rude, arrogant owner, Luc Mandeville, weren’t such a nightmare. But Alix isn’t one to give up easily, even when it seems she’s made a terrible mistake. And if she’s misjudged the recipe for romance, well, that’s hardly a first. As for facing a few uncomfortable truths about herself, Alix can deal with that. She’s made of sterner stuff. All she has to do is cook her way out of trouble.