Review | "From the Kitchen of Half Truth" by Maria Goodin

This week's review is over  2012 debut novel "From the Kitchen if Half Truth" released in English also under the title "Nutmeg" and "The Storyteller's Daughter".
While a cute story, it isn't the type of book I would find myself reaching for typically, however in February Sterling & Kupfer publishing house released a "blind date line" of books for Valentine's Day. Each book was wrapped to cover all the information about the book, leaving only a short description about what type of reader or story it was- and I was pleasantly surprised.
Before I get into my thoughts, here's the book's Goodreads description:

Infused with the delicious warmth of Chocolat and captivating feeling of School of Essential Ingredients, FROM THE KITCHEN OF HALF TRUTH is the warm, tender story of Meg, who can’t convince her cooking-obsessed, fairy-tale loving mother to reveal a thing about their past, even as sickness threatens to hide those secrets forever. Driven to spend one last summer with her mother, Meg must face a choice between what’s real and what we make real, exploring the power of the stories we tell ourselves in order to create the lives we want. 

I enjoyed this book, but I did notice a few things that made me less excited to read it (in fact, it took me over a month to finish and I had to put it down to read something else multiple times until I got around a third of the way through). 
Right away Mark's character was off-putting. He was a jerk. I don't know if he was intended to come across like that or not- but it made believing Meg was utterly in love with him difficult. 
If Meg's life was that out there the way she was described, someone would have noticed and done something/understood why a young girl believes imaginary events to be true whole-heartedly the way Meg is said to have. 
Meg's grudge over something that happened to her in the 5th grade feels a little far-fetched, and as a scientist, she should know the difference between "impossible" and "improbable". 
Meg as a character wasn't too likable. She came across as rude and condescending while also lacking common sense she thinks she has.

This is a light read that shouldn't be analyzed too much, because then you notice all these little things that bring the book down some. I think this is a good summery read that has enough heart to pull at your emotions, but isn't life changing.