Thanks for this, you have the same concerns as I that prompted the book, which started out as the development of the "Chef Broiler Plate" https://github.com/jrobertfox/chef-broiler-plate because there were all these great tools, but no cohesive idea on how to integrate all of them.
I think i'll add a section that goes over the process as you say, because once the framework is set up you could
-create cookbook
-build tests
-write book
-verify quality
-test on vagrant
-version/promote
Sounds like we are on the same page exactly. That process sounds good. And if you are able to clearly lay out how all the various tools integrate in to a cohesive whole, you'll have solved a very big problem in the Chef community.
I think i'll add a section that goes over the process as you say, because once the framework is set up you could
-create cookbook -build tests -write book -verify quality -test on vagrant -version/promote
something like that.