For many of us, memories are formed around food. In The Recipe Box, Ms. Shipman merges the story of Sam's finding herself with cherished family recipes and the stories surrounding them. Ultimately, she finds that she had spent years running from herself and had to return home to reconnect and find the path she was meant to walk.

Overall, this was a delight to read and I appreciated the inclusion of recipes along the way.

A well-written story that will make you feel good and warm your heart. Story was great but just a little too sugary sweet for me.

Title: The Repice Box

Author: Viola Shipman

Chapters: 36 Plus Epilogue

Pages: 336

Genre: women’s fiction

Rating: 3.5 stars

In the Recipe Box by Viola Shipman Sam doesn't really know what's she's doing with her life. She left her small town in Michigan for culinary school in the Big Apple. She's always enjoyed baking it seems to be in her blood. She has recipe's and her own recipe box handed down to her when she turned 13 from her mother and grandmother.
The main purpose of the novel and focus of the novel is the recipe box and recipes. As well as the family orchard and Sam's baking. I enjoyed the dual timelines in the box. While the main story takes place in the present focusing on Sam and her journey. The novel does going back in time so to speak and includes the stories of Sam relatives when they were younger.
While I didn't love the book I did enjoy the story and the lessons that can be gleamed from the book. I do plan to read something else from Viola Shipman in the future.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

I was in the mood for a feel-good story, and I knew what I was getting with a Viola Shipman novel. I think it's so interesting it's written by a man using his grandmother's name. This is a sweet story about generations of women who have worked hard to build up an orchard in Suttons Bay, Michigan. The story centers around the granddaughter, who is torn between baking in New York and being with her family. It does bother me that the author inserts an insane amount of random facts about Michigan into his stories (though I like some of them!), but overall, it was exactly what I needed after reading too many thrillers and depressing stories.

This is a beautiful and charming book. This book tells the story of Sam, a twenty something pastry chef, and her search to find what she truly wants in life. Sam grew up in Michigan on her family's orchard which is also the family business. Not sure if she wants to follow other generations in her family and stay and work at the orchard and bakery she heads to NYC to go to culinary school. After leaving her pastry chef job there she heads home for a break and to try and discover what will fulfill her and make her happy. Stories and recipes have been passed down through the generations of women in her family and once she arrives home her grandmother and mother tell her more stories of family history she was unaware of. There are lovely bonds between all the women in the book whether through family ties or friendship. The issue of migrant workers and their struggles is touched upon in the book which I was happy to see. As Sam continues to search for answers her family emboldens her telling her that change is good and to follow whatever path in life makes you happy. Angelo is the love interest in the story and he also provides more clarity and insights for Sam. The descriptions of the baking and the fruit are vibrant and mouth watering. The beauty of Michigan is described in detail with some of the history of certain places also added. All in all a very charming book. Extra bonus - the recipes for the baking are also interspersed throughout the book.

Wonderful book that reminds me of bygone days. This is the first book that I’ve read by Ms. Shipman but it won’t be the last.

Well written with wonderful characters. At first I had issues getting into it. The reference to apple's and apple trees were endless and repetitive, but as the story unfolded it got much better. I loved the family bond and how they would welcome everyone in. A very sweet and warm story to make you smile....oh and bring a fork..there are lots of very awesome recipes in there!

This is a charming story about Samantha moving back home to small town Michigan from her temporary pastry chef stint in NYC. Though her big city boss was a total jerk, Samantha did leave behind good friends and big dreams.

She didn’t realize that her dreams could be fulfilled in Michigan if she’d only give it a chance. Back at her family’s orchard, Samantha spent time with her mom and grandmother, finding out little by little just how special the family recipe box was. I loved how her two worlds collided via the recipe box, giving Samantha the opportunity of a lifetime – if she decided to take it.

I loved the orchard setting, the convivial relationships among the women, persistent Angelo, and that awesome recipe box. I couldn’t quite identify with Samantha’s personal struggles, and the story was fairly predictable, but in the end I was satisfied — much like I am when hearing the expected crunch of an apple. All good stuff. https://randombookmuses.com/2018/03/31/review-the-recipe-box-by-viola-shipman/

I really wanted to like the book. Up until the judgemental bit about the girls "using foul language". Ugh. Seriously? I was done right then and there.

This book was about what I expected. It was a nice story but a bit too saccharine and repetitive to really hook me. I gave it a try because I like multi-timeline stories and stories with food, and I definitely think that many people will love this. It does have a lot of heart and a few well-drawn characters (though many others are flat plot devices), but just too simplistic in terms of conflict and plotting for me. Many of the recipes, however, I would love to try baking!

Again, this is definitely a winner - for the right audience.

This is a 3+ rating. This was worthwhile to me for the recipes alone, and the descriptions of parts of Michigan that are familiar to me, were memory-evoking. There are times the writing and descriptors feel a little forced. I'm afraid the story line alone wouldn't do it for me. It is, however, a book that is sweet and chaste, and won't offend anyone.

Sad to say I think I'm the odd one out on this one. It moved back and forth in time too much for me (and an epilogue set in 2068? really?) and therefore I didn't feel as though I got to know any of the characters particularly well. I understand the structure- each section is built around three different generations baking the same thing- but I would have liked more of a narrative thread. Sam's fine, I knew from the start how things would end up with Angelo, and all in all, I expect others will enjoy this more than I did. I did like the recipes but I have to admit I had to look up what baking spice is despite having baked for many many years. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Such a heartfelt story of a girl named Samantha who left the family business to begin her career as a sous chef. After all the disappointment and struggles life has to offer, she realizes how important the women in her family are, and how recipes and their love of food bonds them all. Very warm, down to earth story from the heart. Highly recommend!

The Recipe Box is a novel steeped in family traditions with a sprinkling of romance and a dash of self discovery mixed in. Sam is trying to make her way as a pastry chef in New York while she tries to move past the mark of her family's orchard in Michigan. When things in New York suddenly take a turn, Sam returns home, but is it for a brief visit or is it her turn to head up the family orchard business? As Sam struggles to define herself and her future, she turns to what she loves best - cooking. All the women in her family have an exact copy of a recipe box that is filled with all the family's favorite recipes and it is through these recipes that Sam begins to find her way and see different paths to a bright future.

Viola Shipman's novels take me back to a place where I can feel the past generations of the women in my family looking down on me and reminding me of all the wonderful family traditions we have had, whether it be the meaning behind family jewelry (The Charm Bracelet), the memories behind our family heirlooms (The Hope Chest) or the stories behind our family's favorite dishes (The Recipe Box). As always, I enjoyed this book journey and look forward to the next Viola Shipman novel.

Book club members, take note. The Recipe Box would make a fun book club selection that could be enhanced by making and sharing the recipes included in the book, and maybe making one of your family favorites too.

I received this book courtesy of St. Martin's Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Roots, individual (and family) strength and recipes fill the pages of this saga. Sam left Suttons Bay and her family to seek her independence and her place in the world. Returning home, she felt like a failure...
Enjoyed this inspirational romance. Generations are shared thru this family. Loved Willo, Deana, Gary and Angelo, the history and recipes. Slow moving and repetitive, at times. Good read. 3 1/2 stars.
Voluntarily read ARC, thru Netgalley and publisher, for honest review.

I adored this book--it's characters, especially Sam, Willo and Angelo, the story, the recipes that are included, and even the Author's Note at the end that tells a little story about each recipe that is shared in the book. It is a story of three generations of women sharing recipes from a family recipe box. I love stories about families and food and how food can bring people together. There's one quote in the book that stood out for me and that was when Willo says to her granddaughter Sam, "There is nothing more important than family and food. They represent our sustenance and our soul. Food represents how we celebrate, how we come together, how we rejoice, how we mourn, and how we remain one." There were many parts in the books that were so very touching that they actually brought tears to my eyes.

This book was delicious and delightful! I highly recommend it.

A big thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance review copy of THE RECIPE BOX.

We meet Alice, who’s in the midst of getting all the ingredients for an apple pie together as her husband, Leo, and their dog, Mac pick apples. Alice makes apple crisp pie for her husband. She also makes her own whipped cream. The following day, she worked in the orchard. She writes out the secret family apple crisp recipe on note cards she received from the church. Leo surprises her with a hand carved recipe box for all her recipes. Alice is concerned no one will want her recipes as everyone in her family are gone.

Years later, we meet Sam, a N.Y. pastry chef working for Chef Dimples, a reality TV star who is obsessed with fame and can’t cook. When he asks her to make something for his GMA appearance, she makes a peach-blueberry slam pie. Chef Dimples then says that the pie is ok so Sam then remembers her thirteenth birthday where her family gave her a party. One of the gifts she received from her grandmother Willo and mom, Deana was a receive box with their family receipts handwritten in a wood carved recipe box with a key that Sam, her mom and grandmother all have. After her memory, Chef Dimples demands that Sam make his blueberry pie. Sam then tells Chef Dimples off and quits
We now find Sam on her way home to Michigan as she leaves N.Y. and her roommates and especially Angelo, their fruit vendor who texts her on the plane as it lands.

I loved all the characters especially Sam, Willo and Angelo. This was my first book of Ms. Shipmans but certainly not my last

I really enjoyed this story, a multi-generational farm that has baked for those they love, passing down their recipes. Each generation has added in their own ways to grow the family orchard business. Sam the most current generation has always run from the farm. She goes back home, when her boss tries to make a fool of her, to lick her wounds.

Being with her family again, she begins to remember everything she loved about the farm, how cherished those recipes are, and how important the family traditions are to who she is.

Heart warming story, with recipes included.

Sam comes from a family who has owned an orchard business in Michigan for years. Rather than remain there working in the business, Sam moved to New York, attended culinary school, and secured a job as a pastry chef for well-known, Chef Dimples. Chef Dimples is a narcissist, who knows almost nothing about baking or the pastries he touts everywhere. However, he has fabricated a professional, “best pastry chef” aura around himself and is in demand by most major TV shows and people in the field. One morning, after the chef denigrates the slab pie which Sam made using a family recipe, Sam quits and returns home to Michigan to figure out what to do with herself and her life. Once again in Michigan, Sam experiences the joys of family, the support they provide and how her female relatives have worked with the men in their lives to build and support the family business. In particular, the family relies on recipes kept in a special recipe box. Every female family member has her own recipe box, filled with the recipes passed on throughout the years. The copies of these recipes are old, with years of memories connected to them as well as on them. In addition, while in Michigan, Sam finds a friendship she made with a delivery man while working at Chef Dimples, moving into new territory. Will Sam and her friend find their own happiness with each other in Michigan? Can Sam figure out where she is going at the same time?

The book was well written and flowed nicely, for the most part. However, I found some parts dragged for me. Some of the past reflections by Sam, her mother and/or her grandmother were well done, but some could have been related better, in my opinion. In addition, there was not enough action or angst for my taste and the relationship between Sam and her friend became secondary and not focal enough. The setting and descriptions of Michigan were very well done and definitely made me feel like I was there, enjoying a part of the country I know little about. It was also nice that the author included some recipes in the book, after these pastries had played an important role in that part of the tale. Finally, I wondered, as I read, whether the author should have made the male roles in this family business growth and success a bigger, as the men seemed to play a very small part in all of it, which I knew probably was not true. However, the female bonding, love and mutual support stressed throughout helped cement the story line. It may just have been me, but this one did not capture my interest as totally as her other books have. I have read most of Viola Shipman’s books. Thus, when I saw The Recipe Box listed as available to read and review on NetGalley, I immediately requested a copy. In conclusion, I found this is a good, though not great, book. It will appeal to those who have read and enjoyed Ms. Shipman’s other books or to a reader looking for a nice, feel-good story of family and what it means. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.