I love the magic in the story. Cooking for Ghosts is the first book I've read by this author and it was such a good read!!

Synopsis:
Do hearts broken long ago forever leave a tangible trace? A Vegas cocktail waitress. An Indian herbalist. A British chemistry professor. An Italian-American widow. Four unique women with one thing in common: each is haunted by a tragedy from her past. Cynthia, Rohini, Jane, and Angela meet on a food blogging site and bond over recipes. They decide on impulse to open The Secret Spice, an elegant café on the magnificent ocean liner, the RMS Queen Mary, currently a floating hotel in Long Beach, California. Rich in history and tales of supernatural occurrences, the ship hides her own dark secrets. The women are surrounded by ghosts long before they step aboard, but once they do, nothing is quite what it seems. Not the people they meet, not their brooding chef's mystic recipes, and not the Queen Mary herself. Yet the spirits they encounter help them discover that there's always a chance to live, as long as one is alive. An Official Pulpwood Queens Book Club Selection, COOKING FOR GHOSTS is an unforgettable tale of love, redemption, and divine female power.

Four women who met on a cooking blog decide to open a restaurant on the Queen Mary, the famous cruise turned troop ship now docked in Long Beach harbor. What they don’t realize is that the ship is haunted. When the women are in trouble,, the ship and the ghosts send them messages.

I was unsure about this book when I started it, but it got better and better as I read it. 4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I want to note I'm a historical fiction addict. Though it takes place on a historic landmark, Cooking for Ghosts falls outside my usual stomping grounds and I think that a significant factor in my assessment.

I enjoyed this story and how it played to the haunted reputation of the Queen Mary. The four restauranteurs are a diverse group and I liked how Davis used their individual experiencing to help each grow beyond them.

That said, I think I'd have liked the story more if it had a smaller cast. Davis presents great characters and entertaining themes, but the sorry is busy and I felt each sorry thread might have read more clearly if allowed to stand alone.

Four foodie friends decide to open a restaurant in the historic Queen Mary, docked in CA and operating as a high end hotel.

Between the ghosts in the ship, which carried soldiers during WWII, and the ghosts of the women's lives, there are plenty of ghosts to cook for.

The story is OK, as are the characters. Nothing thrilling.

The boat is awesome - love the descriptions.

I just wasn't thrilled.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review.

Every character has a great backstory. These three women and their loved ones are just trying to make in the world as the past keeps pulling them down. There is magic and ghost to help and hurt the process of moving forward. There are sections of the story that get a little confusing, but it is a great story.

i enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and it had what I was looking for in a mystery series. I enjoyed that it had a unique premise and kept me guessing.

I selected this book based on its theme of women and cooking. However I soon realized that it was literally about ghosts so I lost interest after the first chapter. I will give it 3 stars as it is well written and readers who enjoy the supernatural theme may enjoy it.

I would like to thank NetGallery for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I read both books in this series. I loved both for its plot, magical elements and a great character development.
This author was new to me, and I loved both books equally. Great paranormal romance!!

A nice new series set in a cafe aboard the Queen Mary. 4 friends combine the funds to start this restaurant.
Personalities clash and backgrounds come forward in ways that affect the present. Added to the mix are the ghosts on
one of the most haunted settings in America. I enjoyed the strong female characters.

I just loved this book. The characters, the plot and the storyline are well developed and interesting in a good way. It has cooking, ghosts, a famous ship, humour and a bit of mystery. It's an enjoyable read overall.

Great story! This story is set on the RMS Queen Mary. At this point in the time, the Queen Mary has become a floating hotel in Long Beach, California. The storyline weaves between the past and present. This book is a nice mix of Mystery, Historical Fiction and Paranormal. This is the first book that I have read by this author and I will be looking for more.

This is a story of 4 women that meet through a food blog and decide to open a restaurant on the permanently docked Queen Mary in Los Angeles. They each have a secret, and these secrets as well as ghosts inhabiting the Queen Mary set up an enjoyable mystery novel. I would have liked more developed characters in the book. There may have been too much going on to be able to really develop the characters. I received the book through NetGalley and publisher HD Media for an honest review.

The secret spice Cafe is brilliant. Full of secrets, love, despair, history, and ghosts. The story follows 4 foodies who open a restaurant onboard the Queen Mary. Will the ship and it's incorporal inhabitants accept them? A tale of magic, friendship and love.

A mystery that includes paranormal characters and a little bit of romance! Patricia Davis built a cast of characters that are all looking for like minded people online. The four main characters connect as friends so decide to join their resources and open a restaurant on the Queen Mary. As their excitement builds for the project, they learn that the ghosts on the Queen Mary all have a story to share with them. The story is very well crafted. The mystery does not outweigh the story of the 4 women and their lives. A very satisfying end brought this great book to a well deserved closure.

This is the first book in the "Secret Spice Cafe Trilogy". This is my first by the author. I really enjoyed this ghost story with a wonderful historical setting. Thank you for the ARC. My review opinion is my own. Review is cross posted across platforms.

This is a story involving four women. Each woman has a secret past that haunts them. They find each other through blogging about food and soon are fast friends. They open a cafe business together called "The Secret Spice". The cafe reflects each other's interest in food and cooking. It is set in a most unique setting and what is marvelous about this is that the business is within the grand Queen Mary. I have been to the Queen Mary many times and can attest the author wrote the historical aspects of this mystery to perfection.

Ghosts appear to the women as they enter the Queen Mary who has a long history of haunting by ghosts. Soon each woman has a lesson to learn and amid the secrets friendships stand strong .
I loved this book ! This is a great story of moving beyond what haunts us and living life with good friends to the fullest. The charcters, the writing and the historically aspect was done to perfection.

Four diverse women come together to open the Secret Spice Cafe aboard the Queen Mary docked in Long Beach, CA. While readying for the opening and afterward, they discover the ship inhabited by ghosts. A little girl searching for her dolly. A soldier looking for redemption. And the women search for resolution of the tragic events that lead them all their.

This book was a little slow starting off for me as I had some difficulty keeping all the women and their stories straight. About halfway through, the story kicked into high gear for me and the second half was a very enjoyable read.

Cooking for Ghosts was a delightful read - a blend of women’s friendships/relationships, mystery, romance, paranormal (ghosts), and history. I was immediately attracted to this novel due to its taking place on the RMS Queen Mary, which I toured a few years ago in Long Beach, CA. The ship could actually be considered the main character! I very much enjoyed the women featured in this story. Each had a unique and interesting backstory that contributed to the plot. A fun read at any time of year, but particularly for anyone who likes to read slightly spooky stories in October.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. Looking forward to the sequel(s).

I really enjoyed this book I thought it was a very fun read. This book has great twists and turns and is a great take on a ghost story. For online friends come together to create a restaurant aboard the RMS Queen Mary and they come across several different storylines that needs solving. Such interesting takes on what happens on a beautiful cruise ship. I found this to be a quick read and difficult to put down.

I would like to thank the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I know Cooking for Ghosts is a mystery, and while it’s not your standard cozy, it’s very good. The story is compelling and involving, and the historical details are fascinating. I found myself not wanting to put it down, letting the dishes and laundry slide while I read “just one more chapter.”

While the story is wonderful, what really made me love this book was the characters. At first I had hard time liking them with all their bickering and angst, but as I kept reading, Jane, Cynthia, Angela and Rohini grew on me. As an over 40 woman and a mother, I could completely identify with their problems and issues. Ms. Davis has created characters who are funny, strong, smart ,and completely and maddeningly human. I almost hated finishing the book because I liked these women so much. I can’t wait to read the next book in the trilogy.

I received a free e-copy of this book from netgalley in return for a fair and honest review.

So beautifully crafted! I loved the shifts in time from modern day to the past and back again, and the ghost story was so engaging and intentional -- not a half-baked addition just to get into the paranormal genre like we see in books all too often. I read this with a visual eye, definitely seeing this as a movie, which easily drew from the author's stellar descriptions and fully realized characterizations for each of the characters. Davis really invested a lot of time and effort into breathing life into each of the characters' love stories and haunting elements, and I was captivated from start to finish. This was a gorgeous read.