Sometimes you pick up a book, start reading and just know it is going to be a great read from the first page. This was one of these books for me!!

Kate was very happy in her marriage to Eddie. He cooked for her, he made friends with the neighbours, and generally was an all round good guy, until he went out one day and never came back. Kate was beyond devestated and blindly stumbled through life for a period of timeuntil she realissed that she actually needed to take stock of her life. She quit her job, anddecided to start by learning to cook for herself. She has her grandmother's recipe book, which includes lots of handwritten notes such as "Kate's favourite".

Whilst she is making a terrible mess whilst attempting to make lemon sugar pancakes her doorbell rings. At the door is an older man who lives just down the street. He asks if he can come in as he remembers when Kate's house used to be a tea house where he courted his wife. At times, Charles seems confused but Kate is intrigued and agrees to set the house up as it used to be so that Charles can bring his wife Mary for tea. Now Kate really needs to learn to cook scones if she is going to host an afternoon tea.

Soon Kate is getting to know her neighbours, sharing recipes and food, and learning just how much time Eddie had spent getting to know the people in their street and how thoughtful he was. For example, Eddie made homemade liver treats for the dog that another neighbour, Della owns. He was just that kind of guy.

One neighbour who Eddie never met was newcomer Jack. Jack ran a very successful local restaurant and was something of a local celebrity chef, until he suddenly closed down his restaurant and has basically withdrawn from life. Jack and Kate clash from the first second they almost meet. Everyone is intrigued as to why he has stepped away from his life as a chef and why. He has his reasons, but he is not ready to share them just yet.

Each of the characters has lost or are losing someone or something, and at times it is heartbreaking as the story unfolds, especially for Charles and Mary.

When you meet each of our main characters it would be easy to expect that this would be a melancholy read. It is, but it is also funny, feel good reading about finding cross generational, community based friendships, about new starts. I genuinely laughed out loud when Kate made pancakes and the aforementioned dog treats! I did wonder if I should try to use the recipe in the book to make dog treats for our dog but when she talked about how bad it all smelt I decided against it!!

There was only one moment in the book, and it was a very brief moment, where Kate confessed about something that made wonder about her but other than that I really loved getting to know all the characters and learning their stories.

And the food!! Obviously this book is about a lot of things from loss and friendship but also about Kate learning to cook, how to love cooking, but also more importantly about how food and cooking can be used to show love to the people in their lives.

This is Sue Heath's first book under this name, and I loved it! I already can't wait to read whatever she publishes next.

I am sharing this review with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story and with the New Release Challenge hosed at The Chocolate Lady's Book Blog

Rating 5/5

This was a heartwarming story about Kate and her group of neighbors. They all seem to bond over food and become good friends. The book touches on several life issues along the way.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

I cannot give this wonderful piece of art anything less than five stars, although to me it deserves fifty and that still doesn’t come close to how much I loved this how wonderful it is. I went into this book, hoping for a good story,well I’m not sure what I was expecting other than good things and boy did I get them ! Sue surpassed all my expectations and gave me things I didn’t know I wanted or needed in my life.

The Secret Ingredient led me gently into its pages and took me by the hand as I got lost in this world of wonderful and heartfelt writing full of vibrant characters, and the most beautiful story. It felt like a friend was with me, handing the tissues over to me when I was crying, grabbing me a jumper in the evening when it was cold. It may sound bizarre but that’s how much of heartwarming read this is, how much I connected with Kate and her journey, along with that other other characters along the story.

I can’t recommend Sue Heath’s books enough to you, her beautiful and thoroughly skilled writing is a joy to read, her characters and community are so comforting I didn’t want to leave them at the end and all the recipes, well I haven’t tried any yet but there’s a handful I’m ready to dive in and try. That’s what you should do with this, dive in and give it a go, you won’t regret a single page.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

So this book has dragged me through so many emotions, I've smiled a lot at what I've read but I've cried so much too! I have to start off by saying that I absolutely adored Mary( and Charles) she reminded me a lot of my Grandma, from her name to her stubborn personality and love of baking that I actually found myself in floods of tears at the end of the book ( and that's the only way I can say this without spoilers). She and Charles were just so adorable, I loved how in love with each other they are and how that had a knock-on effect on all the other characters. I definitely loved everyone in this book, there wasn't a character that you had to dislike, they were all so damn lovely and perfectly flawed in their own ways. I really felt for poor Kate, she had so much trauma to deal with and so much grief and, though it sounds awful, I loved watching the way she dealt with everything thrown in her path and found a way to live her life again, and I especially love that she did it through food. Food is a brilliant way to bring people together to enjoy each other's company and talk through things and I love how well this was shown in this book.
I liked the way we had chapters from everyone, I so enjoyed seeing each of their points of view and Sue Heath's writing style is so lovely to read. I started this book this morning and breezed through it in no time at all, it just flowed so beautifully. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more by her, even if they drag all the emotions out of me!

In a Nutshell: A beautiful story about a group of people who bond over food. Tackles some tough themes in a soothing manner. Slow and steady in development. Likeable characters. Some teeny plot issues, but overall, enjoyable.

Plot Preview:
Twenty-nine-year-old Kate has been a widow since three years now, but she is still lost in the what-ifs of the past. To take charge of her life, she quits her job as a teacher and decides to enter the kitchen, which was Eddie’s domain when he was alive. There’s only one problem: Kate knows nothing about cooking.
Through some circumstance or the other, various neighbours, old and new, enter Kate’s life after her decision to reclaim her life. All these people are also dealing with their own issues, but somehow, everyone ends up connecting over food and the community spirit.
Will Kate be able to let go of the past? Will all her neighbours also find relief for whatever ails their spirits and bodies?
The story comes to us in the third person perspective of six characters: Kate and her neighbours.

Bookish Yays:
🍎 Six character perspectives in all, with some more minor characters mentioned, and yet their arcs never become confusing. I love how the author introduces the characters over a lag than bringing them all into the first scene and overwhelming the readers.
🍎 The characters differ from each other in age, life experiences, and attitudes. Kate is the only one in her late twenties. Jack is in his early thirties, Della is almost sixty, and Charles and Mary are possibly octogenarians. (Can’t reveal details of the sixth character as it would be a spoiler.) This age-gap connection lends a beauty and novelty to the story that would otherwise have been about typical peer friendships and relationships.
🍎 I loved the secondary characters, even more than the lead pair of Kate and Jack. While all of them were adorable, I felt most connected to Charles as he reminded me of my dad, who is struggling with similar memory issues these days. So Charles’ arc made me quite emotional. Mary (Charles’ wife) and Della (another neighbour with a passion for gardening) are beautiful humans. They tend to get a tad too personal and nosy at times, but that adds to the realism as that’s how women in small towns mostly are.
🍎 Food has a prominent role to play in this story. I was initially a bit apprehensive about this aspect because I am the kind of foodie who loves only to eat. I cook to live and not the other way around, and rarely do I experiment in the kitchen. Moreover, the cuisine in the book is typical Brit, which means I had heard a few of the dishes and eaten hardly any of them. Regardless, I enjoyed the scrumptious-sounding delicacies and the manner in which the food brought the characters together for prep, cooking and eating.
🍎 The story creates a nostalgic kind of feel, reminiscent of the pre-SM days, when people actually visited their neighbours and spoke face to face. The bonding across the characters recreates an old-timey charm, with their shared sentiments and shared meals generating warmth in our hearts.
🍎 There are actual recipes included for all the items Kate cooks. These are not at the end of the book but integrated into the storyline – so cool!
🍎 Each of the main characters is battling a kind of loss, but their afflictions are unique to them. Thus, we see various types of heartaches in this story. After all, grief is not just the outcome of coping with a loved one's death, and the book covers various shades of grief. I loved the realism of the dilemmas faced by the characters.
🍎 Though there is so much sadness in the book, there is also an equal amount of joy and hope. Despite the intense poignancy of some scenes, the overall plot does not get too melancholic.
🍎 The author's note is the icing on the cake of this delectable read. I was delighted to see that her favourite characters were the same as mine, in the exact same order!

Bookish Mixed Bags (Two of which were still Yays for me):
🍍 The pacing of the story is quite relaxed. This might not work for those who want a fast read, but I was looking for something on the lines of “comfort food”, so I didn’t mind the lack of rush. That said, I didn’t find the book slow to read. The plot and the characters develop gradually but steadily.
🍍 While the book does NOT mention COVID, it is clear that the health issues of one of the characters because of “a virus” is a result of Long COVID. I would not have minded a reference to COVID because it is a fact of our lives now, and would have made the side effect faced by the character even more tangible. That said, I know that COVID is a trigger for many readers, so I get the author’s choice to stay away from mentioning it directly.
🍍 Kate and Jack as the lead pair should have been the stars of this plot. And in many ways, I liked them. But some of their decisions are so ad hoc that I couldn’t connect with them wholly, or at least as much as I did with the other characters. I didn’t understand why Kate had to quit her job to move on and try cooking. It felt extreme.
🍍 The writing gets a bit cheesy at times, especially in the romantic scenes. It's a book about food, so I suppose the cheese fits in. 😉 But some of it was too saccharine for my taste. On the plus side, it doesn’t become corny. (cheese… saccharine… corn… someone’s going overboard with the food metaphors! 👀)
🍍 The story is quite predictable. Of course, this goes with the genre; no one picks up women’s fiction expecting thrills and twists. But I wish it had not stuck to the tried-and-tested so firmly. There were many avenues where it could have broken the chain, especially in Della’s arc. I still liked it on the whole, but taking Della’s story through a different path would have made the book shine even more in my eyes.

Bookish Nays:
🍊 Kate's journey of going from a zero-level cook to a MasterChef almost instantaneously was too farfetched for my liking. (Ignore the green-eyed monster!) Hardly any baking mishaps? Perfection in almost every attempted dish? How, how, how?
🍊 The proceedings are a bit too smooth, if you get what I mean. Hardly any conflict (whether with people or with cooking) happens on page. Most of the relationships are instantaneous, and most of the discussions are amicable. This Indian wanted more spice in this dish! (Not of the romantic kind though – that was at the perfect level!)

All in all, despite the trivial issues, I still enjoyed this read. It helped that it came in my life at the right time, when I needed something simultaneously relaxing and emotional. I usually avoid books with the dead-partner trope as they feel very similar to ‘PS I Love You.’ But this one has a fresh feel to it, thanks to all the delicious food and yummy characters.
I had initially assumed this to be a debut work, but as it turns out, the author has published several 'hot' romances, under the pseudonym ‘Zara Stoneley’. I am not one for steamy novels, but I will definitely look forward to what more ‘Sue Heath’ has to offer.
The parting note calls this ‘effervescent fiction’, and I like that so much better than ‘women’s fiction’. We need to rename this genre! Even ‘feel-good fiction’ is a good substitute to that bland-sounding 'women's fiction'.
So…
Much recommended to all readers of ‘effervescent/feel-good fiction’ who want to read emotional and sweet flavours balanced with some sad undertones.

4 stars.

My thanks to Rachel's Random Resources, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of 'The Secret Ingredient'. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Content warnings: death, marital breakup (no infidelity), COVID (though not mentioned openly.)

This is one of those books where I advise you
To read the book and not my review.
Such a moving story, brilliantly told,
Have tissues at the ready as it starts to unfold!

When losses cause life plans to be changed
Expectations and dreams need to be rearranged.
Coping thereafter can be hard, too,
Impacting feelings, relationships and all that you do.

Charles is elderly and seems confused,
But he's forthright, amazing and won't be refused.
He's the catalyst for much of what will unfold
As this superbly crafted read is told.

Neighbours going through different things
Unsure of what their futures will bring.
Charles helps bring them together, as you'll see
Starting with Kate and a cup of tea.

This is such a brilliant story, with food at its heart,
With helping each other belong a major part.
An emotional read, with recipes, too,
As Kate joins the community she never knew.

Finding the secret ingredient to happiness is the key
But it'll be different for each of us, as you'll see.
Helping and healing, new friendships and romance,
All occur in this moving read, please give it a chance!

For my complementary copy, I say thank you,
As I share with you this, my honest review.

We start off the story with Kate happy in her marriage to Eddie, who is a wonderful cook, but something happens and we move three years ahead to find her alone, only thirty-three years old and trying to get used to life as a widow.
Jack has also faced a crisis in his life. After contracting an illness, he couldn’t taste or smell correctly. For a chef, this was a life-changing issue and he felt he couldn’t do his job properly anymore. Deciding to start again somewhere else, he rents a house – near to Kate’s.
After the neighbourhood typically being the kind where everyone says hello to each other, but not much more, things change. Thanks to the intervention of the wonderful Charles and his wife Mary (who are both in their eighties), things change and people start to talk to each other, really talk, about their feelings and emotions.
There’s also Della, who is now single at fifty-nine and loves gardening, hindered comically by her adorable puppy Clint. She makes friends with another neighbour David, who is sixty and also loves gardening.
This is a gorgeous, character-led novel with such beautiful themes and so much warmth and love between its pages. Food – making it and growing it - lead to a new social experience for them all – new friendships developing, possibly new romantic relationships… possibilities and optimism, hope, good times, things to look forward to… The story is full of emotions, which we share as readers because the characters are real to us and we care about them and their lives and happiness.
This is a novel I would categorise as ‘uplit’ – it’s uplifting, heartwarming, an example of old-fashioned community spirit returning to the modern world. Everyone has their own story, and their own challenges, which we learn about too, but coming together makes everyone’s lives that bit brighter and more fulfilling.

I really enjoyed this story with a big focus on relationships and friendships and how food soothes the soul. It really focuses on 5 main characters, of varying ages, Kate, Jack, Della, Charles and Mary. They are all dealing with different fears and issues but they come together to support each other and build a community. The sotry pulled at all the heart-strings. Food, cooking and recipies do play a big part in the story. I really liked having the recipies scattered out and want to try some of them!

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Secret Ingredient by Sue Heath, which is an emotional story about how to overcome loss and grief.

Kate, was enjoying her life, her job as a teacher and being a wife. One day something happens to her husband and she is now a widow.

After three years, she leaves her job as a teacher to begin a new life. She feels guilty and relies on her neighbours help and support.

She realises that they too are dealing with their own issues, together they begin to overcome the grief they feel.

The book made me laugh, cry and smile. The characters were lovely and the story very well written.

I highly recommend this book.

The Secret Ingredient by Sue Heath

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

Kate Shaw’s life changed forever. Three years, two weeks and one day that Kate has been angry – with herself and life.

But today is different. Different because Kate has finally taken the step she’s been avoiding…back into the kitchen. Now, what begins as a (disastrous) attempt to make pancakes becomes a culinary journey that is not only a love letter to someone so important to her, but also an unexpected means of connection to a community she never knew she had…

My Opinion

I would like to start my review by pointing out that this book is full of recipes, I haven't tried any of them though. With the way that the book started I had a feeling this this was going to be quite a sad book, but I was pleasantly surprised. In fact this shows how food can help a person heal, whilst also bringing together a community.

I wouldn't recommend reading this book whilst you are hungry - it will have you reaching for snacks. This was a gentle book, that is definitely worth having a read.

Rating 4/5

Feel like I’ve had my heart wring out a bit. Not my usual genre but a really good read and sad and happy and all things in between.

My goodness, this was an emotional one – there’s certainly a good measure of grief, loss and heartbreak – but it was also one of the most joyous and uplifting books I’ve read in quite a long time. And while there’s no doubt you’ll be needing the tissues at times, it’s a beautifully told story of intergenerational friendship and support, coming to terms with the mistakes of the past, and with a little gentle romance along the way. Ah yes, and scones – I really have to mention the scones!

Three years after a devastating loss, Kate gives up her job as a teacher and wants to take her life in a different direction – but has no idea what it should be. Standing in the kitchen that had never felt like a place she belonged, and finding herself feeling particularly alone, she tries to make the pancakes that she’s always associated with comfort and love – only for her attempts to turn to disaster. Until she’s interrupted by a knock on the door – to find Charles, elderly and confused (well, perhaps…), who remembers that her home was once a tearoom and is hoping to revisit his fond memories and enjoy a cuppa and a scone.

That encounter proves to be the turning point in Kate’s life. Charles’ wife Mary can’t bake any more but can certainly show Kate how to make best use of her grandmother’s recipe book; neighbour Della loves gardening, and Kate could really do with some help with hers after the years of neglect. And then there’s Jack, newly moved in nearby – but he seems a touch arrogant and standoffish, and really gets her back up on their first unfortunate encounter. But they all have their own sad stories, slowly revealed – and as Kate grows slowly more comfortable in the kitchen, provide the kind of friendship, support and love she’s been lacking for so long in her life.

All the characters in this lovely book are just so beautifully drawn, their stories told from their own perspectives, with a smoothness to every transition that means you hardly notice and are inexorably drawn into their lives. Kate’s deep sense of loss is something you really feel, your heart filling up as she follows her emotional journey and very slowly finds her path to healing. And then there’s Charles and Mary and their enduring lifelong love affair, a source of joy for everyone – and the reasons they each have in their hearts for being grateful for the new friendships being forged. Abandoned by her husband, shared bacon butties pave the way for Della to share her secrets and find the courage to look to the future – with Clint, her wayward new puppy, helping cement her new friendships while creating chaos along the way. And Jack? He has his own reasons for being a little slower to join in, his life having rather fallen apart with the loss of his fame and career having happened so cruelly and unexpectedly.

Emotionally, I thought the whole book was absolutely perfect – yes, there are plenty of tears along the way, but that’s only because you feel so invested in and really care about these very real people, and can’t help hurting when they do. But there was plenty that made me smile too, and it really is a book overflowing with love, a sense of belonging, and real hope for the future – with a quite exceptional level of warmth, as they all face up to their different challenges, but no longer alone. There’s also the loveliest focus on the healing powers of food and people cooking together, with recipes interspersed in the narrative – which might sound strange, but it honestly works so very well. And there’s a lot around memories too – the special ones, the really good times, but also the others laced with guilt or grief as they’re slowly displaced by new ones and the possibility of future happiness.

Just gorgeous in every way – this was a book I so enjoyed, and would very much recommend to others.

(Review also copied to Amazon UK, but link not yet available)

What a delightful novel! I thoroughly enjoyed THE SECRET INGREDIENT. I expected a sweet storyline with delicious food references and I got that for sure. What I didn't necessarily expect was a healthy dose of humor - what a nice surprise! I very rarely laugh out out loud at what I'm reading, but I found myself doing just that. Katie is a sweetheart of a character, and I love how the author crafted her storyline. The pacing is nicely done and should keep readers turning the pages. I also admired how the author treated the issue of fear, which is something we all struggle with in one way or another (fear of failure, etc.).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance e-galley; all opinions in this review are 100% my own.

When you think of food what do you think of? As for myself, I think of love. It doesn't have to be a romantic love, but it could be. Preparing food for someone is an extension of love, showing how much we care about them. We prepare for people that are sick, for celebrations in happy times, funerals in sad times, a romantic date to impress, our family. All extensions of love and caring.
After an unexpected life changing event Kate Shaw is tired of life passing her by. Through food cooking, gathering recipes the community comes together. This awakening Kate has that there is life to be lived once again is beautiful. She discovers her neighbors and realizes she has an unexpected connection to them. Her association with these neighbors is as enriching for them as it is to her. Sweet memories are made, and new friendships are formed through a love of food. The book is gentle and kind and brings an awareness of wanting to move forward, indulge in a little self-care and just to be kind and do what you can to help others. Highly recommended!

Pub Date 18 Jan 2024
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

“The Secret Ingredient” is a beautifully written story about community, intergenerational friendships, love, loss, guilt and the magic of food bringing people together, where every taste holds meaning and memories.

I loved reading this book. I was completely absorbed in Kate’s story, widowed at young age, lost in feelings of guilt and sadness that she has buried through keeping busy and aloof. Meanwhile, her elderly neighbours Charles and Mary have kept an eye on her in the knowledge that her husband Eddie, would’ve wanted to see her flourish and move on. Charles had a plan, one that sees Kate learning to bake and cook to share her food and open her heart to those around her. It isn’t just Kate who is dragged into these plans nor is it just Kate who finds lasting friendships and love in the neighbourhood.

The book begins with the sudden death of Eddie and Mary herself has a terminal illness. This means that although light in parts, it very much covers aspects of life that are hard to face. I appreciated the fact that difficult subjects were not glossed over. I laughed, smiled and wept throughout.

A delightful addition to the narrative are recipes that mean things to the different characters sprinkled throughout the book - so much so that I could feel my mouth watering and almost smell them as their creation is described

I thoroughly recommend “The Secret Ingredient” but be sure to keep your tissues nearby, oven preheated and your recipe books primed to be updated with new delights.

I was pulled straight into this story and was invested from the opening pages. Kate was living the perfect life. She was confident in her life choices and loved her forever home. Until she didn’t. I must say, the life-altering incident caught me slightly off-guard and left me wondering how she would recover.
Fast forward, as the synopsis tells us, three years, two weeks and one day, Kate is still reeling from her altered situation but determined to make a change. Something as simple as a pancake starts a series of events that will change not just her life, but the fabric of the local community.
There is a compelling supporting cast that adds to the carefully crafted sense of community. A chef with no sense of taste or smell. A woman who has been dumped by her husband, a quiet unassuming single man, and a gorgeous elderly couple who are like the glue holding the whole book together.
This couple were by far my favourite characters. As their love story came out, it felt like a warm blanket being wrapped around those facing hardship. Seeing enduring love in the face of life’s challenges provides hope for a better future.
Kate is strengthened by her easy friendship with first Charles and then his wife, Mary. Her desire to master the art of cooking is supported by the entire community, but it’s Mary’s knowledge and Della’s friendship that provide some wind beneath her fledgling wings.
This story is touching and relatable in equal measure, with beautifully developed characters who each added their own secret ingredient to this delicious recipe for life.

The Secret Ingredient is just the most beautiful story filled with grace and kindness. It’s about friendship, loss and the coming together of people through companionship and recipes from their pasts. It’s about heartbreaking pain and how with the help of others even though there is darkness, you can get to the light. In more ways than one.

Kate Shaw’s life changed in the blink of an eye. Now, three years later, with the grief and guilt still overwhelming her, she decides to quit her job as a teacher and do something else. Not sure what, she just knows she as to do something to stop her life from spiraling out of control. Not very close to her mother, she carries her burdens alone. In the dark. With no comfort.

But that suddenly changes when an elderly man named Charles knocks on her door. He tells her the story of how her home use to be a bakery of sorts with tea and he and his wife Mary used to go there. He tells her his wife is ill and the one thing he thinks will help her are the scones which came from this bakery. Now, Kate not only does not cook, although her grandmother did and she still has her recipe book, but the thought of any kind of cooking breaks her heart.

But Charles convinces Kate that Mary would so much appreciate the scones that she could help her make them. In the meantime, as Kate is looking around her neighborhood, which while working she really never did, or never wanted to do, she meets another person, Della who loves to garden. Della offers to help Kate with her gardens which have been neglected. In return, Kate invites her to the tea to try the scones. Della is divorced and lonely, but her dog is everything to her. Of course, she jumps at the chance. Then there is Jack, who himself was a famous restaurant owner/chef who gave everything up. You see, Jack has lost his mojo and by mojo, his sense of taste. Without that, he has nothing. Or so he thinks.

And those my friends are the wonderfully charming characters you will learn to love and care about, even if you say you won’t. It’s about opening up about fears, pasts, guilts and losses. It’s about a group of unknowns who meet and through the love of eating, cooking and memories begin to bond and grow in strength separately and together. My friends, it’s about love.

Each person brings something to the table as they not only share meals but share themselves with the others. Every person has their own special secret ingredient in life. Sometimes if your very lucky you will find others whose ingredients will combine with yours and you will find true happiness in your life too.

Thank you #NetGalley #OneMoreChapter #SueHeath #TheSecretIngredient for the advanced copy.

This was another emotional read for me. It focuses primarily on Kate, whose husband dies unexpectedly, and how she and her neighbours, also bound by various types of grief, learn to move on again in this delightful book of recovery and recipes.

Told from each person’s point of view, we come in contact with how each of them is navigating through the missing pieces of their lives.

I love how candid and raw this was. It was a bit teary (depending on your sensitivity) as the author weaved the plot in such a way that you cannot help but feel some of the emotions and pains of the characters.

It celebrates friendship, love and food. I will be trying some of the various recipes sprinkled throughout the book, except Skip’s liver cakes.

There were interjections from minor characters and highlighting the plight of long COVID sufferers is a plus for me.

If you enjoy fiction laced with strands of romance and a dash of older protagonists then you will enjoy this.

I received an advanced copy via NetGalley and the review is mine and voluntary.

A book that requires a box of tissues by your side and a cupboard full of ingredients because it's one to make you cry and get into the kitchen to bake.
With a wonderful cast of characters with their own quirks and past, favourite bakes and meddling brings them together. This is a book about grief, community, acceptance but mainly love. I loved it from start to finish and ready to start my own recipe book.

Kate had a perfect life, working as a teacher and her husband Eddie loved to cook.
Kate has a secret that she fails to share with Eddie.
I loved the way Kate’s neighbours get involved in her life. This was about grief, secrets and memories. It was a pleasure to read.
Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter for a chance to read and review this e-book.