The Secret Ingredient by Sue Heath is a touching, heartfelt, emotional story about learning to overcome grief and loss. Kate was living on top of the world as a teacher and wife, until tragedy strikes and she becomes a widow. Three years later, Kate quits her job and decides to start a new life. Kate, riddled with grief and guilt, finds herself leaning on her neighbors for emotional support. She finds that they are also dealing with their own losses and challenges. Kate and her neighbors learn together that to overcome their grief, they have to remember the past and honor the present. They learn that the Secret Ingredient to life is friendship, love, and memories.

I laughed, I cried, and I smiled as this story touched my heart. I loved the characters and wished that I had a group of friends that were as supportive. Sue Heath wrote a fantastic story that grips you by the heart strings.

Thanks to Netgalley, HarperCollins UK, and One More Chapter for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

Poignant and heartwarming, a story that made me smile and moved to tears.
The author is an excellent storyteller and the characters are fleshed out and well done.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is the story of Kate, Eddie, their neighbours and the power of food. The power of food for memories, the power of food for connections and the power of food for healing. Three years after the death of husband Eddie, Kate is ready to face her grief, she throws in her job as a teacher. With more time on her hands she starts to cook recipes from Eddie’s notebook as a way to connect with him. In doing so she manages to connect with a number of neighbours she never had time for before and finds that most of them had bonded with Eddie over food before his death.

This was such a heartwarming and beautiful story. Full of the most amazing characters I have come across in a novel. I enjoyed getting to know Kate and see her grow and move on and connect with all the different side characters. I liked that you got each characters point of view and got to know each of them and their story. I loved the way they came together, it was like they found family and I was also lucky to be a part of it. This novel will stay with me for some time.

A book all about healing - a cozy fiction about human coming together to heal.

A community coming together to rally round and cook for an older generation and for themselves. Food bringing people together and also out of themselves.
This book is about grief, guilt, sadness, loneliness, and shame.

But its also about happiness, togetherness, helping each other, food, and healing - so much healing.

All the recipes cooked and mentioned in this book are also written down with the method for the reader to enjoy and I thought that was a great touch!

The emotions experienced while reading this were a broad range, I smiled, I cried - it was beautiful.

Set over multiple POVs you get to read about everyones experience. There is someone for everyone to relate to in this one.

Can't recommend this one enough if you want an easy read but that tugs on your heart strings and maybe heals you a little too.

I can't thank netgalley, the publishers and most of all Sue Heath enough for being able to read this book. Sometimes trying to review a book without spoilers is so difficult and this book is one of those. What starts off being Kate and Eddie's story very quickly becomes an intertwined story of several characters and how each in turn has something to deal with or heal from and how bonds form between them all. This story will test all your emotions, its heartwarming and heartbreaking at times. The absolute best bit if you are a foodie, is the recipes within the book that can easily be tried out. An absolute must read.

A heartbreaking and heartwarming story about loss, healing and love. A sensitive, emotional book that warms and consoles. A gem to read.

The Secret Ingredient by Sue Heath is an emotional story about a young woman named Kate who loses her husband after only a few years of marriage. A couple of years after his death, she realizes that she’s locked herself away in routine and hasn’t properly grieved his loss, so she quits her job for self discovery and to teach herself how to cook as that was his passion and something he was supposed to teach her.

On her journey of self discovery she learns that she has shut herself off from the community surrounding her as well; her new neighbor, Justin, who is facing his own demons; Charles and Mary, a sweet elderly couple who are facing their own health issues; and Della, divorced and nervous to move on. Together, they will learn the secret ingredient of life and how to move on in the face of grief and loss.

This was a beautiful novel. It moved quickly, and I thought there were times the story could have lowed down a bit and given more detail. I was a bit nervous when I saw the chapters were from multiple perspectives but it added a lot to the story. I felt the characters could have been more fleshed out; however, I felt they were each written as an example of dealing with grief or loss, so while I would have liked to know more about them, it wouldn’t have necessarily served the story being told. I loved that the recipes were included. I would give four stars for the story and five stars for the emotional impact, which would equal 4.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book in response for my honest review.

Great book. Recipes sound amazing. Characters were fab and you really got to know and love them. Would recommend this book

I was expecting a light rom-com story, with predictable outcome. Boy, was I wrong. This is story of Kate, Jack, Charles & Mary, Della, David, all central characters dealing with loss of varying degrees, coming together to support. Food is the element that binds them together, love is the secret ingredient. This book had me experience a range of emotions, along with the characters, and I absolutely loved Charles and Mary, an older couple dealing with the impending end of life due to cancer. The love that they showed one another was so touching and instrumental in helping others near them deal with their losses and celebrate their new beginnings. I could not put this book down, I wept, I smiled, I reflected as I embraced their journey. This story, slow to start, will then grab you when you least expect it, and yet there are surprises. It is full of hope and resilience and lovely recipes that are more than just a dish for the table. Many thanks to #netgalley #thesecretingredient #sueheath for the opportunity to read and review this book.

What a lovely book this was!

Filled to the brim with yummy recipes, lovely friendships formed over soul-warming food and generally a lovely writing style. This book was an absolute treat!

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Secret Ingredient" and all opinions expressed are my own. Overall good story. I loved Mary and Charles the best and I think they made the book more enjoyable.

The Secret Ingredient by Sue Heath is an emotive and heartwarming novel about grief, community, relationships and healing. Food, nostalgia and community unite the characters, all of whom are lovely with traits one hopes to see in neighbours and friends.

When Kate's life is devastated by the death of her beloved husband who loved to cook, she avoids people and life. But a neighbour who has hurts of her own draws her out. Kate begins to realize the healing power of food and starts to bake...and not just for and by herself. Charles, Mary, Della, David and Jack have all experienced loss and learn to lean on each other.

The author writes about deep grief so beautifully and tenderly it crushed my heart. But she follows it with sparks of life and hope. As a passionate cook and baker who creates dishes with love and has experienced death close at hand, this book is relatable on so many levels. It is a superb reminder that one can experience joy and healing in the midst of suffering. Excellent food for thought. Recipes are tastefully included, each full of meaning.

My sincere thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this inspiring novel.

I received a free copy of, The Secret Ingredient, by Sue Heath, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Kate used to love cooking, but life got off track, as it tends to do, and she stopped cooking. Kate is going to start cooking again, get her life back on track. This is a good read, so much going on, then cooking.

A real feel good, enjoyable story. I loved the way Sue incorporates Kates recipes throughout her novel- excellent! Kate makes great changes in her life after the death of her husband, but feels she will never be able to cope without him. Her local community is full of fascinating, wonderful characters. Any more info. will spoil the story.

What a lovely book with a great storyline. This is one to really enjoy and is full of emotion. 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley, author and publisher for this ARC

Kate's late husband had done all the cooking and she planned for him to teach her his recipes .After giving up her job in teaching, she decides the time is right to start to cook. A wonderful ,heart rending, tale of friendship ,love and community spirit, with laugh out loud moments, and moments of sadness. Brilliant.

I thought this was going to be a melancholy story because all of the characters have had some truly bad experiences...spouses leaving, getting older, illness and death. At times they felt sorry for themselves and you expect the book to be mostly a sad one but trust me it isn't. I can't count the many times I found myself smiling at a passage where a character decides this is no way to live and wants to get on with their life. It's okay to be sad and/or depressed when we lose someone but to wallow in it or not get any help is never a good idea and I loved reading about people finding their strength in community. Each of these people deals with their loss differently and that is true in real life as well.

The book is very character-driven and I enjoyed the fact that it has chapters from each character's point of view. They support and help each other in their healing and become a sort of family. I felt like I was hanging out in the neighbourhood with them. They're certainly people I would like to be friends with. I don't know if I'd feel confident enough to cook for a chef though!

This story showcases how food can bring people together and how the different senses can trigger memories. There are plenty of recipes in the book and the food sounds so delicious I can't wait to try more of it. The one recipe I did try was sugar lemon pancakes. I made them New Year's Day for brunch. Lemon is one of my favourite flavours so I had to make them. They were really good and my experience was much better than Kate's.

So incredibly likeable! These three words sum up my thoughts about this wholesome, heartwarming story. The characters were diverse, spanning different generations and backgrounds, reflective of most neighbourhoods today. This representation really helps me, as the reader, connect with the characters and feel like I am a part of their neighbourhood. You will fall in love with Kate, Jack, Charles, Mary, and Della as they all get to know each other through food. It is no secret that food builds connections and understanding, and that is really highlighted in the story. Having the characters share recipes that are meaningful to them and that brings back special memories really contributes to the overwhelming endearing quality of this story. Even better, by including the recipes, readers are able to try them out in their own kitchens...bonus! However, the biggest success of this book, in my opinion, is that it beautifully heralds the importance of friendship and connections during times of loss. This is sweet. This is thoughtful. This is uplifting.

If you enjoyed The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams, I really think you will appreciate this work from Sue Heath.

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(Shout outs have also been put on my Instagram Stories & will be saved to Reading Highlights. Account is found under "ShinewithShauna". At the end of the month, I do a recap/book reviews for all of the books that I have read. This one will be featured at the end of January 2024. I also tend to give a shout out on publication day, if I really liked the book.)

This was a lovely book about loss, grief, friendship and food. Kate is widowed at a young age and has decided to take some time to decide what she wants to do with the rest of her life. Jack was a brilliant chef who is also mourning and grieving but this time it is for the loss of his sense of taste and smell. The book then revolves around another elderly couple, Charles & Mary. Mary is dying and although she is not afraid she is worried about how Charles will cope.

The story line is one of friendships made in the unlikeliest of places, and how each person can help another to deal with their grief/loss

The characters were all lovely and I really felt part of their lives and became completely immersed in the book

the story very repetitive and slow. I really enjoy stories with the characters of the older population. This book having a few in it was my saving grace. I don't think I would have finished the book I'd not for them.

I don't like to cook and the talk of cooking and baking was overwhelming to me. I did know the story centered around food, but thought I would be okay with that.

I was frustrated with the characters not moving forward in their lives and living in the past too much. I lost my patience with them and never fully cared.

Having said all that, I think the book is fine for people who focus on food more than me. All books are not for all people, and this was a struggle for me but I know others will probably love it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter for allowing me to read the advance reading copy. My review is my own opinion not influenced by receiving the ARC.