Dr Cooper Hunziker has a new job in the psychology department at Yale. She has a book coming out about happiness but she isn’t really that happy. Very awkward in certain situations an in a not too friendly work environment makes life challenging. It makes you think about life choices and what happiness is. And you’ll want to make the chocolate cake recipe at the end of the book.

Thank you to the author, Severn House, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Interesting book about the cutthroat world of academics in an elite university. Cooper Hunziker, PhD. has left her boyfriend and best friend behind to come to Yale to vie for a tenured professor job. Her father's family comes from a legacy of Yalies and she broke the chain when she didn't get in.so this is her second chance. Ironically, she has just written a book on happiness and is working on a study on childhood attachment as it impacts adult romantic relationships. good thing she has all those happy studies to peruse because her Yale experience is pretty much a big basket of suck! The department administrative assistant seeming hates her and is undermining her at every turn, she is accused of plagiarism, and her field of study seems irreverent compared to her competition for tenure. To top it off, she is assigned to co-lead a self help group at the library that leads to all kinds of emotional twists and turns.

I enjoyed this book partially because I went to school in New Haven and loved the reference to my old haunts. But mostly, I enjoyed the unraveling of a complicated set of circumstances meant to ruin Coopers life, romance and reputation. This book was a real page turner with a hint of potential romance. . .

Told in Cooper’s voice, and starting every chapter with a piece from her book, this was well written and easy to follow; as well as being interesting if a bit… much. Cooper isn’t easy to love. She is weak at times and dithering. Two-thirds of the book was her being hurt and not knowing how to fix it even though her field of expertise gave her all the tools to try to build a happier life. I would have prefered more time with the happiness group and Judd, personally. While Cooper has decided on a path, I feel like everyone else had a lot more personal growth, yet we don’t get any real closure for them.

I am finding it incredibly difficult to talk too much about this book without massive spoilers. Honestly, I think I would have rather read Cooper’s non-existent book than this one. It wasn’t happy. At all. In fact, I had to take several breaks and do literally anything else while reading this. Maybe I am not the target audience… I loved the blurb and the idea behind it. I wanted to see someone actually becoming stronger, putting all these ideas together to make a happiness plan and truly rocking it. I wanted to see so much more growth. If there were to be a second book, I would buy it in hopes of seeing this, because I think the book was leading to the transformation I desire but it felt like the author was like… dang, I ran out of time. Gotta publish! The book in and of itself was good… just not at all what I was expecting or really wanting. This isn’t the feel good piece where we watch someone work toward being happy- it’s more the self reflection and catagorization of things to do before one can start the journey. That in itself is fine- necessary even. It definitely made the book more real to me. But I personally needed the other part of the journey to feel satisfied. For me, this was a three star book. It’s well written, just not for me.

⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
As far as adult content goes, there’s language and talk of heavier subjects- gas lighting, bullying (in a way), and family issues. There wasn’t anything really inappropriate… I would say it’s geared towards adults but late teens might also like it.


I was lucky enough to recieve an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Seven House Publishing in exchange for an honest review. My thanks! The book came out today- are you reading it?

I love Lucy Burdette's mysteries and this book was something different but with a good dose of suspence.
Cooper should be living the dream as she's going to be a published author, got a place as assistant at Yale and is happily engaged.
But not everything is what seems and the academic competition and other facts could destroy everything and she doesn't know who she can trust.
This is a compelling and gripping novel, I rooted for Cooper and hoped for the best. it's an entertaining story and I thoroughly enjoyed this new aspect of Lucy Burdette's novel.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I'm a fan of Lucy Burdette's Key West Food Critic Mystery series and was interested in reading one of her books outside that genre. The Ingredients of Happiness is an enjoyable piece of women's fiction, but it was pretty clear who were the icky people. A perfect book for a summer read by the pool.

Thanks to Severn House for access to a digital ARC via NetGalley.

Although this book starts out on the slow side, and seems to be a bit unfocused, I think it's because the main character, Cooper, is herself a bit unsettled. She has always been determined to go to Yale. She didn't get accepted as an undergraduate. Now that she's achieved her Ph.D., she's got a job there, competing with two other people in a tenure-track position. She's left her boyfriend and her best friend in California.

The department has more than an unwelcome feel to it - in fact Cooper feels like she's missing notices, mail, and other documentation. Her boss and his assistant have an exceptionally antagonistic attitude toward her and only her.

As Cooper gets her feet on the ground, and starts making friends, her focus becomes better. She's written a book that is about to launch and she's doing publicity events. Her book is about finding happiness and Cooper starts using her process for herself.

This is a great story of awakening, finding support from new friends, and determining what it is you really want out of life. I enjoyed it and I look forward to reading more books from Lucy Burdette.

Love this book!

As a psychology student, I loved this so much! I spotted lots of positive psychology, and I also really liked the developmental part because those are both part of my specialization.

I also really loved the main character's process of realizing the actual ingredients of happiness, as opposed to what people say should be the ingredients of happiness. And I also like that the book shows that knowing what to do to be happy does not necessarily make you happy.

Very good read! Absolutely recommend!

The only reason it was not 5 stars is because the plot twist was very predictable for me.

Thank you to netgalley and the author for sending me a copy in exchange for am honest review!

an instagram post will be made, and the link will also be shared here on the 12th of july.

I was a little bit surprised once I started reading The Ingredients of Happiness I didn’t expect it to be like author Burdette’s Key West Food Critic Mystery series, but from the cover and description I did expect it to be more light-hearted.

It was an enjoyable read but there was a little too much angst and trauma from the author and I didn’t really expect her to end up happy. There are a lot of serious issues addressed in the book, including betrayal, self-sabotage, childhood trauma, love, loss, divorce, and mental illness but they were covered more tangentially rather than head on, so the book meandered a bit, not settling into a serious or a light-hearted read.

I’ve seen many positive reviews for this book and have been a longtime fan of author Burdette; it just didn’t connect with what I was expecting. Thanks to the author and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of The Ingredients of Happiness. I voluntarily leave this review and all opinions are my own.

A really enjoyable book eith some very diverse characters. It's quite nice to look st lives where you think they're perfect but everyone is different.

Cooper is oh so close to her goal but someone is trying to sabotage her. She's competing against others for a tenure track position at Yale and now she's been accused of plagiarism of her dissertation on happiness, And she's unhappy with her romantic life as well as pretty much everything else. An assignment to work with a women's group turns out to be just what she needs to made her see the light. Who is the saboteur? No spoilers from me. I liked that each chapter starts with a quote about happiness and I very much liked the gargoyle. Cooper, on the other hand, dithers too much. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I"m giving this book 2.5 stars. A 50/50 which I feel echos our main character.

Thank you #netgalley and #severnhouse for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

And this is honest.
This was not the book for me. But I do know people who would love it. Reader- know thyself.

I was confident I would love this book. I love the cover. (Yes I do judge by the cover.) I was looking forward to reading about a professional woman finding her voice and navigating real life obstacles to do so. I predicted some coziness and a satisfactory ending. It does have that. But there are a lot of pages to wade through for that ending.

The story and the characters are believable. The tension, the traumas, the drama are all modern reality. But I found our main character - who graduated from a top notch school with a doctorates in psychology who has the confidence and ability to write a book and move across country for a job at Yale - is whiney. Her voice goes from analyzing conversations and characters as you would expect a doctor to. To expressing that her boyfriend is super cute. Too much of an extreme. The antagonists in the story really do antagonize me. The secretary-gate-keeper is stereotypical and all though I'm sure this character does exist within the walls of higher education and many corporations, my instant dislike of her and the whole attitude with head of the department is a huge turnoff for me. I'm sure other readers will find this tension perfect, but not for me. I delighted in the first few pages but found it to be an arduous read going through Cooper's minute by minute story lines. The chapters felt long and the book itself was too long. But I will not declare this to be a bad story. It was just not a story for me or at least not at this time. I found Cooper's whining annoying, but the writing in the books is very good. The ending is satisfactory and happiness is found. Predictable. Believable characters. This is not the cozy I was looking for, but it will definitely be someone's cozy read. Perfect for exploring not just Cooper's happiness with life, but your own.

I sat down to read this book and didn't get up until I was finished. Yes, it's that good. Wonderful characters trying to deal with their problems. Not so wonderful characters creating problems. Each chapter starts with an observation or theory about finding happiness. The story takes place in New Haven and Yale and it is a real treat!

The Ingredients of Happiness by Lucy Burdette is a deviation from the author’s usual mystery/cozy mystery genre. Cooper Hunziker, has just been hired as an assistant professor in psychology and by a twist of fate also has a pop culture, self-help book The Happiness Connection being published. But underneath it all, Cooper is anything but happy and seems to be under attack by the assistant and chair of the department that hired her. Will Cooper figure it and find her own happiness?

There was much to like about this book with its well developed characters and the setting of Yale and New Haven. Cooper’s sister and stepmother, as well as the ladies in the happiness self-help group, provided the bright light. Nonetheless, I found all of Cooper’s anxieties made for a less than upbeat book. While most readers would not notice, I was bothered by the inaccuracies in the faculty appointment process, since assistant professors would typically be appointed after completing a Post Doc appointment and rarely (if ever) directly from a graduate program. At Yale, assistant professors have an initial term of five years not a one year appointment. (I reviewed an advance reader copy and all opinions are my own.). Overall the book was well written but I think that I will stay with this author’s mystery genre.

This was a relatively enjoyable story overall, though it did meander quite a bit along the way. I liked the mix of characters and the quotes to start the chapters. There was more depth to the story than I anticipated, but it was well balanced with lighter moments. The characters were realistic, but it took me a bit to connect with them. Readers will likely relate to some of the issues faced (such as childhood trauma, loss, love, mental illness, and betrayal).

Cooper Hunziker had always dreamed of attending Yale, following a family tradition but reality had her attending a different university. Upon completion of her PHd, she is hired as an assistant professor in the Yale psychology department, and is competing with two other candidates for a tenured position.
She also has a book about to be published titled "The Happiness Connection". Unfortunately, this does not impress the head of the department. Cooper also doesn't understand why the department secretary is hiding her mail and basically sabotaging her efforts.
Meeting women in a self help group associated with the university has Cooper questioning what really makes her happy. Being accused of plagiarism on a quiz that led to her book, Cooper is forced to rethink her relationships and who wants to harm her. A journey of self discovery.
 #TheIngredientofHappiness #NetGalley

I had really high hopes for this book, it sounded absolutely amazing. I really did not like anything about the main character. I found her super cringey and unlikeable. I tried to keep reading because of the rave reviews saying this was an uplifting book, but that is not what I took away. The thing I did enjoy about this book was the happiness insights that were at the beginning of each chapter. I found myself skipping the writing just to read them.

I did ultimately DNF this book about half way because it was apparent it was not for me. I tried to give it a good try but it just didn’t work. As I didn’t finish I will not be leaving review outside of netgalley.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

As a new assistant psychology professor Cooper is starting the life she’s always wanted. She does have to deal with living in a new place, a long-distance relationship, and toxic department politics, but hey, she’s made it to Yale! If her forthcoming book on happiness is considered fluffy by the department head there are worse things. Unfortunately, Cooper is about to discover how much worse. Can the “expert” on happiness find her own path to being happier?

This story pulled me in from the first meeting in the library, with its mix of characters. “Quotes” from Cooper’s book start the chapters with bite sized information on research-driven happiness practiced. The setting is well developed and Cooper’s journey has depths that are well-balanced with lighter moments. I would happily re-enter the world and lives introduced here. Burdette has the recipe for a feel-good - and thought-provoking - read. Give this to readers of Barbara O’Neal. Recommended.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

The thought-provoking plot of this book was excellent as was the character development. It's a wonderfully entertaining book of fiction, but it also inspires you to think about what makes you happy versus what you think you should be doing. In this book our anxiety ridden lead character, Dr Cooper Hunziker, has just landed her dream of working in the psychology department and continuing her research at Yale, but she is finding that the book she wrote about happiness and the career in the making around that might be making her happier than Yale. Add in the drama of a long-distance romance while also not being sure who is trustworthy as a friend, and she is circling a ring of doubt about her future. The story follows her journey of self-awareness and self-improvement. As someone who has been spending a lot of time thinking about the career path that I have chosen versus what might make me happier, this book was on point and excellently timed! I am thrilled that I had the opportunity to read this book for both the entertainment value and the life inspiration. While the book has a great ending, Selfishly, I really kind of want the author to revisit these characters so we can continue to see how they grow and where they go!

A story about the importance of happiness and the role it has in our lives. I loved the realism of the characters and the wholesome and heart-warming nature of the story. However I did struggle to connect with the story as a whole but it makes an easy light-hearted read perfect for summer.

THE INGREDIENTS OF HAPPINESS is the stand-alone women’s fiction by Lucy Burdette. A journey of self-discovery, newly minted Doctor of psychology, Cooper Hunziker, has landed a job at Yale University. If that’s not a big enough accomplishment, her new book, The Happiness Connection, will be soon published and great reviews are pouring in. Ms. Burdette starts each chapter with a happiness tip from The Happiness Connection, each a reference to a real-life expert. I found them to be helpful and worth contemplating, especially if you find you need to up the happiness quotient in your life. However, as brilliant as Dr. Cooper Hunziker is, and having written the book herself, she hasn’t taken her own advice. In fact, she is downright unhappy. But can she turn things around to make her life more meaningful?

True to the author’s background of being both a psychologist and a cozy mystery writer, there is a “mystery” to solve in The Ingredients of Happiness. It kept me turning pages, wondering who had accused Cooper of plagiarism, and why was her department head and his assistant so vile toward her. I wanted to reach into the pages and tell Cooper to unload the toxic people in her life and focus on those who treated her with kindness and respect. Adding some light-hearted humor is the gargoyle, Howard, who sits outside Cooper’s office window. He turned out to be a great character and I would have liked to have seen more of him. As the story progressed and came to a conclusion, the long-sought after reveal came to light in a highly satisfactory way that left me with a happy feeling.

I was provided with an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.