This was a very complex story that focused on serious themes around race and acceptance, with some humor thrown in. While I did enjoy this book, I wanted to like it more than I did. I found Mae’s character to be a bit annoying and I didn’t like the way she treated her fiancée.

Mae Townsend and her fiancé Conner are soon to wed at his parents' vineyard in an extravaganza that is not really her style. Mae is biracial - her father, who died fairly recently, was Black and her mother white. Once a year, her dad went to his hometown near Durham, NC for the family's Fourth of July picnic. Mae longs to go but he never took her. He did bring home tales of his mother's cooking. Other than his annual visit, Mae's impression is that her father's family wants nothing to do with her mother and her and her only known relatives are on her mother's side. When her father's mother dies, she impulsively goes to the funeral and is met with a rather cold, in some cases hostile reception. Slowly she tries to connect and she learns her grandmother's macaroni and cheese recipe is missing. Together with a female cousin who seems unusually wary of Mae, they begin trying to recreate the recipe.

The Townsend Family Recipe for Disaster is partly a coming of age story, a story of family secrets and a story of how a biracial child navigated the white side family, experiencing micro aggressions and hearing outright racist comments at times. It puts you inside Mae's conflict avoiding head as she starts to learn family secrets and reasons for the longstanding strains that kept her from her father's folks. Along the way, she makes a lot of macaroni, starts to recognize that she has put up with a lot of racism in her life and figures out why she tiptoes in many relationships including those with her future in-laws. (Conner is white).

All of this is couched with humor, fun family feels, and love. I have not idea what genre it is, but it feels both lightweight and not. It gives some education and insight into the Black experience interacting with white America, which I consider a serious topic, but illustrates it in an entertaining story with entertaining characters. Conner is so good he is not believable but that is necessary to let Mae's story develop.

I listened to the audio version. The narrator was generally good but has a weird way of making her voice go up that sometimes sounded "Valley Girl" Not a dealbreaker as many of her voices and most of the reading was fine. A strong B+.

A book with messy family dramas with lots of food, well sign me up! Heartwarming and terrific characters that make you want to know many of them. Mae works to connect with her father's Black Southern family instead of just being a part of her mother's white family, where she feels multiple microaggressions. The topic of microaggressions is such an important serious topic but here the author does it with humor and acknowledgment that sometimes things are not meant to be offensive but a question for understanding. There are deep set family grudges, lost family recipes and a growth curve for many.

Thanks to netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark publishing for an audio arc.

4.5 rounded up

I keep going back and forth between 3 and 4 stars, and think I will settle on 3 after I finish this review..I don't know, maybe I will talk myself into a 4.
I loved this idea of Mae returning to her hometown in NC in hopes of reuniting her black family (the Townsends) and maternal white family (the Rutherfords) by recreating her grandmothers famous mac n cheese. Being from the south I know how important the family mac n cheese recipe is. Robinson did a wonderful job building up the value of the creamy goodness for those who are not as familiar with the tradition so help readers buy into the plot.
If we are just looking at the plot of Mae hunkering down in a town surrounded by people who treat her like an outcast was such a good time. I loved how she was persistent in her quest to belong. Where she lost me was the way Mae projected so many thoughts about others without doing the RR (Ronald Reagan, Trust but verify, but in her case it was more like "Don't trust but verify". Being of a mixed race, is for sure central to the story and made for a great read, I just wish Mae wasn't so angry. I wish she was kinder to her fiancee. I wish she cared more about her wedding. I wish Mae was "softer".
The last bit that brought the rating down was. the fact that a recipe was not included for the Mac N Cheese....I just feel like when a book is so central to a dish and the main focus is finding the recipe, it should be required to have it accompany the book.

Overall it was a great story, I just wish it was a little more cozy and a little less caddy.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this advanced copy of The Townsend Family Recipe for Disaster. I was not influenced or paid in exchange for my opinion or thoughts.

I will always, always pick up a new Shauna title, and I’m never disappointed. I love her gentle outlook on the world and her sharp observations, her funny and heartfelt characters, and how she brings all of this together. I didn’t relate to the main character in this one — she’s trying to reach out to her estranged extended family while I grew up in a loud, overly close one — but that didn’t dampen my enjoyment of the story in the least. There were a few moments that felt a little bit like convenient storytelling shortcuts, but it honestly didn’t bother me. The big finale centers around a Fourth of July BBQ, so I naturally had to take a photo with ours in the background. No Mac and cheese, but my potato salad is decidedly yellow, as required. And I loved the audiobook -- the voices matched perfectly to what was in my imagination!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🎧Song Pairing: Something’s Got A Hold On Me - Etta James

💭What I thought would happen:

I really want some deep rooted family drama 😂 I got a bit but there was no food tossing or anything

📖What actually happens:

Upcoming nuptials > seating chart imbalance > seek out family > mac and cheese > family “secrets”

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

🩵What I loved:
-The MC she’s a sweetie who just wants connections with family
-The endless tirade to make grandma’s Mac & Cheese
-The representation of interracial love

🤷🏼‍♀️What didn’t do it:
-Nothing really! Which yay but I just didn’t find it overly memorable in the long run

I have a thing for books that include food in any kinda way. 1) because it makes me hungry af and 2) because it makes me want to try out new food which is a rare occurence here. Anyway, food aside, this book deals with more serious topics and themes such as family, race, class and more and I really enjoyed (maybe enjoy is not the right verb but anyway) the way it was done. A great read. 4 stars

The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

This was such a fun read! I love books about complicated family dynamics and drama. Mae Townsend has been estranged from her father’s, the black side of her family. Mae is about to be married, to a white guy, and when her grandmother passes away, she decides to find out more about the family that she never knew. There were some family secrets that pop up with her extended family. I love that Mae and her cousin were so determined to get their grandmother’s recipe of Macaroni and Cheese just right. The food that was described throughout just makes me want to go to the south and eat! This was a wonderful cast of characters, especially Mae who is trying to find her identity and find where she belongs. The writing was wonderful, and the story flowed just right. This is definitely one to pick up to read this summer!

A complex, interracial family drama that centres around the wedding of one of the grown children. This was good on audio narrated by Chante McCormick and perfect for fans of authors like Kiley Reid. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Shauna Robinson, Spotify Audiobooks, and NetGalley.

The narrator of this audiobook is Chante McCormick. Ms. McCormick's voice was 0erfect for Mae. With slight alterations in tone and pitch, Chante was able to effectively give each character their own voice. This allows the reader to simply settle in and enjoy the story. I quite enjoyed her and plan to seek put novels narrated by her in the future.

This was my first time reading a novel written by Ms. Robinson, but it won't be my last. I adored everything about this comfortable adult coming-of-age story.

The reader joins Mae just before her wedding to Conner. Conner is wealthy, from a well-connected family and white. Mae's background is different. Mae's father was Black, and her mother is white. Mae's parents both grew up in North Carolina and left before she was born. There was some drama about her parents interracial marriage that caused a rift in her father's family. As a result, after the death of Mae's father, she loses touch with her father's side of the family.

As a soon to be bride, Mae yearns to learn why her father's family isn't a part of her life. With her weddinh increasingly becoming a society affair put on by the groom's parents, Mae decides to head down to North Carolina. 

Mae finds out some truths about those she loves that surprise her. This handles the complexity of interracial families well. I have a white mom and a Black father. Now I was born in the 70s, but it's surprising how much things stay the same.

Thank you to Shauna Robinson, Spotify Audiobooks, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

How can I praise this book fully? I felt it all in my soul. The narration was good too!
Our protagonist is mixed race. She grew up with her white side and doesn't understand why her black side doesn't want to know her. So she decides to find out by attending her grandmas funeral.
She works her way into a relationship and a lot of secrets are revealed. We learn a lot about her families, both of them.
It is complex.
Ultimately the story is wholesome but you also learn about microaggressions.
I LOVE the ending. .

What a neat read! I really enjoyed the story. I also enjoyed the narrator. I had a hard time putting this one down because it was so good.

First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!
The Townsend Family Recipe For Disaster was about Mae Townsend, a biracial woman who grew up separate from her father’s side of the family. After her grandmother’s passing, she goes to the funeral determined to meet the side of her family she’s always wished she knew. She finds out a lot about her family, some good and some bad, and learns a lot about herself along the way.
I thought this book was really good. I enjoyed the characters and the journey Mae went on. It was funny and heartwarming and it made me hungry often, not gonna lie!!
4.25⭐️

What a sweet read! I was gifted the advanced copy of the audio version, and I really hope the physical copy comes with recipes!!

This was a book filled with family drama, generational recipes, and thought patterns. Along with the struggles of family secrets and the ins and outs of being in an interracial relationship while finding your voice and standing up for yourself.

It was a true love letter to black family gatherings and communication with a sweet wedding to top it off. If you're looking for a good women's fiction/romance book that's wrapped in racial topics that are written with love, this book is for you!!!

I clearly can't stop loving and relating to Shauna's books. I connected with this one because I have one of those big families that I haven't met all of yet in person, and some of the recipe ingredients in the mac and cheese was relatable. I loved this book because Shauna's main characters always seem to take big risks when they're searching for something they can't yet name, and it always results in a good story. I also love the narrator in this one.

This was my first book by this author and I enjoyed it. They have a real talent for telling stories and I intent to read more books from them, old and new, and the future.

I went through a series of emotions through this story. Mae had good intentions and really wanted to get to know her dad's side of the family and wanted to know what their issue was. After traveling to her dad's hometown for her grandmothers funeral, she decides to stay for an extended period. She definitely doesnt feel welcomed and wants to understand why.

This book has family drama, secrets, discussion of race. Mae feels ostrasized because she always felt that she wasnt accepted because her dad's family didnt support his relationship with her mother as interracial relationships weren't the norm, but there was a lot to the story. I always love stories that bring families together through food. They had a rocky start, but they grew closer. This was a found family story with actual family.

I really liked the narration of the book. There was a little slip in the beginning of the book, but for the most part the story flowed well.

3.75 stars

The most important thing to know about this book is that you WILL crave macaroni and cheese. There's no way around it. I'm vegan, and it was truly all I could think about (and I still have residual cravings thinking back on it now).

Mae, one of the titular Townsends, has some family drama brewing, and this has been compounded by a wedding, a couple of deaths, a lost recipe, and many past struggles. Though Mae has pushed down a lot of those aforementioned challenges, she's now set on two tasks: (1) cracking the code on her deceased grandmother's secret mac and cheese recipe and (2) starting to tackle some of those complicated relationships and hurts.

While I found the pacing a bit slower than I'd like at times, there is a lot to go on here. Mae's experiences with racism, including within her own family, are expressed in a meaningful and realistic way, and her isolation in those circumstances is particularly wrenching. Additionally, Mae's deep desire to connect and her not always effective methods for doing so offer, well, a lot of food for thought, one might say.

It's a pleasure to get to know Mae and to root for her success. This is my second book by this author, and I'm becoming a bigger fan with each read.