Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies

What a wonderful book.
It warms your heart and makes you hungry.

Kate thinks she’s finally in a great relationship. She’s turning 40 this year, she’s waited a long time to meet “the one”. She loves their time together. They love cooking together, they enjoy going out for great meals, they have cute little routines. They’ve been together about two years and Kate’s boyfriend finally makes the big commitment of asking her to move in with him.
Everything is moving forward at a nice pace. And then her boyfriend has, what Kate starts calling, “a wobble”. One their vacation, he admits that he needs to take a step back. He says he loves Kate, he doesn’t want to break up but he isn’t ready to move in together.
Kate says she will give him two months to commit to their relationship or she will leave him.

Kate has been working at the same job since she was 20. He just fell into the job, after taking a break from college when her dad died. Her job is boring but she’s good at it.
Then one day her boss tells everyone that Kate’s department is being cut from two employees to one. Either Kate or her coworker will love their job.
She could chose to take a redundancy but she really feels she’s better at the job. So, she decides to wait. She will let her boss decide.

Well, this would suck, right?
Kate is sitting there waiting for her boyfriend and her boss to realize she’s good enough.

She decides to do some volunteer work to pull herself out of her funk.
She starts by offering cooking demonstrations at a nursing home for “exceptional ladies”.

She meets Cecily who criticizes everything Kate cooks.
The cooking demos are soon canceled but Kate is asked to come visit Cecily.

Cecily’s room is filled with books and her life is filled with stories. She lets Kate borrow a very unique cookbook. The cookbook offers themed menus based on certain life occasions. The themes include reunions, a date with the man you want to marry, etc etc.

Kate starts cooking the meals. And while telling Kate her life stories, Cecily tries to get through to Kate. She tries to show her that she deserves better than a boyfriend who won’t commit. She deserves better than a mindless job.

This story was great. It makes you think of hard times you’ve gotten through...I felt like there was a time in my life where I was being a bit of a “Kate” and fighting too hard for someone that wasn’t loving me enough. It reminds you of happy moments. It makes you want to cook beautiful meals. And it reminds you to stop defining yourself by other people’s opinions of you, cause life is short and you deserve to make yourself happy too.

I got to read an early copy of this from NetGalley. Thank you so much! I have already begun recommending it to other people.

I would give this book 10 stars if I could. This is quite possibly the perfect book. It made me laugh at times, Cecily is a wonderful character and I hope I’m like her should I reach her age. At the end I cried, with the tears trailing down my cheeks yet with a smile in my heart. I loved Kate, she isn’t the typical single girl in most books. Kate is older then the usual female character (although 40 is young) and she doesn’t have the perfect job or boyfriend but she is realistic and loveable. The story flows smoothly from one chapter to the other and Cecily’s story telling is magical. To see the friendship that this unlikely pair developed gives one a lift, they both needed each other in their lives at this precise time. All of the recipes and the stories that went with each one was inspiring and I would like to see the cookbook actually published. While the love story is a prominent part of the book it doesn’t overwhelm the real story of believing in yourself, loving yourself and treating yourself as wonderfully as you deserve. It was a pleasure to read this book and I thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

4.9 stars
It's difficult to pass up a cover so vibrant or a title so intriguing, so when I was given the opportunity to read an early copy of Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies by VIcky Zimmerman I grabbed it with both hands, settled in and devoured it in a single sitting.
Now before I get started on the review, just a little warning- this book will make you hungry, so don't attempt to read it on an empty stomach, at a minimum you'll need some snacks on standby.
The events of the book take place over approximately a year in the life of Kate, who we meet shortly before her fortieth birthday as she is heading away on holiday with her boyfriend. It has taken her a long time to meet the "one", but in Nick, she knows she has found her perfect match especially since he loves to cook as much as she does. They are on the verge of moving in together when he drops a bombshell on their holiday - he's not so sure and needs to take a step back. With the wind well and truly taken out of her sails , she returns home in a funk, and eventually is cajoled by one of her friends into volunteering at a care home for exceptional older ladies where she meets Cecily, a cantankerous 97 year old who takes issue with Kate's cookery demonstration before taking her under her wing and encouraging her to see her own worth. One of the ways she does this is by lending her an old cook book from 1957 which is packed full of intriguing recipes for " Dinner for a Charming Stranger" , "Brunch for Newlyweds" or " A Dinner Cooked in the Dark". When Cecily's special connection to the book is revealed it inspires Kate to step beyond the limitations she has put on her life, and embrace everything that the world has to offer.
Both Kate and Cecily are wonderful characters, Kate really feels like an everywoman, just getting by from day to day and settling for good enough because she is afraid of the future, and Cecily despite her acerbic wit has a heart of gold and clearly sees Kate's potential. The dynamic between the pair of them was simply wonderful and their banter was the funniest thing about the book, while the serious conversations they shared, especially those about Cecily's past were very touching. The pacing of the book is gentle, but totally in keeping with the story, and it never feels dull or boring. This is a book with so much heart, and I thoroughly enjoyed every last page, the only reason I did not give it the full five stars it probably deserves, is that I was disappointed that there was not a selection of recipes at the back, some of those mentioned in the book sounded absolutely delicious, and if there is ever a companion cookbook I'll be first in line to buy it.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

What a beautiful book this was! I could not have enjoyed it more. It had a bit of a slow start, but I am so grateful I stuck with it because this book was so wonderful. It follows the love life of our main character as she befriends Cecily, who lives in an elderly home. We see our 40 year old heroine live life in parallel with a 95 year old and it is just a stunning read. Lots of life lessons, beautiful food, and a compelling story line. I even cried at the end! This is easily one of the most enjoyable romance novels I have read in quite some time! Please do buy this book when it comes available! What a read :)