The Perfect Recipe for Love and Friendship

A truly lovely book about family, the secrets they keep, the heartbreaks and the joys. The O'Bannon family and their bakery will win a place in your heart

Kristan Higgins recommended this read and she is one of my absolute favorite authors so I automatically downloaded it and jumped right into the read, I only wish the read would have jumped right back in with me.The book had great bones , yet it was on slow mode with the storytelling and the showing of the essence of who these charters were .This story was so detailed oriented with the making of the cakes, just reading this book will make you want to run to your favorite bakery ,seriously it made me so hungry for some delicious frosted slices of cake , and that was a positive, the author wrote passionately about the desserts but with these 4 sisters and mom it sometimes read flat for me.I feel the author was saving so many surprises and twists and turns in the end that it made the middle part of the read a bit too slow and a tad boring, I liked the whole family secrets and all the sisters and mom' issues but I just needed more of it and sooner. I think this author writes very well , I love how she gave many of the characters their own voices and thoughts but it was to much "thought" " writing and not enough grit and action expressing for me. I wanted to hear the fights between Jim and Bridget before the accident, I wanted to go to that moment in time when Aunt Mary explained to Bridget 's mom everything, I just wanted the same passion the cake descriptions to go to these characters. Not a bad read at all just wanted a bit more background, more passion within the family shown not told and less holding out for the secrets because that would have kept the middle of this book more engaging.Bridget needed to get pissed, show the emotions of a betrayed wife and learn the truths sooner because the pathetically sad,I think my husband didn't tell me the whole truth sad routine got annoying and a bit redundant for me.

I loved the family dynamics involved with this story! Shirley Jump has woven a beautiful tale about love and loss, family ties and family drama, and how they all tie together to influence someone’s life for good and bad. I loved meeting the O’Bannon sisters! Each story was uniquely different yet intertwined with another’s to create a heart-wrenching book I didn’t want to put down. This is definitely one I recommend.

Not what I was expecting, but despite that a well-written story with compelling characters. Some of the tension is supplied by prior conflicts referred to but not directly told which I wasn't crazy about. However, the characters more than made up for it. I thought the ideas were original and interesting. A good read.

I bought the Perfect Recipe for Love and Friendship after several of my friends told me how much they loved it. Am I glad I did! I really identified with Bridget and her dysfunctional family. What I loved most about the book was that the characters were so very human. I didn't always agree with Bridget's decisions - in fact sometimes I wanted to throttle her - but they were "real" choices. That is, she acted the way a real person would act. I'm really looking forward to reading Nora's story next.