Growing up in northern Michigan, Samantha “Sam” Mullins felt trapped on her family’s orchard and in their pie shop, so she left with dreams of making her own mark in the world. But life as an overworked, undervalued sous chef at a reality star’s New York bakery is not what Sam dreamed.

When the chef embarrasses Sam, she quits and returns home. Unemployed, single, and defeated, she spends a summer working on her family’s orchard cooking and baking alongside the women in her life–including her mother, Deana, and grandmother, Willo. One beloved, flour-flecked, ink-smeared recipe at a time, Sam begins to learn about and understand the women in her life, her family’s history, and her passion for food through their treasured recipe box.

As Sam discovers what matters most she opens her heart to a man she left behind, but who now might be the key to her happiness.

I’ve heard some good things about Viola Shipman so I decided to pick up one of his/her books (if you didn’t know, these are the fiction books written by Wade Rouse).

There are some great visuals and interesting characters in this book, but I had a hard time getting into the book. I’m pretty sure it’s not the author’s fault–there just happen to be two things in this book that aren’t my favorites:

1. Dual timeline. I don’t always read back covers, so I didn’t realize this was a dual timeline novel (otherwise I might have skipped it).
2. Lots of Michigan description. This isn’t usually something I avoid, but I didn’t click with it. Maybe it’s because I live in northern Michigan so I know what the area looks like, but there seemed to be an excessive amount of description. To be completely honest, when it got to the chapter on Beaver Island and the man asked, “Do you know this history of Beaver Island?” I started skimming.

If you like dual timeline, if you like lots of narrative description, if you like a predictable story (who doesn’t like that in romance novel?), I’d recommend the book. Especially if you like baking–I want to try the slap pie recipe!

Rated PG/PG-13. Get your copy here!

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