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ladycardigan 's review for:
The Secret Ingredient
by Nancy Naigle
Almost a decade ago, Kelly McIntyre and Andrew York were happily engaged, with big dreams to one day open a restaurant together in the small town they loved so much. When Andrew suddenly jumps at the chance to study under a pastry chef in Paris, he leaves Kelly behind faster than you can say "Michelin Star."
Fast-forwarding to today, Kelly has not only opened the bakery of her dreams in her hometown, but her brand is growing so quickly that she's asked to participate in her favourite baking show in New York City. And the timing is perfect, because Andrew has mysteriously popped back into town for the first time in seven years, and she could really use a distraction.
Andrew can't believe how quickly his feelings for Kelly have come rushing back. When he finds out he's going to be competing against Kelly in the Valentines Day bake-off, he wonders how he got so far off track from the life he imagined for himself.
My musings
I really got a sense of Kelly and Andrew and their families. I understand why they made the decisions they did in their younger years, and I like that we got to see them blossom from young people into mature adults with more at stake. With that being said, I don't find it totally believable that someone has close to his family as Andrew is wouldn't make the time to come back even once in seven years. It sounds as though he and his sister, Dawn, have a really close relationship, and for him to have been gone since they were practically just out of high school means he probably missed some pretty important life events. I also feel like Dawn could have been fleshed out a little bit more to make the crux of the story seem more natural. Despite those little holes, however, there were bits that kept creeping in that surprised me and kept me entertained from beginning to end.
While I liked the fact that the story took place in both Kelly's and Andrew's perspectives, I was disappointed that the bake-off only began in the final third of the book. One of the reasons I was drawn to the book was because of the reality TV element, and even though I found the portion that was depicted was well done, I was longing for more. The love story was satisfying (it truly is a love story more than a romance, in my opinion), and the other relationships in the novel were nicely wrapped at the story's conclusion.
Nancy Naigle has a writing style that I don't normally get to see in typical romance novels—she really takes the time to describe the surroundings and mention tiny details that put me right in the story. When we were taken to The Bake Factory, I could picture everything from the decor to what the staff was wearing, and I could see important aspects of Bailey's Fork and why Kelly would want to build her life there. I really appreciated these details and it is one of the main reasons I kept powering through the pages, asking for more. And the bonus recipe at the end of the book is a really nice touch.
4 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Hallmark Publishing for the advanced copy.
This review will be posted on my blog, The Modest Reader, on January 28th at 10 a.m.
Fast-forwarding to today, Kelly has not only opened the bakery of her dreams in her hometown, but her brand is growing so quickly that she's asked to participate in her favourite baking show in New York City. And the timing is perfect, because Andrew has mysteriously popped back into town for the first time in seven years, and she could really use a distraction.
Andrew can't believe how quickly his feelings for Kelly have come rushing back. When he finds out he's going to be competing against Kelly in the Valentines Day bake-off, he wonders how he got so far off track from the life he imagined for himself.
My musings
I really got a sense of Kelly and Andrew and their families. I understand why they made the decisions they did in their younger years, and I like that we got to see them blossom from young people into mature adults with more at stake. With that being said, I don't find it totally believable that someone has close to his family as Andrew is wouldn't make the time to come back even once in seven years. It sounds as though he and his sister, Dawn, have a really close relationship, and for him to have been gone since they were practically just out of high school means he probably missed some pretty important life events. I also feel like Dawn could have been fleshed out a little bit more to make the crux of the story seem more natural. Despite those little holes, however, there were bits that kept creeping in that surprised me and kept me entertained from beginning to end.
While I liked the fact that the story took place in both Kelly's and Andrew's perspectives, I was disappointed that the bake-off only began in the final third of the book. One of the reasons I was drawn to the book was because of the reality TV element, and even though I found the portion that was depicted was well done, I was longing for more. The love story was satisfying (it truly is a love story more than a romance, in my opinion), and the other relationships in the novel were nicely wrapped at the story's conclusion.
Nancy Naigle has a writing style that I don't normally get to see in typical romance novels—she really takes the time to describe the surroundings and mention tiny details that put me right in the story. When we were taken to The Bake Factory, I could picture everything from the decor to what the staff was wearing, and I could see important aspects of Bailey's Fork and why Kelly would want to build her life there. I really appreciated these details and it is one of the main reasons I kept powering through the pages, asking for more. And the bonus recipe at the end of the book is a really nice touch.
4 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Hallmark Publishing for the advanced copy.
This review will be posted on my blog, The Modest Reader, on January 28th at 10 a.m.