A good book about two sisters that have had a falling out. When Rose retires she realizes that she has not made any of her dreams come true. In order to have a chance at life, she needs to reunite with her sister. This story is about their journey back towards each other as they create a life that they really want to live. I received this digital ARC from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmarks. This review is my own.

Love this story. It dives into regrets within sister relationships in a sweet way. It has all the elements of sisterhood including grudges and how to navigate the ways we internalize insecurities and misunderstandings. Not often do I get to read about older female main characters. Enjoyed within two sittings.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and Michelle Stimpson for this ARC to read and review!

Marvina & Rose bicker and snip at each other like only sisters can do, neither bending or giving an inch in a feud that has kept them estranged for decades, until an unexpected guest arrives and steals both of their hearts. Little do the sisters know that this new found friendship begins a sweet and healing journey back to each other.

I found their story to be not only heartwarming but very realistic and relatable … anyone with a sister or close sibling, no matter what kind of relationship you have together, would probably agree!

Sisters With A Side Of Greens is a book about the ups and downs of sisterhood, forgiveness, second chances and found family … all centered around amazing southern home cooking and a momma’s legacy!

Rose retires after three decades working for the United States Postal Service with rediscovered dreams of opening a restaurant. But to do so, she needs the secret recipe for her late mother’s beloved spice mix. The only other person who knows it is her estranged sister, Marvina, who wants nothing to do with her. Initially, their reunion goes as smoothly as expected (i.e., not smooth at all), but an unexpected guest soon brings the sisters together again. With themes of faith and forgiveness, the pacing was a little slow at times, but I enjoyed all the banter and bickering.

Love is a good place to start!

The tale of $40 and 40 years! This book takes us on a journey of two sisters (Rose and Marvinia) as they find their way back to love despite miscommunication, unforgiveness, grief, and years of hurt! The author has a remarkable way of tackling heavy subjects while also humorously telling the story. I found myself literally laughing out loud many times! Some of the banter between the sisters is ridiculous and hilarious!

At its core, this is a story of reconciliation, redemption, and compromise. Although the aging sisters are the focus of the story, the real MVP is the young lady who challenges Rose and Marvinia to open their minds and get back to love! This is a book that anyone can glean and at the same time enjoy. It may challenge you to check yourself and your bias while encouraging you to live your life to the fullest.

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A fun story of sisters, second chances and southern cooking!

Rose and Marvina are estranged sisters guarding their momma's secret seasoning. Rose, newly retired from the USPS, learns she needs a refresher in the ingredients and heads to Marvina's house to get the recipe. A whole lot happens while she's there - their first meeting after years of not talking, an ex husband, a pregnant squatter and a hostile church environment. The story is entertaining, kept me reading and I loved the sisters. Fun book!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

Sisters with a Side of Greens, by Michelle Stimpson, is an entertaining and comical book. Sisters Rose and Marvina are estranged but trying to mend their relationship. Rose joins her baby sister in their hometown in hopes of obtaining their mother's spice mixture recipe. As luck would have it, she must stay longer than anticipated.

This book is about the relationship of the two head-strong and stubborn women. Over time, they both realize that they must forgive each other and accept the past for what it is. A stranger comes into their lives unexpectedly, and they are forced to come together a family.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @bookmarked for an advance copy of SISTERS WITH A SIDE OF GREENS in return for my honest review.

Loved it!

I love a coming of age story - and this one is a beautiful example of how that can happen at ANY age.

Feeling restless after retiring from her career with the US Postal Service, Rose Tillman decides to take a risk and chase her lifelong dream of owning a restaurant.

There’s only two problems:
1. She can’t remember how to make her mama’s secret spice mix
2. The only other person who knows the recipe is her estranged sister Marvina

SISTERS WITH A SIDE OF GREENS was just an absolute joy to read. Two sisters - one God fearing and selfless, the other witty and independent - have very different recollections of the cracks that caused the canyon between them. It just takes a pregnant teen runaway to help the sisters find the love and forgiveness that they’ve been too stubborn to find on their own.

Filled with heartwarming moments and hilarious side characters, this book left me feeling inspired and hopeful. It has actually made me consider a big career change! 🫣

@stimpson.michelle, please please please tell me you’re writing a sequel about Rose’s love life, Marvina’s reunion with Walter Jr., and a Secret Spice restaurant run by Sasha, Ta’riq and Lil’ Smoke! 🤗

Read this book if you love…
👯‍♀️ Your sister
💕 Found family stories
🍗 Southern home cooking
🌶️ Some SPICE! (In your food :)
🤗 Loveable side characters

💭 Has a book ever inspired you to make big changes in your life?

What do you get when you mix two strong-willed sisters, a grudge, a misunderstanding, a dream deferred and perfectly seasoned fried chicken? Sisters with a Side of Greens. In this new novel, sisters Rose and Marvina haven't spoken in years—not since Rose sent Marvina $40 to register their business and Marvina spent it on something else.

Fast forward; Rose is retiring from the post office and Marvina's services of cooking fried chicken dinners for the church fundraiser is no longer needed. Still wanting the dream of opening a restaurant, Rose shows up on her sister's doorstep unannounced for their mama's special spice mix recipe and hopefully a way to turn their mama's legacy into a profitable future.

Sisters with a Side of Greens is recommended for fans of Terry McMillan, Kimberla Lawson Roby and Southern fiction. It is a family drama with the right amount of conflict and hope. At times, the story was slow with unnecessary dialogue that I was tempted to gloss over but not enough to quit reading.

Author Michelle Stimpson provided enough backstory that led to a plot that actually made sense. I understood the character's actions better. I stayed invested in the relationship between sisters Rose and Marvina. I rooted for them and hoped for a happy ending. Without giving the story away, Sisters with a Side of Greens has a satisfying end!

Happy Pub Day, Michelle Stimpson! Sisters with a Side of Greens is now available.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins. ~LiteraryMarie

DNF at 29% for me unfortunately. I'm having a hard time getting into the story and honestly the characters are all merging together which means I'm really not paying attention. It is a cute story just not for me.

A tale of two sisters.

We have Rose, who believes the trajectory of her life was altered because of $40. While Rose is looking for what to do next in her life, she comes across plans for growth in her home city.

Then we have Marvina who is struggling to find a new direction after her church starts to make changes.

This story is about 2 sisters navigating through life while dealing with the heaviness of the past. Just because you remember something a certain way doesn't mean that's how it actually happened. There's always two sides to the same story.

I enjoyed this story. It was occasionally too slow paced. Kerresha was a nice addition to the story. I would recommend to anyone who likes stories of sisterhood and forgiveness

I enjoyed this story. It’s a nice wholesome story which consists of sisterhood, forgiveness, hospitality and family legacy. Sisters Rose and Marvina haven’t spoken in decades. They have lived separate lives and are now single, parentless and retired. What will the next phase of their life look like? That is the question they both must answer.

There was a cool plot twist in the story that worked well in helping the sisters consider their wrongdoings that contributed to the demise of their relationship. I appreciated watching them work through the family drama and their individual experiences and apologizing to each other and their loved ones.

However, I would have liked to see some accountability from the church leaders in their decision making. Additionally, some closure to all of the talk about the developments in Fork City, Texas and their impact on the local community.

Overall though, I thought the story was encouraging as it showed forgiveness and reconciliation.

Best friend. Worst enemy. Sisters. Set against the backdrop of a small Texas hometown and delicious southern cooking, Michelle Stimpson has given the reader every twisty turn of the emotional drama of two sisters who have nursed wounds for forty years. There are two sides to every story and in this dual POV family drama we get get to see the mistakes, the crossed communications and the hard truths that drive a wedge between sisters. Well plotted with misunderstandings and secrets that ratchet up the tension throughout the novel.


Chef’s kiss and 5 Stars for Sisters with a Side of Greens by Michelle Stimpson

A touching novel that will remind you that sisters are the best even when they aren't. Rose and Marvina have been estranged but now Rose has reached out because, to be honest, she needs something, That's one thing but then as it turns out, she's going to help Marvina in unexpected ways. There's a faith component woven throughout this. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Relatable characters and fine storytelling make this a good read.

Thank you Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for this arc.


It was the cover that got me. And though the book has some heavier subjects than the cartoon cover might imply, it also has a lot of humor and heart. Plus enough talk of yummy sounding food that I wish I could actually try the Dewberry sisters’ magical seasoning.


There is a lot more going on in the book. Let me first tell people that the book is very Southern. Southern food, Southern culture, Southern dialect. Marvina is very dedicated to her conservative church and her religious beliefs – and Rose’s lack of them – figure prominently. The small town in which most of the book takes place is a hotbed of gossip. Past red-lining of Blacks into a certain section of town is mentioned and there is a reason why Marvina and her adult son don’t communicate much.

It’s not so much miscommunications that have separated the sisters as it is misremembering or not having the full picture of past events. Neither sister is at first willing to let go of her “truth” and a major reason they haven’t talked is due to not wishing to criticize their (now dead) mother who was a strong influence on them. It will take a long time before Rose is ready to test the waters about her plans with Marvina and even then things won’t go smoothly.

At one point, one of the sisters (paraphrasing) describes Kerresha as an old soul in a young body. Nineteen year old Kerresha doesn’t initially understand some of the sisters’ expressions and Kerresha’s Insta-talk baffles Marvina and occasionally Rose but Kerresha isn’t one to not speak her mind. She doesn’t hold with sticking to old customs “just because” and her blunt observations give (mostly) Marvina a lot to think about. I could understand why her character was there – to (respectfully) shake things up and highlight where Marvina and Rose were butting heads for no good reason but after a while, her comments seemed a little bit too on point. Still I liked her freshness.

Marvina and Rose have a lot to learn about what really happened in the past and unlearn a great deal of what they thought they knew. Given how long these wounds had festered and how settled the sisters were in believing they were right and the other was wrong, it’s understandable that it takes most of the book to work these out. Brava that these things causing the estrangement between them are believable even if I wanted to throw my hands up at times. In the end, they both get a new outlook on the past and move forward with a plan that suits them both. B

4.5 stars

I have a feeling I’m going to absolutely love this one 🤞🏾and love I did!

Whew! What a rollercoaster of emotions 🥹 I was hooked from the get go. I enjoyed the complexity of these two sisters, Rose and Marvina’s journey from rehashing painful past to forgiveness and healing.

The story was well written and the characters were amazing and easy to connect with…..from Rose’s sarcasm to Kerresha’s realness and Marvina’s stubbornness. Loved them all. David was a real delight too. Their bantering and bickering was top notch. I wish we had more of Marvina and Warren Jnr connecting though.

Overall, this was an emotional story about family, love, forgiveness, healing and some excellent food. Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

Very beautifully written story of sisterhood, family, remembrance, growth, and second chances. And I am a sucker for any story set around food. I’ll be recommending this to all my literary-bend friends who love a story centered around relationships. The author did a beautiful job.

This book hit close to home. Maybe a little too close to him. This book is extremely relatable and real. It is all too common for family members to not speak and carry grudges. But seeing how they work to overcome these issues is extremely important to see. I loved to see Rose and Marvinas relationship, especially when it came to their issues with one another. Because the book did the great part of showing that memories and peoples perceptions of events always change.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sister With a Side of Greens is a redemptive story of two estranged southern sisters who are brought together with the help of their mother's secret spice mix recipe and an unmarried pregnant teenage girl named Kerresha. Rose Tillman and her sister Marvina Nash have been fighting for so long, but they will both tell you the reason for the fight is something different. In this story, the sisters are forced to confront their feelings and acknowledge their part in the conflict as well. Both women are strong willed and it feels like fighting has become the easy thing for them to do. I enjoyed getting to know the women and learning about their pasts. Seeing things from the lens of another person is such a valuable lesson, and it made me love the story even more. A story of family drama between the sisters was ultimately a beautiful heartwarming journey.

Thank you NetGalley an Sourcebooks Landmark for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Sisters. Two very strong willed sisters. Rose and Marvina haven’t spoken in a long time. Rose sent Marvina $40 to register their business but Marvina used it for herself.


But Rose is retiring and wants to revisit that dream business. A restaurant.
She has been saving her mother’s secret spice recipe for just this purpose. But now she’s lost the magic recipe. And only one other person knows it. Marvina.


Rose drives the two hours to speak to Marvina. Marvina, meanwhile, has her own version of events and is going to let Rose know just that. But of course, that is not that. As the sisters argue,cry, laugh and forgive, they also give hope to a community.


Beautiful and so southern!


NetGalley/ Sourcebooks Landmark March 05, 2024