There are times when I start a book and think "wow, this is so damn depressing, I don't think I can continue".  Seriously, that's how I felt. Here's a young woman whose husband gets in a fatal car accident, leaving her truly alone. When she married Jim, she stopped talking to her sisters and became estranged from them because all she needed was her husband. We come to find out that maybe he wasn't such a great guy and he had some secrets buried deep. Maybe not that deep, just deep enough for Bridget not to see. I kept reading though. And the more I read, the more I fell in love with the characters. They are broken but at least they have each other. 

The secret surrounding Abby was one I was very interested in learning. I had suspicions but none of them came close to being what I thought. Bridget and Abby's relationship is never the same that day, which also happens to be the day that Bridget marries Jim. A man who has secrets that I was dying to find out about. When you're in love, at times you tend to be blind. Especially to those that you just can't ever see in a bad light. 

The relationship between the sisters was a hit rocky at first but as the story went on, the ice started to melt more. I don't like stories much where the siblings hate each other. And while the siblings in this book don't hate each other, they sort of lost a bit of something. That something being each other. Overall, I thought was a nice, heartfelt book about forgiveness. That's what I took from the story. It was beautiful, real, and at times bittersweet. I look forward to the next book. 

*Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Nice, fun and heartwarming read.  It is especially appealing if you like baking.   Or eating.  :-)

Bridget O'Bannon is ready for a do-over for her life, after her husband passes away. She deals with the fact that her marriage wasn't the fairy tale she led others to believe. She's left her family behind when she got married & reconnects with her sisters & mother.

Her mother doesn't really give the girls a moments peace so working alongside with her sisters & mother in their family bakery makes for long days. 

During an outing she meets the very nice widower Garrett. He also helps her heal & shows her how much he cares for her. He listens to her, offers advice when asked for it.

Family. Food. Secrets. Love.

Four ingredients in Shirley Jump’s new book THE PERFECT RECIPE FOR LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP.

When you can laugh, cry, cringe, and cheer at a book’s story line and its characters, you know you’ve read something that will stay with you for a long, long while. The O’Bannon family reminded me so much of my own crazy Irish/Catholic family that at times I felt like I was reading a diary from my teen years.

30 year old Bridgit O’Bannon has just become a widow – much like her mother did 20 years before. That’s the only similarity, though between the 2 events. Colleen ( mom) had 4 small children to care for; Bridget had wanted a baby with her husband Jim, but he didn’t want children. Colleen’s husband was loved by her family; Jim was not. In fact, he was the cause of a major rift between Bridget, her 3 sisters and her 
other. And after his death, Bridget learns some horrible truths about the husband she gave up all for.

But, like most families, when tragedy walks in the door, family does too, bringing food (more casseroles than anyone should have to eat!) and carting more emotional baggage than should be allowed.

How these five strong-willed, fractured, and emotionally charged women cope with the events and one another is the basis for Jump’s story and believe me, it rings so true to life that you will, as I did, hear fragments of your own family story bark through it.

Add in some mouthwatering baking scenes( because the family runs a 3-generations-old bakery) a new romantic interest for Bridget, two family secrets that threaten to crack any chance of healing this family ( one from sister Abby, the other from Colleen) and a Priest who makes house calls and epitomizes God’s love, and you’ve got a simply wonderful, tear-jerking, belly-laughing story.

 I can’t recommend this book enough. Brava, Ms. Jump. Keep’em coming!

Bridget O’Bannon is trying to get over the death of her husband, a man, if she admits it, was really not a very good person. Still it’s hard to start over, even with her sisters hoping for her help at the family bakery. In order for Bridget to recover, she will have to face the truth about her husband, her marriage and her frayed relationship with her family. A complex and enjoyable story about family