The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman is set in Bayview Points, Michigan. Samantha "Sam" Nelson is working at Dimples Bakery in New York when her boss, Chef Dimples goes too far and she quits. She has had enough of his attitude and taking credit for her work. Sam grew up in Bayview Points on her families' orchard, Mullins Pie Pantry and U-Pick. The orchard is having its hundredth birthday this summer and her grandmother, Willo is turning seventy-five. There will be a big party in honor of the two events. Sam heads home for the summer and works in the pie pantry alongside her mother, Deana and grandmother. When Sam was thirteen, she was given a handcrafted recipe box that matches grandmother's and her mother's. Inside are the family recipes that have been passed down from mother to daughter. While working alongside them and using the family recipes, she learns about their past, her family history, how the orchard came to be and her love for baking. She also learns that the right man that will complement her has been there all along if she just opens her heart. Join Sam on a journey through the past that will help her have a bright, happy future.

The Recipe Box is a charming novel. I thought it was well-written and had a steady pace. Ms. Shipman has a conversational writing style that has an ease to it (makes for an easy to read story that is engaging). The author provided beautiful descriptions of the area, the orchard, the people and the baked goods (recipes included). I loved the characters in the story with Willo being my favorite. I appreciated the strong, intelligent female characters. There are great interactions between the women. Life lessons are included in The Recipe Box which include know yourself and be true to yourself. It is important to live a life without regrets. The Recipe Box is a feel-good novel. There is a predictable element, but it did not hinder my enjoyment. I like a book that gives me a good, heartwarming feeling inside and leaves me with a smile on my face when I am done reading it. I look forward to this author's next book.

This book was such a lovely surprise. I really enjoyed the story-line and I cannot wait to test out some of the recipes that were included in the book. A lot of them sound too good to pass up.

Sam is struggling with finding her place in life. She loved where she was raised, but can't help but feel that she is bigger than that life. Wanting to make her own mark on the world she embarks on her own adventure away from home, leaving behind the ones she loves the most.

When an unexpected decision is made, Same returns home. Not ready to relay the news to her family she muddles through the days, slowly remembering why she loves this place she calls home so much. Those emerging feelings confuse her even more, making the upcoming decisions her hardest yet.

Through family drama and life decisions, Sam navigates this story with determination. Knowing that everything she has worked for will reveal itself in due time.

I really, really loved this story. It's such a satisfying and wholesome read - has all of the elements I desire in good women's fiction. Family relationships, a woman finding herself and lots of food. Themes of family tradition, strong women were prevalent and I just felt like I'd eaten a bowl of warm rice pudding after I read this story.

So emotional, so heartwarming but with humor and a tone that was light enough to keep the story moving. This is one of my favorite books of 2018.

Recipe lovers you're going to enjoy this one as each chapter starts off with a recipe and they sound absolutely delicious. Sam grew up in northern Michigan and her families orchard is all she knows. Looking to broaden her horizons while she adds a little excitement to her life she strikes out and lands a job as a chef in NYC. It's her dream job but when her boss turns out to not be who they portray themself as being she feels like a failure as she returns back home to the orchard. Surrounded by family, mother, grandmother I really enjoyed reading interactions between all these strong women.
Pub Date 20 Mar 2018
I received a complimentary copy from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley .. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. I'm sorry to be a little late posting a review. I enjoyed following the history of this family and how their orchard not only survived but thrived through the years and generations. Sam is struggling to make her own way through life or return to the family and the orchard. The story line is predictable but enjoyable nonetheless. The collection of recipes is definitely a plus!

This is such a outstanding book that I found myself not wanting it to end. It truly resonates with all of us that have shared cooking within our families . It is a lovely testament to the women that come before us and the bonds we share through recipes through generations. i found it immensely touching and comforting.
I highly recommend this book . My review opinions re my own. Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the review copy of this wonderful book.
This book tells the story of a family of women from Alice -the first woman in this family mentioned in 1939. Her husband is Leo . He gives her a handmade recipe box with a lock on it that he tells her she should fill with all of her recipes for all their women relatives to come. Alice is connected to baking and loves the idea of passing on recipes. She begins a tradition in the family where each generation of women take over the baking and earns her own Recipe box at the age of thirteen. This was so endearing and such a testament to this strong family core.
At the heart of this story is Sam who is the one to make her own way. When she is 13 she too is given her own recipe box and gets her key which she wears around her neck just like her great great grandma and her grandmother Willo. As she grows up she leaves to work as a pastry chef in New York then returns to the family to return to baking with recipes from the recipe box.
After she returns to the family baking business, she realizes this is where she belongs and finds herself enjoying being a part of the history of baking of her family .
I loved the recipes, the references to cooking and the close family. This is a endearing sweet book that deserves to be made into a movie. Its one of the nicest stories I have read this year.

4.5 Delicious Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5

This was such a charming read... filled with love, family, and food... each chapter starts off with a recipe... a recipe that sounds absolutely delicious... that is why my mom is getting a copy of this book for Mother’s Day, she needs to try out these recipes... she is a stellar Baker (just in case she’s reading this I want to butter her up)

Sam grew up in northern Michigan on her family‘s orchard, always longing for the big city.... there are so many books with this theme... and as somebody who grew up in the “big city“ I think it would be quite lovely to live in one of these charming places I so often read about... I guess the grass is always greener and all that.... so Sam realizes her dream and gets a job as a chef in NYC... but when it turns out her boss is a fraud, she returns home, feeling like a failure.... but will she finally see the magic in the family orchard?

Sam was a lovely character and she was surrounded by her mother and grandmother, both very strong and delightful women.... and I have to say Grandma Willow was my absolute favorite.... she just had so much heart and spirit, a grandma everyone would want.... I just loved the interaction between these women and the other family members, you could just feel the love between all of them.... I think that is what I found so enjoyable about this book, there was just so much love... Love for family... love for their orchard... love for food... and there was even some romance in this book... and I have to say Angelo was pretty delicious as well...

Something I want to mention that I found terribly interesting... is that this book was written by a man.... using the pen name of Viola Shipman... I would have never guessed in a million years, major props to you for that... always impressed when an author writes from the opposite sexes point of view and does it well as in this case....

Absolutely recommend to people who enjoy a lovely read filled with fun, food, and family...

*** thank you so much to the publisher and Net Galley for providing me with a copy of this lovely book, and shame on me for taking so darn long to get to it ***

Simply loved the concept, the author's notes, and the stories behind the recipes. In today's hustle and bustle world, and the fragmenting of families, this book shines as a testament to the bond between not just families, but the women that are the glue that holds precious lives together.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would when I first started reading it. It's sort of an old-fashioned read that takes the reader from the past to the present. Sam Shipman is a chef, and her family owns an apple orchard and has for generations. The orchard and the recipes from it have been passed down, but Sam isn't sure how she fits into the Michigan orchard lifestyle.

I was totally hooked by the end and I highly recommend this book. Thanks to Thomas Dunne Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When starting this book, I was pretty sure it was going to be one of those that was just a vehicle for the recipes. It started off a little cheesy and clichéd, and I didn’t like the main character, Sam, that much, and thought, “well, at least there will be some amazing recipes.”

But it really grew on me as I read it, between Sam’s growth as a person, the development of the romance, and determining where you belong in the world between the city and home (a dilemma I’ve returned to at several points in my life.) I also liked the exploration of the various generations of the family, and remember the recipes my mom passed down and what her well-used cookbooks looked like.

If you didn’t grow up in a family that baked, maybe this won’t hit you in the feels, but for me, reading this was a very sweet experience. There might have even been a tear or two by the end.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.

The Recipe Box tells of a family of strong women who for generations held the family farm together through hard work and daring ideas. It is filled with delicious recipes, with each recipe telling part of the family history.

Thank you NetGalley for ARC. This is sweet and light, as well as a love letter to Northern Michigan. Story was simple..

Soulful, nostalgic, searching, hopeful. These are some of the adjectives that went through my mind as I read The Recipe Box. I laughed out loud at parts and was touched and thoughtful in others. This story is full of heritage and family. Although I indicated the time period to be “Contemporary”, it spans many generations. It is not a saga, but is full of snippets from the lives of the matriarchs of Sam’s family.

I loved the way the author wove the history into the present day. She managed to go into the past and back to the present without making the story feel disjointed, giving enough detail to draw you in and get you invested. There were recipes included as well, and each one played a part in the narrative.

My dear friend, Chris, is from Michigan, and I hear her talk about it all the time. After reading The Recipe Box, I really get it. Author Viola Shipman has caused me to fall in love with a place and a lifestyle I have never experienced.

The characters in the story were wonderful. The women had rich wisdom to share. The men were strong and steady. Angelo was charming and delightful. Conner was unexpectedly sweet. Chef Dimples was … Well, let’s just say that he was and let you find out what he was.

Though there were many parts of the book that I loved, I think my favorites were the parts where Sam’s dad talked about the day he decided to not leave Michigan to be an engineer and the ending. I won’t give anything away here, but do want to say that the way the author tied everything up here was masterful.

This review was originally posted on AmongTheReads.net

I would like to thank Netgalley for giving me this item. My opinion and review were not influenced by this gift.

As someone who cherishes family recipes, this book was a journey I absolutely loved venturing on. It reminds you that family is the most important thing in life, and all the glitz and glamour of big cities and fame don't hold water to spending quality time with those who love us the most.

Samantha "Sam" Mullins gets sick of life on her family's orchard and bakery so she leaves home and works for a celebrity chef in NYC. But after a big incident at work, she quits and has no where to go except back to the home she was so eager to leave. Here, she learns that the place she was so willing to put behind her, is actually the best part of her life. Sam's heart is healed in ways she doesn't even realize she needs by spending time in the kitchen with her mom and grandmother, working her way through her family's beloved recipe box.

I was first drawn to this book, The Recipe Box, by the beautiful cover! Beautiful covers with bold colors get me every time. I'm so glad the cover drew me to this book, because the story inside was equally as beautiful and full of life. Great read.

Sam Nelson has just quit her job as a pastry chef in New York City due to being humiliated by her overbearing, narcissistic boss. She decides to go home to her family's orchard in Michigan to sort out her life and figure out her next steps. What follows is a history of Sam's family, their home, and their recipes that will help shape Sam's ultimate decision. Will she follow her heart, or her head? The narrative spans five generations, includes recipes described in the story, and explains how decisions and strong family ties impact people in the present and the future.
I enjoyed this bittersweet family story very much. I loved the fact that there were recipes included for every major dessert mentioned in the story, and I am definitely going to try them out soon. I liked how the story came full circle from the beginning to the end in parallel ways, and I was very satisfied with the ending. The characters are memorable, and the storyline is sad, yet sweet at the same time. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys generational stories and women's fiction.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. A positive review was not required, and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Sam loves her family, but all she ever wanted to do was get out and make her mark. When her professional career hits a snag, she heads home to figure out the next steps in her professional career. She feels her return home means she is a failure, despite the success of her family’s business.
This was a sweet and heart-warming story of family, women, and tradition. I really enjoyed the role of women in this story. They were strong and dedicated to the family and the continuing the family’s legacy. Tradition is very important, and part of this is passing down recipes with a recipe box. Each woman in this story has left their mark on the family business, and Sam needs the chance to look at her family’s past, and the women involved with new eyes, and realize that honoring tradition doesn’t mean there is no room for change.
I loved the peek into to the recipe box each chapter brought and I can’t wait to try some of the recipes. I recommend a print copy so you can bake with ease.
#NetGalley #TheRecipeBox

This is a beautiful story about connecting with our history and the women who made it possible.

Thomas Dunne Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Recipe Box. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Dreaming of a world outside of her family's orchard and pie pantry, Samantha "Sam" Mullins embarks on a journey of self discovery as a pastry chef. Coming to certain realizations, Sam uses the family recipes and traditions contained within her special recipe box to fulfill her destiny.

Although The Recipe Box does not have the most unique plot or the most memorable main character, the emotions the author was able to invoke propelled this book into the four star category. The author added a special touch, with recipes of a personal nature weaved into the story.
My family's treasured recipes have also been handed down through multiple generations, although the user often has to go to the original source to see the food stained pages. Special notes and adaptations have been painstakingly added to the recipes, which have been preserved and distributed via a computer. The Recipe Box made me think of my mother, as she was the keeper and recorder of the treasured recipes in our family. Other readers will be able to make their own connections, so I would definitely recommend The Recipe Box to those who like stories about showing love through food.

I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The concept behind this story is just darling! I loved the idea of a recipe box passed down from generation to generation. It hits home in a lovely way. I also appreciated that the characters all had different relationships to the recipes, that the box and its tradition saw them through different times.

Viola Shipman has a knack for description. I felt like I was there in Michigan with Sam. I could almost smell the apple crisp and the fall weather. And having the recipes included at the end of each part was a special treat! I can't wait to try making some of them (I'm partial to the apple ones).

While this was a great idea for a story, it did fall short in the execution in some parts. The conflicts in the story felt like they were resolved too easily. We were barely introduced to a difficult moment or decision before it had been resolved and we were moving on. Parts of it felt like it lacked depth and that made it come off a little cliched or heavy-handed. And some of the dialogue didn't seem natural to me. It was stilted at points and I ended up skimming those sections.

On the whole, I enjoyed this read. It was a wonderful escape, a great way to relax.

I would recommend this to anyone who:
- needs a good beach book/palate-cleanser
- is from the country and is feeling a bit homesick
- wants some delicious-sounding dessert recipes