The first thing I noticed about this book was that it is written with love-love for one's family down through the generations. 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 and he loves her so much that 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. Baking has become this family's way of living. They grow all their fruit right on their expansive property in Michigan, and each generation takes over the baking and each young daughter earns her own Recipe box at the age of thirteen.

At the heart of this story is Sam who is the one who wants to wander and 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, her great grandma and her grandmother Willo. Willo gave her daughter Deanna, Sam's mom her own recipe box too!

Sam goes to New York to college and starts working for a reality tv star Mr. Dimples, and he has no respect or caring for anyone. Finally she realizes it and walks off the job and goes home. The only good thing is that for this past year she had daily visits with Angelo Morelli who brings their produce and fruits in daily. Sam likes Angelo a lot but does not want to let him know it. As for Angelo he already knows how he feels, he loves her. Sam is not ready to take that leap of faith!

When Sam goes home she realizes the difference between her family and their history and all the friends that come every summer to pick apples and fruit for their own homes, and this is because of their family run business. It is because they can feel the love that goes into everything the family does.

Angelo decides to come see Michigan for himself and Sam goes to pick him up, and he loves what he sees. He loves what he feels and everyone welcomes him into their lives.

You will be surprised as I was that at the end of each section is a recipe, and this is what brings the point across to Sam. Her Grandma Willow always tells her

"PI =3.14159 (Who are we kidding? Pie =Love!)"
When Willo had gotten her recipe box her grandmother told her
"They're our family history. There is nothing more important than family and food."

There are so many good passages in this book I loved and I underlined so many passages but you will have to read it for yourself and see what happens.

This book is written with so much love and tells of good times, hard times, and how this family lives through their lives and brings new children and members into their family, and the author dedicated this book to her Grandma!

I gave the best rating for this outstanding book, and that is 5*****stars. I want to thank the author for this book and I intend to read more by Viola Shipman!

Thank you to NetGalley , St Martins Press, and Thomas Dunne Books for an advanced read in exchange for this review.

Sam had big dreams and left Michigan for New York. Unfortunately, New York is not what she had hoped. She returns home to her family orchard to figure out her life and its meaning.

First of all, each chapter in this book is named for a dessert with a recipe included! Your sweet tooth will definitely be on high alert. I enjoyed Sam as a character and admired her strong willed personality. However, I also felt that I did not know her. So much of this book is focused on food (which I love!), and it kind of takes away from the story of Sam and her life. Those two topics didn’t seem to connect completely for me. Also, I wanted so much more from the story and was disappointed when the ending happened too quickly. This is still an enjoyable and quick read, but I wished for more body.

Just couldn't get into the storyline. Couldn't keep my interest

Sam couldn't wait to get out of Michigan and her family's orchard and pie baking business. She had much grander dreams of being a chef in the big city. But after working for an ungrateful and just plain not nice Chef, she is ready to come home for a bit.

While Sam feels around for her own place in the world, her mother and grandmother share their recipe boxes and baking and as always with Shipman, sage advice and stories of family, love, relationships between mothers and daughters and how sometimes you may just need to take a second, and realize that everything you want has been right there in front of you.

The food descriptions are scrumptious! Oh my goodness I think at one point I was crying and drooling at the same time!

Excellent job as always!

NetGalley/March 20th 2018 by Thomas Dunne Books

Sam grew up on her family's orchard and couldn't wait to leave. After working in a bakery and issues with the chef, she returns homage and finds her family recipes and learns to understand the women in her family and begins again.

The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman is a heartfelt journey. Themes of family, love, and second chances are brought to life on these pages. I felt connected to the characters instantly. It was like I knew them for years. The pacing was steady yet emotional. The struggles were believable. Sam is a young woman who left her comfort to find her way in life. Only it did not turn out the way she had hoped. Frustrated and broken, Sam returns back home to find herself. Being back home, gave Sam all she needed. It was sweet, inspiring, and beautiful. Overall, I recommend it to all.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dunne Books for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was a sweet story of family, traditions and, of course, baking (with some wonderful recipes included)

I loved the premise and originality of this story...well written...a feel good read. Enjoy it...I did!

Sweet story with traditional story line, to wit: young adult leaves home with big career hopes as chef in big city, gets burned out by career and/or love hardships and returns home for brief respite. Sticks around to help out, falls (sort of) in love, bakes amazing “something” and decides she was crazy to leave and lives happily ever after. I am a sucker for this plot and genuinely reach for it repeatedly. I’ll read about baking and small towns with interesting characters often and with pleasure. This tale has the added ingredient of a multiple generation apple orchard and recipes that carry longstanding meaning to the family. If you love this kind of tale and have a fondness for apple recipes, this is your kind of book. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

I love books about family and relationships. I got lost in this one and couldn’t put it down. I so enjoyed these characters and felt I knew them. Shipman has a beautiful writing style and I am now compelled to read her earlier books.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read for my honest opinion.


A super sugar sweet story about generations and how Sharing recipients and family stories bring the generational gap. It begins with a flashback to family orchard and then bounces around to the story of many generations of women.

I found the timehops and characters a bit confusing. Also it was extreamly hard to get into.

The Greandmother Willow was the best character in the story and the story weakened by the time you got to Sam and Sams mother was a minor character. Sam was quite frustrating in my opinion.

Overall, a very touching Hallmark type story. It includes recipes which is nice. You get the whole food is love idea from the book which is very true. My family loves to cook together and I love cooking with my Grandma. That part touched me deeply. But the characters are pretty stereo typical and not very fleshed out. Generally I like a little more depth with these books and Sam is a pain.

Sam Nelson leaves New York after she quits her job as a pastry chef to go back to her family-run orchard and bakery in Michigan. Sam hears stories and learns lessons from her grandmother about her family’s past as she tries to find her way to love and happiness. The story is filled with lovely dessert recipes at the end of chapters. A sweet story filled with heartwarming, family-love and stories. I liked the plot, however, I couldn’t connect with Sam on any level. She was unemotional and rigid which had me wondering who in the world would fall in love with such a “cold fish”.

The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman will be available March 20, 2018 from Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin's Press. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

This book is not what I expected. It is very, very slow. It is also very, very saccharine. There were many times I thought about deleting this and finding something better. I hung in to the end and I can report this is not my type of book. Nothing really happens. There are a lot of flashbacks to the different women who make up the main characters ancestors but they really seem to be telling the same story. There are a lot of recipes in this book. By the end I did find myself thinking about baking. The sentiment is sweet about the importance of family and shared history and family recipes but it was just repeated far too much. Also be warned this book also spends a lot of time making you think about mortality. From the beginning of the book with the line about how many more of these will I bake? I really liked Angelo’s character and wish there could have been more of him. Unfortunately the main character was just not that interesting.

Amazing. A recipe box with generations of family baking recipes, life histories, feelings and love which are packed in a locked box with keys. Decisions, decisions to make. How does one decide their destiny? Viola Shipman shares the glory of Michigan’s lakeshore, the lives of a hard working loving family and the future of their business. Does one make their own destiny or follow what seems to be expected?

I loved this book and my friends should expect a copy. A great read!

The Recipe Box is a great, feel-good read. It would make a good Hallmark movie. Lots of great sounding recipes are intertwined in the story. You won't regret this one!

I cannot give this book enough stars - it is FANTASTIC! The characters are loveable and unforgettable & the the story puts a smile on your face with every page & warms your heart. The best part are the recipes! This book definitely needs a follow up book. Kudos!

The Recipe Box is about family and finding exactly where you fit.

Sam is a pastry chef in NYC. Her boss is terrible, and she quits her job and heads home to the family orchard in Michigan. From there, the story goes back and forth in time telling the story of her fore-mothers and their orchard. I liked getting to know their stories, but on the other hand, I felt like I knew a lot of characters a little, rather than getting to know one character really well.

The story reminded me a lot of a Hallmark movie, although in some cases, the book departed a little from the usual plot. Her love interest was a little different from the norm, and she didn't have to choose between her dream job and her man in the end.

Overall, I enjoyed the The Recipe Box. It was a fast, light read which was exactly what I needed at the time

This was the third book that I have read that was written by Viola Shipman. I first found this author while reading "The Charm Bracelet" which I loved and then "The Hope Chest" which I loved. I was very excited that there was another book on offer and did not waste any time requesting it.

I love how in all of Shipman's books, he takes, for instance, in "The Charm Bracelet". Every charm on the bracelet has a story and a meaning for the mother of the family. The same recipe is used in the other two books. However, I wasn't as impressed with "The Recipe Box" as I was with the other books. This one just seemed to have an over abundance of cheese. That's not to say it wasn't a good read, because it was. It just wasn't one of my favorites.

I did love all the names that Tricia used to describe the celebrity chef that Sam was working for before she went back home. They were some pretty funny names.

If you like Hallmark movies, you will love these books.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Viola Shipman has written another great book. Enjoyed the recipes and the history behind them.

Fabulous book. Thoroughly loved. Highly recommend!