The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake
“Heartfelt, heartwarming, joyful, and uplifting. You can't go wrong with a Rachel Linden book.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber
A magical cookbook and a summer on her family’s Italian olive farm help a brokenhearted social media chef cook up a satisfying new life in this delectable novel from the bestselling author of Recipe for a Charmed Life.
Rising star Jules Costa loves re-creating vintage recipes for her popular online cooking show. But when personal and professional disaster strikes, her only chance to save her career is to complete her new cookbook before the end of the summer. Panicked, Jules returns to her family’s beloved olive farm on the shores of Italy’s stunning Lake Garda. Seeking culinary inspiration, she’s hoping to convince her spunky eighty-year-old Nonna Bruna to share her precious collection of family recipes.
Jules’s plans quickly go awry as she discovers that Nonna’s cookbook has magical and unpredictable powers. It reveals only one recipe at a time, offering a cooking experience guaranteed to satisfy the chef’s palate and bring clarity to their life. Yet the pages remain stubbornly blank for Jules. To make matters worse, the olive farm is in deep financial trouble, and Jules soon uncovers a web of family secrets involving the cookbook and a lost recipe for orange blossom cake that holds the key to everything. Then there’s Nicolo, the boy next door, who broke her young heart years ago. He is now all grown up, even more attractive, and the only person poised to help Jules find answers.
In a whirlwind summer beyond her imagination, Jules begins to unravel the mysteries baked into her family’s history and discovers the essential ingredients to create the future of her dreams.
A magical cookbook and a summer on her family’s Italian olive farm help a brokenhearted social media chef cook up a satisfying new life in this delectable novel from the bestselling author of Recipe for a Charmed Life.
Rising star Jules Costa loves re-creating vintage recipes for her popular online cooking show. But when personal and professional disaster strikes, her only chance to save her career is to complete her new cookbook before the end of the summer. Panicked, Jules returns to her family’s beloved olive farm on the shores of Italy’s stunning Lake Garda. Seeking culinary inspiration, she’s hoping to convince her spunky eighty-year-old Nonna Bruna to share her precious collection of family recipes.
Jules’s plans quickly go awry as she discovers that Nonna’s cookbook has magical and unpredictable powers. It reveals only one recipe at a time, offering a cooking experience guaranteed to satisfy the chef’s palate and bring clarity to their life. Yet the pages remain stubbornly blank for Jules. To make matters worse, the olive farm is in deep financial trouble, and Jules soon uncovers a web of family secrets involving the cookbook and a lost recipe for orange blossom cake that holds the key to everything. Then there’s Nicolo, the boy next door, who broke her young heart years ago. He is now all grown up, even more attractive, and the only person poised to help Jules find answers.
In a whirlwind summer beyond her imagination, Jules begins to unravel the mysteries baked into her family’s history and discovers the essential ingredients to create the future of her dreams.
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Community Reviews
Well, friends, I have officially confirmed two things about myself: (1) I cannot resist a novel where food is basically a character, and (2) if a magical cookbook ever appeared in my kitchen, it would immediately go on strike because of my dependence on boxed macaroni and cheese.
The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake is exactly what it says on the tin: part culinary romance, part family drama, part magical realism, and one hundred percent Pinterest-board envy. Our heroine, Jules, a social media cooking star in the middle of a professional meltdown, runs home to Italy to regroup. And by “regroup,” I mean “live rent-free on a scenic olive farm by a lake and mope around while her spunky Nonna is basically giving the plot oxygen.” Relatable.
The hook here is the magical cookbook, which only reveals recipes when it feels like it. Frankly, it sounds less like a mystical heirloom and more like my Wi-Fi connection—but it works. Nonna’s recipes appear, lives are changed, hearts are mended, and of course, the childhood crush shows up hotter and more useful than ever (because naturally, the boy who broke your teenage heart always comes back looking like an Italian wine commercial).
Is it predictable? Yes. Did I care? Not at all. I was too busy craving citrus cake, swooning over olive groves, and wishing Nonna would adopt me. The pacing occasionally drags, but in the way that a leisurely five-course Italian meal does—you’re just full but somehow want more dessert.
But I’m a little sad. Mainly because I don’t have an actual slice of this mythical orange blossom cake in front of me. Books can only do so much, and my stomach demands results.
Final thought: If you like your fiction cozy, romantic, slightly magical, and dusted with powdered sugar, this one’s worth savoring. Just make sure you have snacks on hand, because reading on an empty stomach is a rookie mistake I will not repeat.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for this review copy!
The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake is exactly what it says on the tin: part culinary romance, part family drama, part magical realism, and one hundred percent Pinterest-board envy. Our heroine, Jules, a social media cooking star in the middle of a professional meltdown, runs home to Italy to regroup. And by “regroup,” I mean “live rent-free on a scenic olive farm by a lake and mope around while her spunky Nonna is basically giving the plot oxygen.” Relatable.
The hook here is the magical cookbook, which only reveals recipes when it feels like it. Frankly, it sounds less like a mystical heirloom and more like my Wi-Fi connection—but it works. Nonna’s recipes appear, lives are changed, hearts are mended, and of course, the childhood crush shows up hotter and more useful than ever (because naturally, the boy who broke your teenage heart always comes back looking like an Italian wine commercial).
Is it predictable? Yes. Did I care? Not at all. I was too busy craving citrus cake, swooning over olive groves, and wishing Nonna would adopt me. The pacing occasionally drags, but in the way that a leisurely five-course Italian meal does—you’re just full but somehow want more dessert.
But I’m a little sad. Mainly because I don’t have an actual slice of this mythical orange blossom cake in front of me. Books can only do so much, and my stomach demands results.
Final thought: If you like your fiction cozy, romantic, slightly magical, and dusted with powdered sugar, this one’s worth savoring. Just make sure you have snacks on hand, because reading on an empty stomach is a rookie mistake I will not repeat.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for this review copy!
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