Cover of Recipe for Disaster

Recipe for Disaster

Stacey Ballis cooks up a delicious broth of a novel about a woman whose perfect life falls apart in spectacular fashion—leaving her with a house to restore, an antique cookbook (but no cooking talent), and one very unhappy schnauzer. For fans of Jen Lancaster, Jennifer Weiner, and Emily Giffin.

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To an outside observer, Anneke Stroudt is a mess—her shirts are stained, her fingernails stubby, her language colorful. But, despite her flaws, Anneke's life is close to perfect. She has a beautiful historic house to restore and a loving fiance who cooks like a dream.

Until Anneke's charmed existence falls apart when she loses both her job and her future husband in one terrible day. In need of a new start, she packs up her disgruntled schnauzer and moves into her half-finished home, where she throws her pent-up frustration—and what little savings she has—into finishing the renovation.

But at the first step into the house's overhaul, Anneke is sidetracked when she discovers a mysterious leather-bound book, long hidden away, filled with tempting recipes and steamy secrets from Emma Ditmore-Smythe, the cook for the house's original owners. Slowly, with the help of some delicious food and Emma's life lessons, Anneke begins to realize that, just like a flawless recipe, she's been waiting for the right ingredients to cook up a perfect life all along...

"With the perfect blend of humor and heart, Ballis's writing is powerfully honest and genuinely hilarious."—Jen Lancaster

INCLUDES RECIPES

Audience
adult
Length
long · 466 pages

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