A Pinch of Ooh La La
by Renee Swindle
ISBN 13: 9780451416650
Author Website: hwww.reneeswindlebooks.com

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Kim

Synopsis:

To get to happily ever after, sometimes you need to start from scratch….

Abbey Ross, who runs her own bakery in Oakland, California, is known for her visually stunning wedding cakes. But lately, Abbey’s own love life has become stale. According to her best friend, Bendrix, Abbey’s not the spontaneous young woman she was when they were teenagers listening to the Cure and creating attention-grabbing graffiti. Of course, her failed relationship with a womanizing art forger might have something to do with that. Nevertheless, it’s time for Abbey to step out of the kitchen—and her comfort zone—and Bendrix has even handpicked a man for her to date.

Samuel Howard is everything Abbey’s dreamed of: handsome, successful, and looking to raise a family. But a creamy icing might be needed to hide a problem or two. When Samuel complains about disrespect for the institution of marriage, Abbey’s reminded of her nontraditional family, with thirteen children from various mothers. And when Samuel rails about kids having kids, Abbey thinks of her twenty-year-old sister who’s recently revealed her pregnancy.

Soon Abbey is facing one disaster after another and struggling to make sense of it all. Her search for love has led her down a bitter path, but with the help of her unique family and unwavering friends, she just might find the ooh la la that makes life sweet.

Review:
I have never read anything from this author until this book and was not disappointed. She has a way of adding layers of people and personalities and it works. I was a little intimidated at first with so many people in the mix but Renee made it work, it went smoothly and I didn’t get lost.

Abbey Ross comes from a large family, with many step-mothers and quite a few siblings but they all had something to offer in Abbey’s upbringing. Her father, a famous Jazz musician and world traveler brought lots of culture and love into Abbey’s life and he made it a point to make each child feel special.

Abbey, almost 40 and unmarried, was hurt from a relationship that absolutely left her devastated. What made it so bad was the fact that her fiance’s betrayal was so blatant and was done in the eye of the public. Finally, her best friend forces her to join a dating web site and after a couple of disastrous dates, then she meets Samuel.

Samuel is smooth, charming and a good-looking young man. He’s a corporate lawyer, works hard and like Abbey, has never been married. They see each other for months and finally he pops the question and Abbey says yes. As they continue to see each other Abbey’s noticing things that make her uncomfortable but she ignores them because she’s so focused on getting married and wanting kids that she ignores the red flags. They marry and suddenly she is seeing things in a whole new light. After counseling and the death of her father, Abbey realizes that she doesn’t like what she is seeing.

You know, I can see how someone can get so lost and consumed by one thought that they oftentimes lose themselves and in this book Renee shows us how life and surroundings can make or break a person and how a person can come out of bad situations but come out better and stronger than before. Renee shows life, love, mistakes and forgiveness in this book, a book well done.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*