Title: The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake

By:  Rachel Linden

ISBN: 9780593816639 (ISBN10: 0593816633)

Website: http://www.rachellinden.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra                   

Summary:

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 of saving 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’ plans quickly go awry as she discovers Nonna’s cookbook has magical and unpredictable powers. It only reveals one recipe at a time, offering a cooking experience guaranteed to satisfy the chef’s palate and bring clarity to their life. Yet it remains 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. And Nicolo, the boy next door who broke her young heart, is now all grown up, even more attractive, and the only person poised to help her 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. (Goodreads)

Review:

The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake is the first book that I have read by Rachel Linden and I can certainly say that I hope it is not the last ☺. I found the writing style easy to read and flowed well. The story itself very engaging. What drew me to read this book was the premise of a magical cookbook. Could there really be such a thing? 

The story begins with the main protagonist, Juliana (Jules) Costa, at a bit of a cross-roads. Her long time work partner and roommate Drew has taken an opportunity of a lifetime and Jules is stuck in her task of creating many recipes for a book she is writing that has a deadline to be submitted to the published by the end of the summer. Also Alessandra (Alex), Jules’ stepsister, is at loose ends for the summer and Jules’ mother, Lisa, has asked Jules to take Alex to Italy. This actually just might be the solution to Jules writing block. After all, her Nonna Bruna has this wonderful family recipe book! 

Jules returns to Italy after a 15-year hiatus. She had experienced a trauma there – her father had a heart attack while swimming in their favourite pond. For some reason, Jules has taken on ownership of this tragedy – thinking that she should have done something. But alas, it truly was an accident. I find it cathartic that Jules returns to the shores of the lake where this all happened and was able to find closure in her dad’s death.

While in Italy, Jules does run into her old boyfriend (Nicolo) and of course they have many, many interactions. I loved how they eventually got back on track with their friendship and continued to develop their romantic relationship as well.  

Back to the family recipe book. It was to be the answer to all of Jules writing block problems. But the book was not showing any of the recipes to Jules. The pages were blank! Seems this book is magical and has unpredictable powers… Sheesh. So how is Jules to get the recipes she so desperately needs? I am not inclined to describe all the juicy bits of the book, but to let each reader discover the many gems within this book themselves.

The journey to self discovery of the importance of family for Jules was a bit of a rocky one, but well worth the read. At times, I chuckled loudly and at other times, I was very sad. I enjoyed the fact that this read brought out many emotions. The slow build of Jules relationship with her stepsister was heartwarming. Lest we forget – the resurrection of the relationship between Jules and Nicolo – all I can say is YEAH. After all – who wouldn’t want to get involved with a hunky Italian?

I quite enjoyed the story’s Italian setting (okay – loved it actually) and multigenerational cast, capturing the emotional depth and charm of each character. If you are looking for a book that will draw you in, enjoy one’s journey to find their true passion and place in life AND reading the descriptions of all the food that sounded so very yummy… then The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake is a book I would suggest you pick up and read!

I will definitely be seeking out more of Rachel Linden’s books to read in the future.