Lucy is a baker that didn’t really bring her career forward as she wanted to. Oliver is a famous cook that was living and working in Paris for a popular restaurant chain. He is set to open up a restaurant in their small town and wants Lucy to work for him. She accepts it but not everything goes as planned.

What I loved about this book is baking (I love books that have baking in it, ok?) and that it was set in Australia. Not only those two things, of course but it stood out to me the most. What I found great is the plot; it wasn’t really pushed onto you and they didn’t go back together like nothing has happened in the past. No, they still have their up and downs, they still have to learn how to work with each other and how to make their relationship work. It is not really easy when you have a mother that’s obsessed with your husband (not in the wrong way!) and wants you two to end up together. Not only that, but there are the problems that Lucy didn’t realize up until now.

What caught me off guard was how the problem was put out. Usually it is the guy that’s always guilty for something but this was both of their fault. I appreciate the author for doing this. I admit that when I read it, I was a bit upset but when I stopped and took a step back, I realized it is just what it is. It is the truth and it happened.

Let’s not forget the best friend drama!! I felt sorry for Zoe but also felt mad at her when she just ditched Lucy after she told her the truth. Yes, in not the best way possible but still. >.< At least, in the end she came to her senses.

To me, there was something missing to give it a full 5 stars. I can’t quite pinpoint what. But!! Don’t let this take you back and make you not read the book. The book is really really good and I wish that this book would be made into a series. The characters were interesting and plot is worth following. I recommend this book to every lover of the books with baking (not only sweet but savour one) and hot scenes (because there were couple of them). I’m sure that it will give you the laugh and maybe even tears.

Eventually got round to reading this book. I found the characters fairly objectionable. Neither Lucy or Oliver were very likeable and neither was her friend Zoe with the fairly tedious story about her husband’s affair. There was not really much of a plot either and the only redeeming feature for me was all the cake descriptions which kept me going. The story is about Lucy, a baker, and her husband Oliver, a chef. Oliver had left Lucy some years ago pursuing a dream to work in France. He spends some time there and becomes famous so that on his return to Australia, where the book is set, he is something of a celebrity, which Lucy seems to resent. Oliver wants to get back together with Lucy and also wants her to work for him. The book was set in a small suburb of Melbourne which was interesting but some of the Australian colloquialisms I found difficult to follow. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

This story was cute, so cute. I had wondered if it would go down a different route then it did and I loved that it stayed on the path it was meant to.

Lucy is our main lady, headstrong and has been jilted by her husband. Her hot husband who also happens to be now famous! Famous for being a chef, think Gordon Ramsay famous. He left and she didn’t follow, but now he is back.

This is my first book by Belinda and I loved this story that she told. A woman who won’t take any nonsense but also one who knows when she is wrong and I will admit I quite liked her even when she was losing her mind. Her estranged husband Oliver, he may be beautiful but I kept too-ing and fro-ing with how I felt about him. Did I like him? Was he good enough? Alas, that wasn’t my decision to make! This however made the story feel realistic, it was not a case of oh I love him lets be in love forever or oh I hate him let me run away with someone else. It was about two people wondering if they were able to still make things work despite what had occurred.

Once I sat down and started to read to this, I found it such an easy read to get into and lose myself in. I found Belinda’s writing so enticing, she writes as if she was having a conversation and I found that the book just flowed. As I said it was a cute read and a fun read and I know I will be back again to read another book by Belinda. I just found out this was Belinda’s debut, so if this is the start you just know it will get better and better!

This was a fun read and I loved Lucy's character I was really rooting for her to find Mr. Right! Sadly Oliver didn't sweep me off my feet and I was convinced by his character at all.

Thank-you HQ Digital & Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an open & honest review.

⭐⭐⭐

Just another lurking author here - just checking out of curiosity. Wanted to see my book on screen. Carry on.

This is a brilliant feel good modern fiction story. It's packed full of emotion and is well worth reading.

So this is book filled with bunch of elements including love for baking . I would love to recommend this book to Fans of romance I loved the cute book. .

A young woman is at a loss when her errant husband returns and begins to instigate himself back into her life. Filled with humor and self reflection, Missen pens a lighthearted second chance romance brimming with love, laughter, family, friendship, and of course, yummy food.

I really enjoyed this book - a delightful story which made me giggle in places. A heartwarming story of relationships, friendship and second chances. I enjoyed the characters and found I engaged with them from the start of the book.

An enjoyable contemporary novel which I recommend as perfect holiday reading or for a cosy afternoon on the sofa with a cuppa. A delight! I can't wait to read more from Belinda Missen.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy and Oliver are married and Oliver gets an opportunity to open a restaurant in France and he doesn't think twice about leaving Lucy. Time goes by but they never get divorced. Lucy is trying to move on with a loser of epic proportions. Lucy is doing a wedding cake and when she drops off the cake she runs into Oliver. Oliver tries his hardest to get Lucy to come back to him. I thought both Lucy and Oliver were extremely hard to relate to and Lucy was just a wimp in every aspect of her life. She gets used or misunderstands something and instead of talking about it she runs now. The book would have also been better if there were at least a couple of recipes as this whole book dealt with a restaurant and baking.

A witty funny love story of college sweethearts pulled apart by career choices and ambition.that will make a mess of things to eventually turn things around to right where they belong.

Lucy is a cake maestro, but she's currently working at the local school canteen and not getting over the fact that her husband left her 3 years ago to pursue his career in Europe. But Oliver returns and shakes up Lucy's life.

A nice read about a couple who chose different directions, but then realised they needed to be on the same path. Set against a lovely region of Victoria we have our renewed romance set in a new restaurant and our taste buds are teased with some mouth watering treats. There is the usual best friend in trouble and the end of the book is no surprise, but it is a nice journey to get there.

4☆ A Feel Good Read

 A Recipe for Disaster is a story about success, relationships, second chances and delicious food.

Lucy is a fantastic baker, she has alot of passion for baking it just shines through.
Her ex hubby Oliver is a top celeb chef.

Their relationship is far from perfect it's fiery and a lil temperamental at times.
But Oliver knows he needs Lucy. So despite them no longer being together, he offers her to come work with him in his new restaurant.

Lucy has to work out what she wants and is going back to Oliver the right decision?

 A Recipe for Disaster is exactly that!
If Lucy and Oliver become partners again will it be a recipie for disaster or Will it be the perfect pairing!

I really enjoyed reading this book. I really appreciated all the baking, as I adore baking myself. The characters were flawed, but I did find it took lil while to connect with the main characters.
It's a feel good, witty read about second chances, change, relationships, the romance is more subtle as they work through their issues.
Overall an enjoyable summer read. That left me hungry.

Thank you to Rachel Random Resources for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This book is set in and around Melbourne. Lucy is in a relationship and works in a school kitchen. She's asked to make a wedding cake for a friend and whilst she's making it, she realises that she's missed baking.
At the wedding reception she spots her estranged husband Oliver. She doesn't quite know how she feels seeing him after all seven years.
The book the proceeds to see how their relationship pans out. Can they both forget about those lost years? What will family and friends think?
A great feel good story about friendships, determination and life's hurdles.

This was my first book from this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lovely setting, humourous storyline, Lucy was a great character and of course cakes, you can't go wrong really can you?. A full review will appear on my blog shortly.

A delightful read that left me happy with a smile on my face and also made me want to eat cake
Fun characters, moments that made me laugh, enjoyable story and romance

This was a very realistic second chance romance.

Oliver and Lucy had a strong bond since they were 15 but after Oliver gets a job offer in Australia he accepts and leave Lucy behind. Now he's a famous chef but he's also the one that killed their happily ever after. Does he get another one or he lost his chance in forever? Lucy's reactions to Oliver's actions were at times immature. That's a fact that made her even more realistic. I mean everyone gets to be immature at times, especially when someone hurts us deeply. Oliver didn't give me many reasons to root for him. One time he was sweet and considerate and then he did something that made me change my mind. It was really good to see what really happens after the happily ever after in a story. After all not everything works out the first time!!

It’s just so hard to let a good book go and this story really pulls at the heartstrings. Bridget Jones meets the Great British Bake Off, I wanted to savour every bite of this delicious tale, but it really insisted that I devour as much of it as I could in one sitting. The tug of love between cake curator Lucy Williams and celebrity chef Oliver Murray is so palpable and tangible that you could almost reach out and touch it. You simply want them to have their cake and eat it too! From the very beginning I was pulled into their love triangle, their love for each other, themselves and their foody creations, jostling for attention in every waking and sleeping moment of their lives. The passion and tension of their romantic life ratcheted up a few notches with every passing chapter. If their love were an oven it couldn’t be hotter! This romance sizzles in the proverbial pans that clatter around their modern kitchens at the centre of the eateries in the story. Yet there are tender and poignant moments. The writer captures the honesty of every heartbeat, she empties the very soul of our wonderful heroine into every word and the pages pulse with plausibility and longing.
Lucy’s vulnerability when sharing her creativity, her hopes, her dreams, her disappointments and private revelations lets us into her very core through the front door and we are desperate for all the little pieces of her heart to come back together. She talks of ‘peeling back a layer of herself and exposing that soft underbelly’. The depth of Lucy’s feelings for her husband and how her whole life’s memories were wrapped up in her life with him, resonated with me. I also married at a young age – younger actually, I was 19 and Lucy 21, and my husband and I can look a long way back to some very distant memories. Basically, we grew up together and life’s experiences have baked us even closer to one another. The turmoil and the power of Lucy’s feelings as she faces the threat of losing such a fundamental part of herself forever made me weep for her. The narrative of the story moves like a dance, the different characters weaving their lives in, out, around and amongst one another like poetry amongst prose. Truly, the wisdom and wit of Lucy should be written in the sky with diamonds. I totally agree with her life perspective – that to be ‘comfortably busy,’ in touch with your creative self and to count personal fulfilment as a measure of happiness and success far outweighs anything else the world might have to offer. There may be temptations along the way, not least Lucy’s lovely cakes and bakes, but the people with whom you can enjoy the journey of life count more than a multitude of accolades and the gratifying adulation of strangers.
Coffee Cup Conversations and Teapot Talking Points:
If you and I dear reader were sitting down together today, perhaps in a cosy corner of Murray’s, having both read the book, here are a few of the points we could mull over together, whilst trying out one of Lucy Williams’ delicious designer creations of course.
Have you ever eaten in a celebrity chef’s restaurant?
My son has enjoyed an evening at a restaurant belonging to a famous chef. He and his friend enjoyed one of the taster menus and they had the time of their lives. I would love to do this one day and whenever we see the restaurants on Masterchef my husband and I always vow that we will go one day. I once had to show a celebrity chef around a kitchen and it was a hilarious experience. I was quite dreading having to invite him into my own kitchen as I had none of his cookery books, and plenty belonging to his ‘competitors’, but thankfully I didn’t have to, and he was so lovely, I truly enjoyed the experience.
Have you ever been the embarrassing parent?
I know that as a parent we can often point to hilarious tales of our children’s younger years and when they did or said something that was both extraordinarily cute and highly embarrassing. I cannot recall however any stand out moments of my own behaviour – my mind has gone temporarily blank! Although I will say that it is the duty of anyone parenting a teenager to embarrass them occasionally, just to get them back for all those sleepless nights!!
What would you say is the best wedding cake that you ever saw?
As I said, I got married young, when we were flush with youth, but not with cash. A very kind family friend had a wedding cake business and she made us our wedding cake as a gift – for nothing! It was the most joyous affair, with iced butterflies in my favourite colours and vines dripping with icing grapes all decorating three gorgeous tiers. We gave out a lot of it to guests on the day, and then, pretty penniless as we were, we ate the rest on our honeymoon as we had very little else to eat, and in those days the shops didn’t open on a Sunday. We made sure that we toasted any future children, whose christenings tradition said we had to keep the cake for and then we tucked in. I will never forget the generosity of our friend, giving us her time, her skill and the most precious cake and special memories.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Hooked on cookery programme and books on cooking so this was right up my street. A Recipe for Disaster is a story about success, relationships, second chances and delicious food