📖: The Secret Ingredient
✍️: Sue Heath
⭐️: 2 of 5

I should have paid more attention when requesting because I have a hard time with books from the UK. It's not that I don't enjoy the stories, but I find myself having a hard time with the writing styles, tone, and overall language when reading. I find that audiobooks are much easier for me to digest and enjoy in this situation.
With that being said, I found this to be quite repetitive and slow. To be honest, as soon as Covid was mentioned, I was completely turned off. I'm sick of hearing about it in real life, and I certainly don't want to read about it.

Thank you, NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, and One More Chapter for the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy.

Each person's grief is a personal journey. In THE SECRET INGREDIENT, Sue Heath has introduced us to Kate Shaw, a young widow who has allowed her grief to become her life. After 3 years of not facing the world alone, she decides to take a big step and change her routines. The first step.....she's learning to cook and her neighbors are her guinea pigs. Heath paints such a beautiful portrait of this woman as she learns that she can grieve and live at the same time. Heart warming and uplifting.

This a novel that highlights the importance of food, and having a community of people to help heal your from your scars.

Kate met the love of her life Eddie, she got to spend a few years with him, before he was taken from her too soon. Eddie loved to cook for her, and since his death 3 years ago she has avoided the kitchen. Now she is finally ready to find happiness and healing in her life. She enters the kitchen again, and along with that step she finds herself a community in her neighbours she never expected but deeply needed.

This was a deeply emotional story, that I enjoyed thoroughly. Some elements were a little off, but where this novel excelled was in presenting the truly magically power a community brings in life. The story was deeply sad in a lot of ways. It dealt with death, divorce, growing old, grief, among others, and was an emotional roller coaster. The novel had a lot of light moments, and it a satisfying but bittersweet ending. The recipes included throughout the book were a wonderful touch. Overall a fantastic book.

Wow sometimes you pick up a book and it’s just the kind of story you need to restore your faith in humanity and that was this one. This is a beautiful book about a group of people who all need people in their lives to help them navigate the road ahead. These neighbours who start with nothing in common apart from loss come together to build a friendship that warmed my heart. Don’t get me wrong this book will make you cry but also laugh out loud and very hungry. I won’t spoil this for anyone but if you want a really good feel good tearjerker about real friendship even after the worst has happened then this is the book for you and if you want a really sweet recipe for a pineapple upside down cake this is also for you (I’m going to make one next weekend). This is one of those books that doesn’t leave you even after the last page.

Let me start with the positives.
Great recipes, great heart, great warmth.
If you are looking for a light, heartwarming story wrapped up in a recipe book then you will be a very happy bunny when you read
The Secret Ingredient by Sue Heath.
The characters are kind, loving and very sweet. Even the one who is meant to be a cynical, ex borderline alcoholic obsessive thaws remarkably quickly when in contact with miracle first time baker/chef Kate.
Kate's neighbour, Della, has an almost equally magic touch with her garden. Attracting almost immediately a perfect life partner the first time she breaks the soil for her new vegetable patch
Charles and Mary are, literally the real heart of the book An elderly couple whose love for one another is deep and very touching. In these two, Sue Heath really has got it right.
For the rest though, I am afraid, it was just too perfect, too sweet and, to be honest, too fast
Events hurtled in one after the other in the space of less than two months by what I can work out. Kate goes from never having set foot in a kitchen to cook to becoming a flawless baker and chef in..well in no time at all actually...apart from one mistake with the mixer when she attempts pancakes, she never makes a mistake again!
I wanted to like this book much more than I did, but the speed of relationships building up and characters getting to know one another really well made it just too implausible to feel comfortable with
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for an Earc of this title which I have reviewed honestly...as you can tell!

This is one of the best books I have read recently. It’s a book about neighbours, support, love and friendship. The story starts with characters Kate and Eddie, after a tragedy Kate is alone, after some time she meets her neighbours Della, the wonderful Mary and Charles, then along comes David and Jack.
This book did make me cry and chuckle but that just adds to the wonderful story. Highly recommend this book
My thanks as always to NetGalley and to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, One More Chapter for the early read.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Kate takes us on a journey of her life challenges she faces in her day to day life. A nice read.

This is such a lovely story, beautifully written and ultimately heartwarming. It is essentially about love in its many guises. Kate, who is mourning the early death of her husband three years ago, moves to a new area. There she encounters all these people with their own stories to tell. Charles and Mary, the elderly, long married couple who share an enduring lifetime of love, who stole my heart ; Justin, a top- notch chef who has to give up his vocation through no fault of his own; Della the lovely neighbour who has been desperately hurt by her husband’s abandonment of her, and several other characters, all beautifully drawn. Their stories draw the reader in, and I was captivated with how the author wove these stories of lovely people together, and how they became close, caring friends to form this delightful book. The mouthwatering recipes were an added inspiration, even though I’m not a cook myself.
I loved Sue Heath’s previous book Keeper of Stories, and this one is equally as enjoyable and engrossing. Once again, I was sorry to leave behind this varied cast of people when the book ended. Such skilful storytelling, with perfect characterisation, is just my sort of book. I enjoyed it so much.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

Thanks Netgalley for this opportunity!
I would give this a solid 3.5 stars: I genuinely enjoyed it. I loved the recipes scattered throughout; they really drove home how much this story is about the powerful impact of food on people. I loved how this followed our main characters through all different types of tragedy and trauma, giving a glimpse into how each one of them coped and how each one used food to come out on the other side. Jack's story, maybe because of the impact of the last 4 years, I thought was the most intriguing.
I wish this had a few less POVs: towards the end I was really struggling to connect to each one and found myself skimming. I also really thought the heavy-dialogue revelations for each of their loneliness was a bit over the top? I feel like no one, even the closest of friends, says ALL of that out loud.
But that being said, I think this would be an excellent book club read. It's very nuanced and I think someone could find themselves in at least one of these characters as they grapple with change. Very insightful, even if the end doesn't leave a huge impact.

Just over three years ago, Kate's husband was killed and her life imploded. Since then, she has been living in a fog - going back and forth between despondency and anger. She decides she can no longer do her job as a teacher effectively, so she resigns. She has been avoiding the kitchen in their home since that was always her husband's domain - he loved to cook, and hoped to become a chef one day. After a disastrous first attempt at pancakes, she slowly hones her cooking and baking skills, while making meaningful connections with the other neighbors on her street who are also in need of healing.

This book will give you all of the feels. It was such an emotional story. I loved the entire cast of characters. There was David, who's wife left him for another man, and now that his daughters are grown he is an empty-nester. Della's husband also left her for another man, and she has isolated herself ever since. Jack used to be a well-known chef who owned his own restaurant, but after he caught a virus, he lost his sense of taste and smell. He never recovered them, and since he didn't feel he could cook without those, he closed the restaurant, and moved to a new home. Now he is just trying to figure out what is next for him. Mary is dying of cancer, and her husband Charles is determined to make her final days special - just as determined as Mary is determined to make sure Charles is taken care of after she is gone. I loved seeing how all of these individuals helped each other to heal, and all of the new relationships that formed. For all of the cooks out there, there are recipes scattered throughout the book - contributed by Kate's husband, Kate's Gran, Mary, and Della. This book is perfect for fans of Cecelia Ahern Lucy Gilmore, Eva Carter, and Rachel Linden.

The Secret Ingredient is the debut book by Sue Heath. It is a story of loss, grief, and redemption.

Kate has tragically lost her husband Eddie on their anniversary. She has spent the last three years in a suspended state of grief and has decided that is it time to get back to life. Jack is a renowned up and coming chef who has lost his sense of taste and smell. Both of them are grieving what could have been while trying to move forward. Kate who has never been much of a cook decides that she will learn to cook, something that Eddie loved. With the help of Jack and some lovely neighbors who are facing their own crises, Kate and Jack may just find in each other and their neighbors what they need to come out the other side and move on.

This novel was so lovely with the relationships between the characters and the strength that people can find in the most tragic of circumstances. This is a gentle novel that will make you feel good even though it is bittersweet in places. I look forward to move books from Ms. Heath.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and the author or the chance to read and review book

Food is more than fuel. Food can bring to mind precious memories from the past. Food can build a bridge to a healthier future. Food can build community. This new character-driven novel does all those things with a lovable cast. Kate is a grieving widow. Jack is a frustrated top chef on hiatus. Arthur and Mary are devoted to each other and dealing with terminal illness. Della is divorced and dotes on her little dog Clint. David is a lovable divorced Dad with a sense of adventure. We meet them in varied combinations and occasions. This is perfect for fans of Shari Low.

Happy Publication Day! Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this fabulously gentle heartwarming read. Although the main theme is loss and bereavement there is also more than enough love, friendship and community to compensate with more than a dollop of humour along the way. There is nothing truly dramatic, no cliff hangers, just life. Emotional at times but a truly uplifting, with a big cosy hug without being cloying. Brilliant depicted characters, without unnecessary villains in a feelgood book. Interspersed with some delicious recipes so personal to the characters involved. Sometimes one just needs an uncomplicated feelgood book to immerse oneself in.

April 22 was a date etched into Kate’s heart—the day she first met Eddie and the day they celebrated their wedding anniversaries, but also the day Eddie, who “wore life like a comfortable blanket, vanished from Kate’s life forever. The Secret Ingredient, Sue Heath’s touching new novel, is a story of grief, but also a story of recovery.

The opening chapter fills in Eddie and Kate’s past, a nearly perfect happy marriage until, suddenly, Eddie doesn’t answer Kate’s text.

Three years two weeks and one day later, Kate’s life changes again in ways that she feels would have made Eddie proud. Suddenly with time on her hands, Kate begins getting to know her neighbors although first encounters bring mixed emotions, including anger, confusion, and inspiration. One by one, readers also meet Kate’s neighbors, such as Jack, Charles, and Della, each suffering from his or her own type of grief.

Numbered chapters each include a character’s name as well as a title, many of which name or relate to foods. While not narrators of the chapters, the named characters do serve as a central focus. Specific foods, meals, and tea also play a central role, contributing to the overall charm of Sue Heath’s story.

Many types of readers will enjoy, even fall in love with The Secret Ingredient: those coping with grief or those who have recovered, those who have been caught up in heavy literary fiction and need a break, and certainly those who thrive on “cozy” novels. As they meet and get to know the assortment of characters, readers will run the gamut of emotions. Most of all, they are likely to feel they have made new friends.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins/One More Chapter for an advance reader copy of Sue Heath's charming new novel..

Shared on GoodReads and Barnes & Noble.

Thank you to One More Chapter via Netgalley for sending me this beautiful, heartwarming book. A book about love, loss, loneliness and friendship and beginning to venture back into the kitchen trying recipes again.
It was just a real feel good book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

From heartache to finding. A community, this is a lovely tale of Kate discovering what can be fun and enjoyable whilst also helping others. Finding her grandmother’s recipe book and having cooking help from Mary, and support from Della really turns her life around.

What a beautiful, heartwarming read that has chased the chills away on a cold winter day!
A charming multigenerational cast of characters find themselves brought together at a time when unbeknownst to them, they could all use some company, friendship and help in their lives. I adored each and every one of them: from cheeky chappy old Charles and his warm, wise wife Mary, to big hearted Della, bitter lost Jack, and our main character Kate, the grieving widow who is bottling up all her emotions and struggling to find a way to move forward with her life. Brought together by food, the neighbours become firm friends and we get to follow them as they help and support each other. I want to make a recipe book of my own now and fill it with all our family favourites and those that I’ve gathered throughout the years and to capture the essence of the moments when I’ve either made or eaten them; to make copies for my own children. I loved reading the recipes and the accompanying notes! I cried tears of happiness and sadness so many times reading this book, but it’s one of those lovely uplifting, heart warming stories that leaves you feeling like you’ve had a hug from a book!
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, One More Chapter, Harper Collins UK for an arc in exchange for a review.

Content warning: loss, death, cancer. Possible spoiler warnings.

Kate and Eddie have the perfect relationship - one that's easy and loving and they just *fit*. Eddie's love language is cooking for others, while Kate doesn't even know how to make pancakes. But a tragic accident on their anniversary leaves Kate a widow, wracked with guilt for the things she never got to say.

Three years after Eddie's death, she meets Charles, the frail, forgetful elderly man from down the road, who seems convinced her house is a tearoom. Through Charles, she meets Mary, Charles' beloved wife, who teaches Kate to cook to keep her mind off her own illness; she meets gardener Della, and her puppy Chip who teach her the healing power of bacon butties. And she meets Jack, the former celebrity chef who packed it all in after a illness left him unable to cook.

All of the neighbours have suffered great losses, but through the acts of helping each other and cooking for each other they learn to heal.

Food brings people together. Food, or the smell of food, elicits memories. Food can be a comfort while also taking you out of your comfort zone. And cooking somebody's favourite foods is a gift from the heart. But this is a book not just about food, but about community, of belonging and of healing. All of the characters are broken in some way, and they're all very different but together they're ok. They belong.

The Secret Ingredient is a beautiful book - one that inspires all of the senses: one could see Della's brilliant garden and the sumptuous spreads, taste the pork crackles, smell the freesias, and feel all the feelings.

This book made me ugly cry. I'd been warned this was a tear-jerker when I picked it up, and right out the gate we get hit with Eddie's accident. Everything is cozy and heartwarming and I'm loving the community and growth and character development across all of them, and then the last 20% of the book requires an extraordinary amount of tissues. Four massive hits at the end of the book leading to a bittersweet ending.

There are recipes included in The Secret Ingredient, and I'm looking forward to trying them once I've recovered from the emotions of this book.

~ Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ~

(edited for late night typos)

Great book - really enjoyed it. Yes, you will laugh: yes, you will cry but overall, I really felt like this book gave me a big, cosy hug! New starts have to be made by several of the lovely characters after some awful life events for them. But by coming together and helping each other, they start to rebuild their lives. Slowly but surely, Kate learns to bake with the help of Mary, an old lady coming to the end of her time but who still has so much to give and plenty of knowledge & wisdom to pass on. Neighbours become friends, with some of those friendships deepening. Plenty of sadness too but together, they will get through it and move forward.

Highly recommend this lovely book.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review, which is what I have given.

Kate has left her teaching job to start her life again. Its just over three years since her husband Eddie went out and never returned. The victim of a tragic accident and since then Kate has just existed.
She decides to start cooking, something Eddie had always done, and through that she begins to live again. She meets her neighbours and some of them need her more than she realises.
A lovely story which will restore your faith in human nature.