I loved this story, it was really well written and told from the perspective of a seventy-seven-year-old woman, quite refreshing in this age of twenty-something lead characters. If you are a fan of The Great British Bake Off, this story will appeal to you, it certainly did to me. Jenny Quinn has always loved baking and all her recipes remind her of a past event or someone she has loved. She decides that it's time to take a chance in life and applies for Britain Bakes and gets an audition. Every bake tells about Jenny's past and the secret she has kept from everyone for years.

The book is full of wonderful characters that make the story come to life. Jenny is so warm, caring and funny that I couldn't help but love her and will her to succeed. Her husband, of nearly 60 years, Bernard is a sweet loving man too. Every character brings something to the story and adds to Jenny's new adventure.

This book was such a joy to read, a real feel-good tale of taking chances at any age, being brave, making new friends and coming to terms with buried feelings. It made me smile a lot, Jenny has a wry sense of humour and is full of the wisdom that comes from a full life. It was a pleasure to read.

Although this novel has rave reviews,I was disappointed. The characters were,I think, were two dimensional and the story rather thin.
I also believe the baking show could have been less reminiscent of the Channel 4 programme.
The subplot of the back story ( I am not giving away any spoilers) was a good idea but the ending was too convenient and predictable. I did skip through some pages which does speak volumes.Sorry , but not one for me.

It was a very hungry=making book! Mrs Quinn and her recipes made the story so interesting, a little sad in parts, but full of character. Competing in a Baking programme, meeting the lovely Azeez, and the secret gradually coming out were all written in a very charming way. Apart from the end, which I found came too quickly, the book is a delight.
Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review it.

I liked this one, its not groundbreaking or anything like that, rather its charming and cute ad made me smile and feel warm. Yes its a little predictable but I think thats what is part of the charm.

If I had to pick one word to describe this book, it would be comforting, which is exactly what I needed after a hectic Christmas and the virus from hell.
Whilst the story may be somewhat predictable, and definitely for the sweet of tooth, this is part of it's charm. Just as we can be transported to a memory of Nonna's kitchen when you bite into a brandy snap biscuit, or a childhood picnic when you smell a sausage roll, Jenny's recipes are reminders of pivotal moments in her life. It's a reminder that life's joys really are in the small things, and that love really does conquer all.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

I like baking and the Great British Bake Off so knew that I would enjoy this book. It has a thread of history running through it but is mainly set in the present day.

Jenny is 77 and a lifelong baker who spontaneously decides to secretly apply for a national baking show. Some of her actions were annoying but I think true to how she would act and she was a believable character. I think the character of Poppy would have been more believable who seemed more like a 5 year old than 8.

I enjoyed the program details but found the ending a bit rushed, more details including name would have been good.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I very rarely read a book that reduces me to tears but this one did. Hard hitting yet at the same time heart warming, this tugged at my heart strings. With the addition of baking and a little humour made this an absolute belter of a read.

Oh this book! I simply adored it from the very first page to the last. Our heroine is Jenny Quinn, who has been married to Bernard for 59 years and you are rooting for her from the start of the book. She decides to enter Britain Bakes without telling Bernard and her family - and to her shock gets in. This leads to a trip down memory lane with every bake she makes as well as insight as to how a baking show actually works.

I'm not ashamed in admitting this book made me cry in several places - you will love Jenny and Bernard (and Jenny's competitor Azeez) - also do not read this book whilst hungry, it will have you reaching for the snack cupboard!

This was a lovely cheerful read. Fairly quick and 'easy' which is something we all need at times. Its a tale about how you're never too old to achieve your dreams, or to right the wrongs from your past.

I love Jenny and Bernard's relationship. The way they just quietly love each other, always knowing what the other needs.

There's something magical about recipes that have been passed down through the generations. As if love and family history can be baked into a cake.

Jenny's backstory is so sad. The way unmarried mothers were treated in the past is heartbreaking. I especially feel that as someone who was a young unmarried mother!

Perfect, easy, holiday read, with surprising depth.

Mrs Quinn is 77 years old. She is approaching her 60th wedding anniversary with her husband Bernie and has led a simple life. But that is about to change when she secretly submits an application for Britains Bake off. She has a secret that has shaped most of her life, but change is in the air.

Jenny (aka Mrs Quinn) is wonderfully charming and warm, with a good heart. Together with her husband Bernie, she is a likeable main character, personifying that its never too late to make a change or take a chance. I enjoyed the reality TV references and the "behind the scenes" was really interesting. The plot takes you on a journey and is perfectly paced and edited.

Easy reading and thoroughly enjoyable.

The beginning of Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford had me puzzled. The book opens with something of a Prologue though its not marked as such. My mouth was watering as I reached the end of the introduction to prompt me to read some more. I was not disappointed. It soon started to make sense as I kept reading. It is a heart warming delightful and moreish tale of Jenny Quinn the main protagonist. Britain Bakes is her favourite show. She has summoned the courage to apply to be a contestant on it. Surprised to discover that her application is successful she hopes to win the contest. As she becomes a household name her life unravels and she risks to lose everything she dearly loves.

Jenny is a spunky seventy-one-year-old. I could not help but love her. As Ford paints her life and that of her family and friends I had a very real premonition that Jenny had a secret that not even those closest to her were aware of. This is the crux of the novel. How does Jenny deal with her dilemma? Is the love of the most important person in her life strong enough to overcome the shock of this reveal?

Ford has written a captivating and uplifting story that gives hope to anyone in the same circumstances. It made me sit up and think. How easy it is to be judgemental when the boot is on the other foot? Each chapter is headed with a recipe title. There are also descriptions of the recipe which is pulled apart and analysed by Mrs Quinn aka Jenny. Its delectable how the recipes have been woven into the narrative. As I dove into the book I was totally immersed in Jenny’s story engaging in it all the way through. Just as Mrs Quinn pulls apart and analyses her recipes and the ingredients so too has Ford with her life story.

This would make a great read for the New year. Thank you Ford for a luscious magical read.

A lovely tale full of drama and sweetness, just like Mrs Quinn’s baking. Beautifully written, a nice little easy to read, charming book

Nothing usual genre but what a delightful read! A cosy kitchen of a novel that made me feel cosy and warm! Loved the lovely main character!

Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford

Jenny Quinn, 77 years old and married to Bernard for 59 years, enters Britain Bakes, a prime-time TV baking contest. As she practises the recipes she will bake on the show her memories and past are revealed. When the show airs her rise to fame has unintended consequences.

What a lovely story - I really enjoyed this book. Loved Mrs Quinn and the whole cast of characters, loved the setting and Britan Bakes, and I really loved the ending! Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame is a very gentle story with the interesting idea that you are never too old to become a star of TV.
Mrs Quinn reaches her eighties and plucks up courage to enter a TV baking show...no,honestly, it isn't Bake Off ...its a completely different baking show where amateur bakers compete for the weekly golden spoon and one baker each week is eliminated. Absolutely different!
It is, like a loaf of bread just out of the oven, a warm and cosy story, but maybe like a good loaf, a bit hollow when examined closely.
The back story, set 60 years previously, is resolved rather too neatly, and unbelievably and, in the main, many characters seem quite one dimensional.
It is, however, not trying to be great literature, simply it is a sweet and charming novel designed to leave its readers with a warm and comfy feeling that people are mostly kind and the world is mostly a good place.

This was a real feel-good story. The characters felt warm and homely and it was one I really enjoyed curling up and reading. Just the right levels of emotion and drama. Kept me hooked right until the end.

“Mrs Quinn is the unlikely star of Britain's favourite baking show, but could her newfound stardom cause her biggest secret to unravel?

Jennifer Quinn has a secret. Her love of baking has just won her a spot as a contestant on a primetime TV show. It's only the second time in fifty-nine years that she's kept something from her beloved husband Bernard.

She's about to be whisked into an unfamiliar world of cameras, timed challenges and celebrity judges. She could be in with a chance of being crowned the best baker in Britain.

But, as Mrs Quinn's quiet ambitions turn into unexpected stardom, the other secret she's been keeping is in danger of resurfacing. It was supposed to stay hidden forever.

Will Mrs Quinn rise to the challenge? Or, will her success become a recipe for disaster?”

Many thanks to Penguin Random House for giving me a digital ARC of this wonderful book. This story is told over two time periods, the past and the present and spans the 60 years of Jenny and Bernard’s marriage. I loved the warmth of the writing and of course, the theme of baking! Bernard describes his wife as brave, inspirational with an ability to take life by the horns and it proves that at 77, life is far from over and it’s never too late to follow one’s dreams! I laughed and I cried (unfortunately this was as a passenger in a car on the M3) and this is definitely one of the books I’ve read that will stay with me for a long time. My only criticism is that I want to hear more - perhaps there will be more to hear from Jennifer Quinn! Plus I really think she should have shared some of her recipes!!

This is a charming and uplifting read. The story revolves around Jennifer Quinn, a 77-year-old British home baker, whose baking earns her a spot as a contestant on a primetime TV show, leading her into a world of cameras, timed challenges, and celebrity judges. The moral of the story is that it's never too late to take chances and step out of one's comfort zone. It’s the perfect heartwarming read…. bake off in book form! 🧁📚

Absolutely adored this heartwarming book, that left me incredibly hungry.

In fact please don't read this unless you have a lot of snacks on hand to nibble on as you read, especially baked goods, as this is definitely a book that will appeal to anyone that loves a bit of baking or bake off, or eating!

Jennifer Quinn is a wonderful character and I'd love to be her when I'm older, I'd especially love her baking ability!

She is in her 70s and has applied to be on British Bakes, keeping the application a secret from her husband. In their almost 60 years of marriage this is only the second thing she has hidden from Bernard.

The first is slowly revealed to us as readers, over the course of the British Bakes, and of what Jennifer is baking, as from those bakes we are taken on a trip down memory lane to when she was a teen, Thus reinforcing a theme in the book that good baking can evoke memories.

I just loved every single thing about this book, and devoured it in a few very short hours.

The backstory and secret revelation is so understated throughout, that the emotion of it actually took me by surprise by the time we have discovered everything.

It's a joyous read, and I look forward to seeing what else this author writes in the future.

Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This is the first book that I have read by this author and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. For anyone that enjoys watching cooking programmes like The Great British Bake Off this book is a must. The storyline covers Mrs Jenny Quinn who is in her 70’s,she enters a baking competition on the television. It was so lovely to see behind the scenes of a reality TV show. The descriptions of the baked products made the reader feel as though they were there tasting the food.
A beautiful comfort read book full of warmth,and love.
Whatever your age it proves that your never too old to try anything.
This book leaves you with a feel good factor and some disappointment that the book had come to an end as I just kept wanting more.
Hopefully this author will write many more books as I would definitely recommend her books.
Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
I absolutely loved it.