A rare time when the second book is very close to as great as the first. Enjoyed the deeper journey into characters from the first book ( )

The second book in the School of Essential Ingredients series and it's quite possibly as delightful as the first. If you've read the first in the series you'll see that several of the characters return and you get to know them much better and really care for them as they go through their lives filled with happiness, struggles, love, and woes. New characters are added into or written about from their lives that you grow to care for as well. Erica Bauermeister has a true gift for writing in a way that gives you a true sense of who the characters are ... they're completely filled out, not one or two dimensional as in so many other novels. These are people you come to feel you really know through her stories. Personally, I was looking forward to a third book when I wasn't even halfway through this story. Excellently written. I want to sit down to a meal with these characters. ( )

A delightful, escapist but thoughtful confection, if that is even possible. A bit on the order of Sara Addison Allen, with less magic and less romance. ( )

I read almost half of this book, struggling as I did not enjoy it, before finally giving up and not finishing. I just could not get into it. It felt flat and the characters didn’t resonate with me.

Not as good as her earlier book ..essential ingredients. It was ok though. ( )