How to Bake a Perfect Life: A Novel
Written by Barbara O'Neal
Narrated by Tanya Eby
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
In a novel as warm and embracing as a family kitchen, Barbara O’Neal explores the poignant, sometimes complex relationships between mothers and daughters—and the healing magic of homemade bread.
Professional baker Ramona Gallagher is a master of an art that has sustained her through the most turbulent times, including a baby at fifteen and an endless family feud. But now Ramona’s bakery threatens to crumble around her. Literally. She’s one water-heater disaster away from losing her grandmother’s rambling Victorian and everything she’s worked so hard to build.
When Ramona’s soldier son-in-law is wounded in Afghanistan, her daughter, Sophia, races overseas to be at his side, leaving Ramona as the only suitable guardian for Sophia’s thirteen-year-old stepdaughter, Katie. Heartbroken, Katie feels that she’s being dumped again—this time on the doorstep of a woman out of practice with mothering.
Ramona calls upon a special set of tools—patience, persistence, and the reliability of a good recipe—when rebellious Katie arrives. And as she relives her own history of difficult choices, Ramona shares her love of baking with the troubled girl. Slowly, Katie begins to find self-acceptance and a place to call home. And when a man from her past returns to offer a second chance at love, Ramona discovers that even the best recipe tastes better when you add time, care, and a few secret ingredients of your own.
“This book will have you smiling and crying and pining for an old love, or just a hunk of really good fresh-baked bread. I loved every single delicious bite.” —Jennie Shortridge, author of When She Flew
Barbara O'Neal
Barbara O’Neal is the author of eleven novels of women’s fiction, including How to Bake a Perfect Life and The Lost Recipe for Happiness. Her award-winning books have been published in a dozen countries, including France, England, Poland, Australia, Turkey, Italy, Germany, and Brazil. Barbara lives in the stunningly beautiful city of Colorado Springs with her beloved, a British endurance athlete who vows he’ll never lose his accent.
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Reviews for How to Bake a Perfect Life
196 ratings17 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was my first book by the author. I listened to the audiobook while doing chores and did not want this to end.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderful characters and story! I loved the magic of it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Delightful book… perfect summer read, I was sorry to see it end!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I love every story she's written! There's something uniquely memorable about all of them. I am still thinking about the beautiful descriptions of making bread weeks after finishing this book. Her stories are beautiful works of art that take you away.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of my fav books ever - read it like 5 times.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good story line and sweet connections to everyday things. Enjoyed the read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The story flows so well. Love is found, hurts forgiven.. just a wonderful book!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What a great book! The story mixed in with the amazing recipes is awesome.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Bake a Perfect Life is a wonderful read. I just knew it would all work out in the end, yet I had to keep reading to find out how. The characters were realistic, and the setting was drawn with poetic language. I have wanted to start my own sourdough, and I might try the recipe for starter mix. I will admit that I skipped the steamy parts.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I enjoyed the story and characters. It's a light enjoyable read
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5t seems like Ramona has had more than her fair share of trouble, but through it all, making bread has been her path to calming her nerves and soothing her psyche. Now, trying to establish her own bakery without the help of her mostly estranged family, she finds herself barely staying one step ahead of her creditors. When tragedy strikes a close family member, Romona must care for a young step-granddaughter who comes with her own set of problems. Can Ramona pull out a recipe from her bag of tricks to fix all that ails everyone? Probably not, but her expertise goes a long way towards satisfaction and happiness. These characters will touch your heart, and if the bread recipes are a bit too complicated to try, maybe you can find a special bakery in your own neighborhood and indulge in someone else's bread-making talents.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I really liked this "chic lit" book even though it's not my preferred type of reading material. But sometimes you need dip into something light, fun and girly. Don't get me wrong: the subjects covered were anything but light, they ran the gamut of bad parenting, the challenges of running a small business, teenage pregnancy, the casualties of war and plenty more HEAVY stuff. But that was the setting and background. I knew where the plot was headed and that it would end mostly well. If you want a comfortable read with bit of fun and romance with SOME substance, How to Bake a Perfect Life is the perfect choice!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Okay book on bread-making with a story about a baker and her trials and tribulations wrapped around it. This was that sort of book where a woman of a certain age overcomes obstacles and confronts past demons to find her true self and true love. There's the requisite quirky relative (in this case an aunt who turns out to be gay), the parental misunderstandings, sulky teenager, person from the past, wise pet, and some weird apparition that bordered on magical realism and did nothing for the story or my sensibilities. Without the bread recipes or the Colorado setting, I might have not rated this as high as I did. I'd picked this up hoping to recommend it to someone as a "feel-good" book, but don't think I'll do so now, unless it's as a "feel-okay" book. I'll give the author another try, though, because I liked a couple of the characters.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bread-baking as a metaphor for life works quite well in this quick read that's mostly about women's relationships with each other: mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, even a surrogate mom thrown into the mix. There are some good recipes too.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I quite enjoyed this book, the story held my interest even though it's not my usual flavor of story. I do wish they author had gone a little bit more in depth at the ending of the book, on how everything worked out for the bakery and such, but other than that a recommended read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved this! Talk about a perfect story with lovely touching romances clouded with tragedies, this was it. I especially like a novel where I really feel attached to the main characters and they are people I LIKE. Now I have to go back and read more by Barbara O'Neal! I'd love a plain ol' sequel to see how these people do as the years go by.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In How to Bake a Perfect Life a cobbled together family of women struggle to find success and happiness and to understand each other. The book centers around Ramona, a 40 year old woman trying to keep her beloved bakery open. Circling the story of Ramona are those of Sophia, her pregnant daughter, and Katie, Sophia's neglected stepdaughter, in addition to Ramona's mother, grandmother, and aunt. Each woman has to fight her own set of demons and all are strong in their own, unique ways. Woven throughout the book is enough fabulous baking to make anyone hungry, a loyal dog, and a little romance.I have loved Babara O'Neal's other books and this one does not disappoint. As with her others, Barbara hits just the right spot between fairy tale, happy-ever-after, and the harsh reality of circumstances. It is believable enough to really fall in love with the characters with a satisfying ending. The moment I picked up How to Bake a Perfect Life I was completely immersed in the bakery and it was a struggle to leave that world whenever I had to put the book down.