Do you have cookbooks, foodie memoirs, or books about baking competitions on your bookshelves?
Books About Baking
I enjoyed a light mystery about a baking competition this month and it reminded me of two backlist books I loved. I also bought Ina Garten’s memoir as a Christmas gift and read it before wrapping it up (shhhhh!). I’m sharing all four with you today in case you also love books about baking!
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links. The review links in this post lead to reviews that have Amazon affiliate links.
The Crime Brulee Bake Off by Rebecca Connolly
Rebecca Connolly caught my attention when I saw this title because she’s the author of two books I’ve loved: A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice and Hidden Yellow Stars. In The Crime Brulee Bake Off she departs from historical fiction to write a contemporary crime fiction/cozy mystery/foodie mashup with a hint of slow-burn romance.
Claire hopes she can win the grand prize as a contestant on Britain’s Battle of the Bakers so that she can quit her teaching job and pursue a baking career. As filming begins on location at Blackfirth Park, a contestant is murdered. Jonathan, the estate’s owner (an attractive eligible bachelor) gets involved. Claire and Jonathan begin working together to help solve the mystery and a slow-burn romance develops.
Fans of cozy mysteries, baking competitions, and sweet romance will enjoy this page-turning mystery. The ending is entirely satisfying, and recipes are included!
There will be in Instagram Giveaway on February 4 for a $20 Amazon gift card.
Thanks NetGalley @ShadowMountn @AustenProsePR for an eARC of #TheCrimeBruleeBakeOff upon my request. All opinions are my own. More Information Here.
The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan
A cooking competition meets WWII. Facing bombings, food shortages, and rationing, morale is low among the housewives of Britain. The BBC launches a cooking contest for a show called Kitchen Front. Although the first prize is a coveted chance to be the first female co-host of the show, four very different women discover a more valuable prize to be gained: friendship.
Continue here for my full review…
Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford
Jenny is seventy-seven years old, happily married for sixty years, and loves to bake. One day, she impulsively and secretly fills out an application to be a contestant on a popular, prime-time British baking show. As she bakes and considers old family recipes, we get her backstory. Not only is she keeping the baking show a secret from her husband, she’s also hiding another big secret from her past.
Continue here for my full review…
Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten
Best selling cookbook author, Ina Garten, shares her story of hard work and accomplishments. Fans of her cookbooks and Food Network program will appreciate this candid memoir.
(not reviewed)
QOTD:
Are you a foodie?
I’m linking up with Deb @ Deb’s World, Sue @ Women Living Well After 50, Donna @ Retirement Reflections, and Jo @ And Anyways… for the January installment of #WhatsOnYourBookShelfChallenge.
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I’ve just finished The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County, Carol. There was a lot of cooking talk in that, and they shared a pie crust recipe at the end. I have two whole shelves of cookbooks and still prefer using them to looking up recipes on the internet. Lovely topic!💖📚
Thanks for the rec! I hope to have enough for a top ten list some day!
Hi, Carol – Thank you for linking up with us at WOYBS. I rushed to the comments to see if Jo Tracey had replied yet. I know she would absolutely love each book that you have shared here (and she may have alreaady read a few of them). <3
They are fun reads!
I’m WAY behind in my ARC reading. I can’t believe this will be out soon, and I have TWO more books to read before I get to it. I might have to skip one of them to get to this on time.
It’s easy reading! Enjoy!
The Crime Brulee Bake Off by Rebecca Connolly sounds like one that is right up my alley. I read a lot of cozy mystery series that have to do with food and baking. I loved The Kitchen Front as well. I haven’t yet read Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame, but it is on my TBR shelf. Nice idea for a post, Carol.
Thanks Carla! 😋
You had me at books about baking! I loved Kitchen Front, but Creme Brulee Bakeoff sounds up my alley too. Thanks for linking up.
I think you’ll enjoy it Jo! 😋
I think I would like all of these books.
I think I’d like the Crime Brulee one. I love a good cozy mystery. I think I’d enjoy the Mrs. Quinn one as well.
I think you’d enjoy both Kristin!
[…] Related: Also by Rebecca Connolly: A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice, Hidden Yellow Stars, The Crime Brulee Bakeoff […]