I really loved Ms. Ballis's last book, Out to Lunch and wish that I had liked her newest offering as much. I loved "Out to Lunch" because it didn't have an ending I could guess at, and the plot twists kept me on my toes. Heck, comparing this book to "Good Enough to Eat" I would probably go back and rate that book higher since she didn't do a typical happily ever after either.

"Recipe for Disaster", except for one plot, okay let's say two plot elements didn't really keep me on my toes while reading. I don't like guessing at plots while reading and finding out I was right. I do like it when authors shake things up a bit since it is what keeps me going back as a reader. I though initially that was where Ms. Ballis was going in the direction of her book. Then it just turned into a typical romance novel (not a bad thing by the way) halfway through and I started losing interest in it.

This book had pretty much all of my favorite things. Discussion of food and house renovations. When I have time, I just watch HGTV at night while reading or doing house chores. So for me I thought this was hands down going to be a five star book. However, besides the main character, there were so many gaps with motivations and even construction of certain characters. The plot elements got too big at times, and then the book just kind of ends with what I think the author saw as a happy ending, and sadly I did not see it that way.

The main character Anneke is not a typical girly person. She works in the construction business and deals with not being a typical dainty female and is blunt to the point of rudeness at times. She has a great core group of friends, but is still mourning the loss of her stepfather and dealing with the fact that neither her grandmother or mother really seemed to care an iota about her at all. I liked that Anneke was shown as flawed. I mean there were several times that I honestly did not like Anneke while reading (mostly the parts in which she resents her friends for caring about her) and I really wished that someone had told her to go see a therapist. When Anneke ends things with her fiancee (not a spoiler, in synopsis) and you find out the reason why, I was blown away. Reading her reactions to what happened, her struggle to find her footing, etc. was a really great read.

The other characters in this novel, besides Anneke's best friends, and even her fiancee felt very thin to me. For example, when we meet one of the characters, Liam, he is a womanizing, misogynistic, jerk. He has shown nothing to show that he has any deeper levels, and frankly I was okay with that. However, halfway through Ms. Ballis turned him into a totally different guy and I was left wondering when he got a personality transplant. Same thing with a long lost relative whose introduction I did not feel added anything to the story and whose motivation for showing up made no sense at all. I felt like the whole book got way too crowded with characters and could have stood trimming a few of them to make the book tighter.

The A plot with Anneke needing to renovate the house she bought with her ex in order to get some money and her name out there would have been enough of a book for me. Instead we throw in a secret journal with recipes and description of past inhabitants of the house Anneke is renovating. There are also misunderstandings, different people being in love with each other, other different people being in love with each other, etc. I just started to feel like the whole book just had way too much going on.

The writing I found to be good, though the pacing at times was all over the place. I am not going to lie, my eyes glazed once, okay maybe three times reading the descriptions of the house renovations. Ms. Ballis adds in so much detail you know that she has or is going through a renovation since she knows what she is talking about. The reason why I love HGTV is that all of that stuff is shortened to a 30 minute format and I get to the end when the house is gorgeous. Reading about renovations tends to get kind of tedious to read after a while.

At the end of the book there are recipes for food mentioned in the book, however, I think it would have been better to include the recipes at the end of each chapter where they were mentioned. I was seriously wondering where some of them came from and went back and searched to see when the recipes or the food was mentioned in the book.

The setting of Chicago is a great one and I wish that I actually liked the city more. I have been several times and I swear everytime I go I lose luggage or a flight is cancelled. Ms. Ballis does make me want to go there again, explore, and go eat food at some of the restaurants she name-drops.

Eventually we get to the ending of the book and I just wish that the ending was more open-ended. Ms. Ballis has done that before and then she mentions characters in follow-up books so we can read what happened to them. I like it when that happens since it gives you the feeling that the characters kept moving on and doing their thing out there which is what people do. You move on and you keep doing your thing. ( )

my thoughts:

What's not to love about a foodie/house rehab book? Anneke is very easy to cheer on as a main character who loses her job, and fiance in one day. I love reading about old houses and the people who once lived there. Anneke finds an old cookbook/journal and we get a glimpse of life, food and the past life in the old house that she is fixing up. I loved the schnauzer ( Anneke's pet dog) , she hates Anneke but seems to love everyone else. Anneke's relationship, or lack of, with her mother is sad and her grandmother was just so nasty to her as well! This character just had so much going against her in so many ways, at times I thought how can this happen, what more can go wring for her?!! Not to give too much away but I loved the surprise romance for Anneke and I thought that the ending of the book was exactly what I wanted for Anneke.This review was originally posted on ( )

I really enjoy Stacey Ballis' books. I like her style of writing, her well rounded characters, the happy endings and the delicious sounding food (and recipes!).

Another enjoyable story.
Poor Anneke catches her fiancé cheating, quits/loses job and her home, and it all happens in one day.
But this gives her a very firm push to start all over. She moves into the home she was renovating, she questions her feelings about love and both appreciates the support of her friends and also hates feeling pitied.

Before she knows it, she has added a few completely unexpected additions to her life.

All the while, there is also a book that she finds and seeks comfort and knowledge from.

I enjoyed it a lot. ( )

A delicious story that any home owner that is currently remodeling and those who love food will devour. A detailed story with inviting characters, a refreshing story line and delightful humor all mixed together makes for a recipe of a good read. 3.5 stars ( )