Title: Recipe for a Good Life
Author: Lesley Crewe
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing
Rating: 5/5 stars
Genre: Fiction, Historical(ish) fiction, Romance, Young Adult
Review:

Ohhohohohoho. A good book. Yes. I loved this one and I will be doing a fanart for it soon. So, I really enjoyed this book, as you can probably tell from my rating. Recipe for a Good Life by Lesley Crewe follows the story of Kitty Wagner, a writer of murder mystery novels suffering from writer’s block. Her publisher arranges for her to get out of the city of Montreal and spend some time in Cape Breton on a writer’s retreat. In Cape Breton she finds a family that she loves, and is able to feel freer and more fulfilled with her life. She gets away from her husband who makes her feel miserable and discovers a much needed sense of community that she had been missing all of her life.

Characters

Kitty

Kitty is such a strong character. I enjoyed reading about her and her adventures, and I think she was such a great character to drive this story. She was really a compelling protagonist. She had enough cleverness and wit to get her way, and I loved seeing her character development throughout the story. Going from a sad, miserable, and grumpy woman, to a woman that can stand up for what she wants and pursue her own happiness was something that I thought was a really strong character development. I could really see her mind changing, and the shift in her attitude throughout the story. Her stubbornness filled the story at the right times, and I didn’t feel annoyed at her, I felt annoyed with her, in a good way. When she was angry about something, I felt this anger was justified, and I wanted Kitty to win and I was rooting for her because I liked her character. The only complaint I think I have with Kitty is that she has so many names. Haha.

Wallace

At first glance, Wallace is the perfect boyfriend character that’s in every webtoon or romance book, but there’s a huge difference between Wallace and any other male lead in a story. It’s that Wallace makes sense, and it’s that Wallace isn’t perfect all of the time. He’s a sheltered guy, living in Cape Breton with not that much real world experience. He’s always willing to help out within their community, and he treats everyone like family. His character development is where he really starts to show that he’s not all perfect, and it still works. I really liked him, and I think he suited Kitty, and played a decent part in the story.

Kurt

Oh goodness. Kurt, I really wanted to SMACK this man. I think Ms. Lesley Crewe did a wonderful job at writing him. Throughout a good portion the book, we don’t even get to see a lot of him, but we get an idea of his character. Then when we actually get to see more of him, we realize that “oh, he might actually be a good person”, and that he might not be as horrible as we were lead to believe… but it’s all just executed so well. His character the way he was written was so entertaining to read about. I really liked it.

Ethel, Bertha, and Gaynor

I can’t make a character review without reviewing more of my favourite women on here. Ethel was actually hilarious and I loved her so much. The comedy in this book is very good and it’s usually done by Ethel and Gaynor. I love all three of these woman, and Bertha played the role of such a good mother to not only her own family, but Kitty as well. Not to mention they are exactly the kind of people that I would love to find in a small town. They’re warm and welcoming comfort characters. Also did I mention Ethel is hilarious?

Leo

Kitty’s dad is also a good character, I think his portrayal of grief and love and loss is very well done also. I liked his character development as well, I liked that he really tried to reconcile with Kitty and that he didn’t completely forget about his daughter and not care about her. He wasn’t a bad dad, and that was really good to read about. We like happy ending and once-broken relationships that start to come together again.

All of the characters in Recipe for a Good Life are really good, and they are all pretty fleshed out, and they make the story seem very real. They also make this book read like a nice big hug with their words or their actions. It’s all very nice.

Plot

I really liked the concept for this story. I also really like it when the main character is a writer. I feel like I really do relate to them a lot, and sometimes I learn something new about writing, or the publishing industry, and as an aspiring writer myself, I enjoyed reading Recipe for a Good Life (Although that quote at the beginning of the book really had me). I liked the concept of a murder mystery novelist lost in the city trying to adjust to her new country lifestyle and navigate her failing marriage. It’s certainly very interesting, and it makes such a lovely story. It’s about struggles, but then happy endings. It’s about Kitty realizing she doesn’t like the way her life is and then doing something about it. I feel like that’s another story that’s just as important for some people as well.

Why I liked it

So, I think it’s safe to say that I really enjoyed this book. And, I see you, Ms. Lesley Crewe, I see that Nosy Parker title hidden in this book. I see you. That was a fun little Easter egg, and I just really loved the writing style of this. I want to read all of the Lesley Crewe books now, and I’m just sad that I don’t have this masterpiece as a physical copy. I will be getting the physical copy as soon as I can. It’s great. Such a fun story, and I would totally recommend it to anyone. I think it’s suits young adult, and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fun heartwarming and heartfelt story about a city girl coming to the country.
Definitely 5 stars from me and I highly recommend it!

Here’s the official synopsis from Nimbus:

On paper, Kitty’s life is perfect. She lives in Montreal, so vibrant in the 1950s; she married her childhood sweetheart, who happens to also be a handsome movie star; and her detective novels, written under a plausibly male nom de plume, are bestsellers. But Kitty is suffocating under the truth of her life: Montreal feels chaotic and lonely without her mother, and with her father all but estranged. Her husband is a glib Lothario. And she never, ever wants to write another detective novel. When she says as much to her publishers, they panic. She’s their golden goose. And so they convince her to go on a writing retreat to a beautiful remote island, Cape Breton, where with solitude and a luxurious change of scenery, she’ll be able to whip up her next book. At least, that was the plan.
Kitty arrives in Cape Breton to a leaky, drafty shack and a cast of characters unlike anyone she’s ever met. There’s Edith, who listens in on everyone’s party line calls and never keeps good gossip to herself; generous Bertha and her enormous family…and Bertha’s son, Wallace — Walrus, to all his nieces and nephews. A gentle giant who always has half a dozen children hanging off him. Soon Kitty’s writing retreat turns her life upside down, and she has to face which parts of her life are non-negotiable and which she must cut loose. Can she preserve what she loves in Montreal now that Cape Breton is calling? If she frees herself from the weight of her past, will she float away altogether?

Allllllrighty everyone, that is all that I have for today, I hope that you enjoyed this book review, and I hope that you are having a great day :]

Bye bye and thank you so much for stopping by!