How to Bake the Perfect Pecan Pie by Gina Henning

Out Now
Published by Carina
Purchase from Amazon here

The Blurb:

A warm pie. A tasty guy. Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

Lauren Hauser is home for the holidays, and she’s been given a challenge: preparing her grandmother’s pecan pie. The problem? Lauren’s not famed for her baking skills. In fact, while her sister would win Star Baker every week, and her mom at least knows a sieve from a spatula, Lauren’s bakes have always been more dangerous than delicious!

Still, no Thanksgiving would be complete without dessert…which is why Lauren finds herself searching for pecans on Thanksgiving Eve. Stumbling into a gorgeous stranger laden down with bags of pecans seems like a holiday miracle…but despite Jack’s kissable lips he’s frostier than a snow cone…and out of sight before she can say ‘Macy’s Parade’!

As the clock counts down to Thanksgiving dinner, Lauren is running out of time. And without her grandmother’s perfect pecan pie it won’t be a very Happy Thanksgiving!
What Lauren needs is a knight in shining armour. And it might just be that the magic of Thanksgiving will find her one after all…


My review:

How to Bake the Perfect Pecan Pie is the first in the 'How to Bake' series of books by Gina Henning. This first one is set at thanksgiving, and follows Lauren in her quest to bake the perfect pecan pie for the family thanksgiving meal. Lauren is a bit of the outsider when it comes to family baking, with her Grandmother and Sister stealing star baker crowns. However, this year her Grandmother has entrusted Lauren with the special, secret recipe for the perfect pecan pie.

Determined not to let her down, and to follow the recipe to the letter and produce a lie to be proud of, Lauren sets off for her pecans, which must be bought from one special supplier. Cue the start of a comedy of errors. It starts badly when the van she has borrowed from her Mum is playing up, and gets worse when she reaches the suppliers in time to see that they have sold out of the exact amount of pecans she needs.

Enter Jack....laden down with so many pecans that Lauren is sure he will spare her some. Or maybe not! From the outset there appears to be a clear attraction between them, but there is also no chance that Jack will part with any of his stock.

Dejectedly Lauren drives away and just when she thinks she is done for, things all change again. The van breaks down and she is forced to start walking in atrocious conditions until Jack drives up along side and picks her up. Within the confines of his car they are forced to get to know eachother. Will be relent and help Lauren in her ambition to create her perfect pecan pie? Or will he continue to put scanners in the works?

First off, don't be out off reading this book because it centres around thanksgiving. I didn't read it at the time and it didnt make me enjoy the book any less. Thanksgiving provides the backdrop, but this can be easily enjoyed at any time of year.

I really enjoyed the story. It is easy to follow and has some funny moments that made me laugh and cheered me up. I don't want to give the plot away, but there is a twist that I didn't see coming invoking the Grandmother who is living in a nursing home that made me smile and bought the storyline together in a warm sweet way.

I had read mixed reviews about the book, so wasnt quite sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed it. I found Lauren a likeable character, if not a little naive. She wanted to make her family proud, and not be belittled by her sister who it seemed to me is a bit of the star. The plot is quite predictable. Lauren sees Jack, Jack is a nightmare, before becoming the knight in shining armour. The spark is there but will romance have a chance to blossom? To me these ingredients often make for a fun, romantic read, and this is no exception. I also really liked the family, who would be great to spend an evening having dinner with.

All in all a well written, fun, romantic story with talk of food included which is always a winner for me!! I will definitely be reading the next instalment 'How to Bake the Perfect Christmas Cake'.

Thank you to Carina for providing a copy in return for an honest review.