How to Bake a Perfect Life

In a novel as warm and embracing as a family kitchen Barbara ONeal explores the poignant sometimes complex relationships between mothers and daughtersand 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 Ramonas bakery threatens to crumble around her. Literally. Shes one water-heater disaster away from losing her grandmothers rambling Victorian and everything shes worked so hard to build.. When Ramonas 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 Sophias thirteen-year-old stepdaughter Katie. Heartbroken Katie feels that shes being dumped againthis time on the doorstep of a woman out of practice with mothering.. Ramona relies upon a special set of toolspatience persistence and the reliability of a good recipewhen 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.. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Barbara O''Neal''s The All You Can Dream Buffet.