The Secret Recipe for Moving On by Karen Bischer Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Synopsis:
Ellie Agresti's not sure anything could be worse than being dumped by her boyfriend, Hunter, the first day of senior year.
But sharing a "life skills" class with him and his new girlfriend, Brynn? AND getting partnered with a "family" of misfits (A.J., the loudmouth; Isaiah, the horse-racing obsessive; and Luke, the tattooed stunt-biker)?
It's a recipe for certain disaster...until an in-class competition allows Ellie to channel her angst into beating Hunter and Brynn's team, and she unexpectedly bonds with her own group–especially Luke–in the process.
But as Ellie soon discovers, it will take more than classroom triumphs to heal her broken heart–and find herself again.
Review:
The Secret Recipe for Moving On was an adorable, feel good story! This book had so much heart and would be the perfect beach side read! The pages were filled with finding yourself, trusting others, learning to stumble and rise above it and so much more. If you love YA Romance and a group of misfits pulling together, then this is your book! Bischer is an author to watch and I’ll definitely be looking forward to whatever books she releases in the future!
I stride into the pantry as the tears spill over. I can’t do this. No matter how much I think I’m over this….
Ellie had to change schools in the middle of her Junior year and she knew no one there. Thankfully Hunter took an interest in her and they started dating shortly after. The fact that his friends became hers seemed like an added bonus. The story started eight months into them dating annnnnnddd I was not a fan of Hunter or his catty friends. He showed his colors when Hunter dumped Ellie on the first day of school so he could date one of his friends. I felt so bad for Ellie! Especially since she was stuck for the whole next year watching them flirt, they all shared a life skills class together. And to top it all off, she got partnered with a group of misfits that had to work together as a “family”. Ack.
“Hey,” A.J. mouths, wiggling his eyebrows at me. I quickly turn my attention back to Mrs. Sanchez.
What have I done? Oh god, what have I done?
I was actually of unsure of Ellie to begin with. I didn’t exactly see eye to eye with her in regards to dating Hunter and tolerating his friends. When they broke up, I was happy yet I felt bad for her *covers face*. She had been in such a cloud of darkness with Hunter’s group and I was ready to watch her shine! As the story unfolded I loved watching Ellie grow up and I liked her so much! Every time she did something on her own, that made her happy, I was beyond proud of her. Like how she was passionate about becoming a meteorologist, I love the path that led her down. She was beyond brave! But she was still dealing with having to see Hunter and Brynn every single day in class. And deal with her “family” too.
I think back to Luke telling me they’re not worth it last week, and now Isaiah. They don’t owe me anything and yet they’re seeing this from my point of view.
I give him a wobbly smile. “Thank you.”
In Ellie’s group, there was A.J. who was beyond guarded and always acted like he was ready to fight and take on the world. Isaiah who seemed to be obsessed with horse racing. And Luke who was a tattooed stunt biker. They had kind of a rough start but you guys!! I LOVED watching them slowly come together as a team! They did not have an easy path. Every time they succeeded in class, it felt like a huge step. I laughed and smiled as they worked together. And the fact that it turned into sooo much more, my heart was extremely happy. Race day, house party and group texts were the best!
“Agresti,” Luke says, stepping closer and surprising me by tilting up my chin with his finger. “If you didn’t hit him, I would have.”
I look at Luke through the snowflakes. The way he’s staring at me right now is so intense, it makes my heart rate speed up and I have to catch my breath.
My favorite in her group was Luke Burke. He offered an olive branch in the beginning, so to speak, and I was captivated. Luke was sweet, kind, and I loved how thoughtful he could be. When they were together they made me smile. But he had a girlfriend right?! I don’t want to say more other then I loved how their story ended and that I was completely enchanted by Luke. He was swoon worthy and anytime he was on the pages my heart was happy. So yes, I loved learning more about Luke. I loved that we got to see A.J. work towards something. And I also loved where Isaiah’s interests led him. They were my favorite group of misfits ever and the fact that we got a love story in there was such a huge added bonus, yay!
They say if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
I’m glad I stayed.
The Secret Recipe for Moving On had so much heart and was a delightful romance! I loved how flawed and relatable Ellie, Luke, Isaiah and even A.J. were. And I enjoyed how much fun this story was. This book ended with a HFN and I would love for a novella or epilogue showing where all the characters ended up on their last day of school. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to them, I got attached to every single character! They were memorable, heartwarming and I definitely recommend you meeting them!
PS The spatula awwwwwwwwww!!!
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book, provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*
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About Karen Bischer:
Karen Bischer has written short stories for Girls’ World and Animal Tales magazines and currently works as a copyeditor. She lives in her native New Jersey, where she has never encountered Bruce Springsteen in the wild, but does have a cat named after a member of the E Street Band.
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