Portobello Book Blog

Recipe for Mr Ideal is the fourth in Anni Rose’s ‘Recipe for Life’ series but they are all completely stand alone novels. I’ve read Recipe for Mr Perfect the second in the series (review here) and thought this one set in a register office sounded like it would be a lot of fun. I’ve always thought what a fascinating job that would be. You really would see all aspects of life. I’m pleased to share my review as part of the ‘hop on tour’ today. Find out about the other stops in the graphic at the end of this post.

About the book

Would you settle for Mr Less-Than-Ideal for a chance at happily-ever-after?
Registrar Maddie Winter has overseen enough weddings to know that marriage is not just for Christmas (or Valentine’s Day) – it’s for life, and regardless of whether the ceremony involves specially trained owls, dinosaurs or the police, it should be only the beginning of a story that will end in happily-ever-after.
Saying that, Maddie’s own married life is far from perfect – her husband, David, is more interested in his phone than in her, and when he suddenly walks out, Maddie’s long-held beliefs are put to the test.
Except Maddie knows David was never really her ‘Mr Ideal’; that was sweet, funny, motorbike-riding Josh Diamond – although obviously not that ideal, as he did dump her to move to the States. Even so, when Josh unexpectedly rides back into town, Maddie begins to wonder whether her happily-ever-after could still be to come …

My Thoughts

Recipe for Mr Ideal was such a fun read! I thought that Maddie was instantly likeable and I loved her belief in happy-ever-afters and her optimism for the marriages of the couples she officiates for. This means she’s rather reluctant to accept that her own marriage is less than ideal. Her husband, David, immediately shows himself to be less than Mr Ideal when he leaves her at New Year. He is a really unpleasant character and, as readers, we soon work out just how awful he is long before poor Maddie begins to guess.

So hooray for Josh, her first love who appears at just exactly the right moment. Josh and Maddie had been madly in love when they were younger until he left for America and never returned, breaking Maddie’s heart. David was on hand to help mend that broken heart. Somewhat awkwardly, he used to be David’s best friend although perhaps David wasn’t quite as good a friend as he’d thought…

It was so interesting finding out about all the ins and outs of life as a registrar, recording births and deaths and of course carrying out weddings. Some of the weddings brought a tear to the eye, some made me laugh and some made me shudder in disbelief. The same kind of effect they had on Maddie really.

I really enjoyed reading this lovely story of a second chance romance and wondering if Maddie would get her happy-ever-after with her real Mr Ideal. Anni Rose has written an entertaining and sweet story with a lovely ending which will leave you with a smile on your face.

Thanks to Liz at ChocLit for sending me a digital copy of the book for review.
Recipe for Mr Ideal is available now.
You’ll find buying options for various retailers on the ChocLit website: Recipe for Mr Ideal

About the Author

Anni lives in Wiltshire with her husband, her sister, two dogs, a cat and a grey speckled hen. She has had a number of short stories published in various magazines and her work also appears in a number of anthologies.

She has wanted to write for as long as she can remember. As a child, she produced reams of stories. Thankfully most of them have been lost over the years, although the ‘Attack of the Killer Tomatoes’ did resurface recently! And when not writing, she read voraciously.

Work might have got in the way for a while, but writing was a love that never died and she loves it as much now as she did back then.

These days, she writes modern day romances with – spoiler alert – a happy ending and a healthy dollop of humour thrown in.

Away from writing, Anni can usually be found behind a camera, walking her dogs, enjoying her husband’s curries or one of her sister’s bakery treats.