The Icing On The Cupcake - Romance Mystery & Cupcakes??

Romance Mystery Revenge & Cupcakes??? It all sounds confusing, right? But that's precisely how it all comes together in Jennifer Ross's latest cookbook The Icing on the Cupcakes. Yes, I am talking about an actual cookbook about cupcakes, complete with tonnes of beautiful and unique cupcake recipes that will win your heart over. But rather than creating yet another cupcake cookbook that lists page after page of recipes, Jennifer Ross takes cookbook writing to an altogether new platform, by presenting it in the form of a Novel!

In this delectable novel, which also features delicious cupcake recipes, intertwined with the story of a young woman, Jennifer introduces us to someone who takes upon the challenge of being successful and fulfilling her dreams, one delicious cupcake at a time.

This is a story about Ansley Waller, who is a typical Southern belle from Dallas, with the ultimate goal of getting married to a rich and loving husband, raising his kids, and gracing parties and banquets in Southern style. But when her fiance unceremoniously kicks her to the curb and cancels their upcoming wedding, Ansley's world is all topsy-turvy, and she decides to head to New York City to live with her recently widowed and wealthy grandmother, Vivian, so she could forget her sorrow and get rid of ugly memories. But in turn, Vivian gives Ansley a no-nonsense ultimatum: Rather than wallow in misery, either get a job or go back home.

Then begins Ansley's journey to gather her nerves, put her MBA coursework to practice, and find a place for herself in this world. She decides to open a Cupcake shop with an endearing wish to bake the most exquisite cupcakes that any New Yorker has ever had! But unfortunately for her, New York is not a safe haven as Dallas - everything here is different, and Ansley has to go through her fair share of hard work, misery and sleepless nights before she can fulfill her dream, not to mention the fact that someone might be trying to sabotage her business, even before it opened!

Amidst this chaos, Ansley also has to find out why her grandmother had estranged her daughter, Ansley's mother at the tender age of 5, and never came back for her! Vivian is a great baker too, and Baking helps the two women to come closer and forge the bond that they never knew existed. What's the dark secret of Vivian's past? Who's trying to ruin Ansley's life? Was Ansley able to open her cupcake shop? You'd have to read this book to find out the answers.

All I can say is, Ross does a beautiful job of developing her characters and creating suspense in this book, finding space to end each chapter with an appropriate cupcake recipe. Plus, read the pages carefully and you'll also be able to find some serious baking tips that could turn a novice baker into a chiseled one!
The Icing on the Cupcakes is a lovely book that marries drama and cooking in an enticing way. For a small price tag of 11 bucks, this is one book that you'd love to add to your cookbook/novel collection.

About the Author: Jennifer Ross is a former Wall Street Journal and Dallas Morning News reporter, and the co-founder of the movie production company Brick House. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, children, and her two Papillions, Navette and Ruby. You can find more about her on her website, or check her out on Twitter

If you liked this post, please subscribe to our feed so you'd never miss a recipe or article again!