The Secret Ingredient by Stewart Lewis

Olivia is happy with her life in Los Angeles, living with her dads and brother and cooking a weekly special at her dad Bell's restaurant. But lately Bell's restaurant is suffering, and Olivia finds a summer job in a desperate attempt to help alleviate her family's financial situation. When she does, she meets a psychic who offers some strange advice and sets Olivia on a path to be open to romance and finding her birth mother.

Stewart Lewis, author of You Have Seven Messages, has written another thoughtful and emotional book centering around family dynamics and the relationship between mothers and daughters. The Secret Ingredient has a lot of really neat elements to it; the vintage cookbook that Olivia finds offers an interesting side story that helps Olivia to grow as a person, and Olivia's best friend's issues with her own mother add to the conversation about the relationship between a mother and a child, and how that connection—or lack thereof—shapes us. The Secret Ingredient is an introspective family drama with flavors of friendship, romance, and a passion for food that makes for a quick, appealing read.

Cover Comments: I really like the vintage feel of this cover, which fits the story really well. And--the girl on the cover looks like how Olivia is described, which is really cool!

The Secret Ingredient will be out on June 11th, 2013.