This is one of those lovely books that stay with you and bring a smile.
Mr and Mrs Quinn have been married for 40 years, he is ready to live a smaller life, she is not.
Becoming a contestant on Britain Bakes each of her recipes takes Mrs Quinn to a different part of her life and brings long kept secrets to life.
A real love story.

Unless you really love baking (and who really bakes every single day for just two people?) or a certain baking TV show, the story is a little thin.
I found it difficult to relate to the characters, and the ending tied up too neatly.

Seventy seven year old Jenny has been happily married to Bernard for 59 years during which time she has whisked up more delicious bakes than she can count. She loves to bake so much she is seriously considering coming out of her kitchen comfort zone and applying for Britain Bakes though she is a tad hesitant as her bread would sink ducks. However, there is no time like the present, it’s now or never Jenny, so she applies, secretly, of course. She peruses her favourite bakes (mouthwatering) and there, it’s done, application sent. What follows next takes Jenny and Bernard into an unexpected direction. Caution – a word of warning. Do not read this if you are remotely hungry or on a diet or you’ll end up fridge gazing or cupboard rummaging. The recipes and bakes have me on a trip down memory lane and salivating throughout this lovely read.

Jenny is an absolutely wonderful character and you root for her throughout. You get her memories with each Bake and her backstory takes the storytelling in an unexpected direction. It’s not as light and fluffy as her Victoria sponge. As for Bernard, I think everyone would aspire to marry a Bernie. He’s just the loveliest man and you envy the depth of their relationship and love, which is simply wonderful and warms your heart.

The Britain Bakes scenes are also very good and although it’s not a carbon copy of GBBO it’s a delightful homage to it. There Jenny meets Azeez who is so kind to her from the start and he’s another standout character. If you like the TV series, you’ll savour the moments of the competition just as I do.

The book has a really good message
of not judging a recipe book by the cover and that age is absolutely no barrier if you set your mind to something. Wholehearted applause for me for that message!

Overall, there is a nice mixture here in the authors fiction bowl resulting in some heartwarming moments as delicious as Jenny’s bakes, with some other moments that give you pause for thought and make you sad. This is a most enjoyable and entertaining read.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin Michael Joseph for the much appreciated are in return for an honest review.

I loved this book - it is a beautiful coming-of-old-age story. Jenny has been married for 59 years to Bernard but feels that, apart from her talent for baking, that she has achieved nothing. On a whim she decides to apply to go on the TV show - Britain Bakes - undertakes the audition and is successful. This is the second secret she has kept from her husband.

He supports her through the process despite his own health scare but thinking about the family connections to each of her recipes brings back memories of her early adulthood and the traumas she went through. Finally she has to face her fears.

Jenny was sweet and amazing - the way she supported the other bakers and brought people together was lovely. A true force for good. Her back story was heartbreaking but lovely to see if play out for good.

A book I will be recommending.

Book Review 📚
Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford - 4.5/5 ⭐

When I read the blurb for this, I instantly got Bree Van DeCamp vibes and just knew I had to get it. Now let me tell you, I was not disappointed! It's quite possibly the best book I have read this year. It also reminded me of The Great British Bake off 😂

Jenny - oh sweet, loveable, amazing Jenny. She's the favourite nan that everyone wants. Her whole character was flawless. She story was even better. I definitely had a cry a few times. But the whole character was done so beautifully I just can't fault it.

The descriptions throughout were impeccable. It was a easy read with a decent pace and it just felt so incredibly real. There's so much detail into different parts of life, specifically Jenny's, parts that are unavoidable and totally relatable. I honestly cannot fault any of it. It's beautiful. It's perfectly. It's flawless.

Thank you to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

Mrs Quinn, 77 years old, a housewife and a talented home baker is about to have her world turned around when she becomes a household name. She kept it a secret from her loving husband Bernard, but it’s the other secret that she’s kept from him that now might come to light.
I absolutely loved this book, wonderfully charming and full of love as well as some mouthwatering bakes - I hope some of the recipes make it into the final book. Jenny Quinn has become one of my favourite characters, with her wise words and her love for family, above all her husband Bernard. It was a pleasure to get to know them, making me laugh (and cry a bit too). Heartwarming and full of love, it was a joy to read.

Read in a day and very much enjoyed - especially as a Bake Off fan. A real feel-good, warm and lovely read

Being a huge fan of GBBO, this book was instantly appealing to me. Also, like Jenny, I too am a “senior “ person who was never blessed with children, and I too have an exceptional husband who would have made a great father. I could relate with Jenny on so many levels and felt the book had real authenticity. Social mores and stigmas have changed so much and people today have so much more freedom and opportunity than we did in the past. The book reveals an important message with joy and heartbreak. You don’t need to be a baking enthusiast to enjoy this book, although I guarantee your mouth with be watering with the descriptions of some of the bakes!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this advance copy, I highly recommend.

This was the best book I've read in a while, it was incredible! I think it's the first book I've read from the perspective of an older person and it made me want to immediately visit my grandparents and give them the biggest hug. My eyes teared up at least a hundred times, and not only at the sad parts but also the tenderness of Jenny and Bernard's relationship. I read it in one day because I truly couldn't put it down and I can't wait to recommend it to everyone I know when it's published.

I’m not a fan of The Great British Bake-off however I loved the concept of this book with baking loving septuagenarian Jenny wanting to push herself out of her comfort zone and feel like she’d achieved something in her life. She didn’t expect her application to succeed so she kept it quiet from her husband Bernard, only the second secret she’s ever kept from him and there are some brilliant sections focussing on her past leading up to revealing her first secret. The characters were lovely especially Bernard who was a truly wonderful husband to her and one of her fellow contestants was also a genuinely lovely person. This has a thoughtful but overall gentle storyline with some totally delicious bakes included. I enjoyed this but in honesty I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was into GBBO however it is a beautiful story. 7/10

It's three days to the next season of Bake Off and so I was very appreciative when I was given access to this sweet treat. In her late seventies, Jenny Quinn enters Britain Bakes and has to overcome her fear of baking bread (her weak spot) while introducing the nation to the timeless goodies her family enjoyed.

Under this light-as-air confection, though, is another story - about illness, fear of loss and death, the potential end of a marriage, childless-or-child-free-ness, and shame from a long-ago secret. I was in bits for the last five minutes of it. Hollywood handshake for Olivia Ford!

I love baking and shows such as bake off. So it was really enjoyable to read this book and learn the secrets of Mrs Quinn!

Jenny Quinn, newly famous at 77.

She didn't tell her husband Bernard that she was entering British Bakes

It's only the second secret she's had in almost 60 years of marriage. And he doesn't know about the first...