Novels
- The Lost Recipe for Happiness (2008)
- The Secret of Everything (2009)
- How to Bake a Perfect Life (2010)
- The Garden of Happy Endings (2012)
- The All You Can Dream Buffet (2014)
- Lady Luck’s Map of Vegas (2014)
- No Place Like Home (2014)
- A Piece of Heaven (2014)
- The Scent of Hours (2014)
- The Art of Inheriting Secrets (2018)
- When We Believed in Mermaids (2019)
- The Lost Girls of Devon (2020)
- Write My Name Across the Sky (2021)
- This Place of Wonder (2022)
Novels Book Covers
Barbara O’Neal Books Overview
The Lost Recipe for Happiness
In this sumptuous new novel, Barbara O Neal offers readers a celebration of food, family, and love as a woman searches for the elusive ingredient we re all hoping to find . It’s the opportunity Elena Alvarez has been waiting for the challenge of running her own kitchen in a world class restaurant. Haunted by an accident of which she was the lone survivor, Elena knows better than anyone how to survive the odds. With her faithful dog, Alvin, and her grandmother s recipes, Elena arrives in Colorado to find a restaurant in as desperate need of a fresh start as she is and a man whose passionate approach to food and life rivals her own. Owner Julian Liswood is a name many people know but a man few do. He s come to Aspen with a troubled teenage daughter and a dream of the kind of stability and love only a family can provide. But for Elena, old ghosts don t die quietly, yet a chance to find happiness at last is worth the risk.
The Secret of Everything
In this spectacular new novel, Barbara O Neal delivers a generous helping of the best in life family, food, and love in the story of a woman’s search for the one thing worth more than anything. At thirty seven, Tessa Harlow is still working her way down her list of goals to fall in love and have a family. A self described rolling stone, Tessa leads hiking tours for adventurous vacationers it s a job that s taken her around the world but never a step closer to home. Then a freak injury during a trip already marred by tragedy forces her to begin her greatest adventure of all. Located high in the New Mexico mountains, Las Ladronas has become a magnet for the very wealthy and very hip, but once upon a time it was the setting of a childhood trauma Tessa can only half remember. Now, as she rediscovers both her old hometown and her past, Tessa is drawn to search and rescue worker Vince Grasso. The handsome widower isn t her type. No more inclined to settle down than Tessa, Vince is the father of three, including an eight year old girl as lost as Tessa herself. But Tessa and Vince are both drawn to the town s most beloved eatery 100 Breakfasts and to each other. For Tessa, the restaurant is not only the key to the mystery that has haunted her life but a chance to find the home and the family she s never known.
How to Bake a Perfect Life
In a novel as warm and embracing as a family kitchen, Barbara O Neal explores the poignant, sometimes complex relationships between mothers and daughters and the healing magic of homemade bread. Professional baker Ramona Gallagher is a master of an art that has sustained her through the most turbulent times, including a baby at fifteen and an endless family feud. But now Ramona’s bakery threatens to crumble around her. Literally. She s one water heater disaster away from losing her grandmother s rambling Victorian and everything she s worked so hard to build. When Ramona s soldier son in law is wounded in Afghanistan, her daughter, Sophia, races overseas to be at his side, leaving Ramona as the only suitable guardian for Sophia s thirteen year old stepdaughter, Katie. Heartbroken, Katie feels that she s being dumped again this time on the doorstep of a woman out of practice with mothering. Ramona relies upon a special set of tools patience, persistence, and the reliability of a good recipe when rebellious Katie arrives. And as she relives her own history of difficult choices, Ramona shares her love of baking with the troubled girl. Slowly, Katie begins to find self acceptance and a place to call home. And when a man from her past returns to offer a second chance at love, Ramona discovers that even the best recipe tastes better when you add time, care, and a few secret ingredients of your own.
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