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The All You Can Dream Buffet
Perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah and Susan Wiggs—Barbara O’Neal’s new novel of food, friendship, and the freedom to grow your dreams brings together four very different women longing to savor the true taste of happiness.
Popular blogger and foodie queen Lavender Wills reigns over Lavender Honey Farms, a serene slice of organic heaven nestled in Oregon wine country. Lavender is determined to keep her legacy from falling into the profit-driven hands of uncaring relatives, and she wants an heir to sustain her life’s work after she’s gone. So she invites her three closest online friends—fellow food bloggers, women of varied ages and backgrounds—out to her farm. She hopes to choose one of them to inherit it—but who?
There’s Ginny, the freckle-faced Kansas cake baker whose online writing is about to lead her out of a broken marriage and into a world of sensual delights. And Ruby, young, pregnant, devoted to the organic movement, who’s looking for roots—and the perfect recipe to heal a shattered heart. Finally, Val, smart and sophisticated, a wine enthusiast who needs a fresh start for her teenage daughter after tragedy has rocked their lives. Coming together will change the Foodie Four in ways they could never have imagined, uniting them in love and a common purpose. As they realize that life doesn’t always offer a perfect recipe for happiness, they also discover that the moments worth savoring are flavored with some tears, a few surprises, and generous helping of joy.
Popular blogger and foodie queen Lavender Wills reigns over Lavender Honey Farms, a serene slice of organic heaven nestled in Oregon wine country. Lavender is determined to keep her legacy from falling into the profit-driven hands of uncaring relatives, and she wants an heir to sustain her life’s work after she’s gone. So she invites her three closest online friends—fellow food bloggers, women of varied ages and backgrounds—out to her farm. She hopes to choose one of them to inherit it—but who?
There’s Ginny, the freckle-faced Kansas cake baker whose online writing is about to lead her out of a broken marriage and into a world of sensual delights. And Ruby, young, pregnant, devoted to the organic movement, who’s looking for roots—and the perfect recipe to heal a shattered heart. Finally, Val, smart and sophisticated, a wine enthusiast who needs a fresh start for her teenage daughter after tragedy has rocked their lives. Coming together will change the Foodie Four in ways they could never have imagined, uniting them in love and a common purpose. As they realize that life doesn’t always offer a perfect recipe for happiness, they also discover that the moments worth savoring are flavored with some tears, a few surprises, and generous helping of joy.
400 pages, Paperback
First published March 4, 2014
642 people are currently reading
4468 people want to read
About the author
Barbara O'Neal
28 books4,394 followersBarbara O'Neal is the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling writer of women's fiction. She lives in Colorado with her partner, a British endurance athlete.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 539 reviews
March 17, 2014
Gush-alert.
This book is every bit as beautifully evocative as the rest of Barbara O'Neal's stories.
Wonderful characters that leap off the page. Cute animals. Food. Friendship. And love.
A truly gorgeous story of second chances and life changing friendship.
LOVED IT!!!!
This book is every bit as beautifully evocative as the rest of Barbara O'Neal's stories.
Wonderful characters that leap off the page. Cute animals. Food. Friendship. And love.
A truly gorgeous story of second chances and life changing friendship.
LOVED IT!!!!
March 7, 2019
Even though there were tough decisions to make and problems to solve this was a HAPPY book with beautiful, caring, wonderful and interesting characters. Recommended for those who want to loose themselves in a enchanted captivating story.
November 25, 2013
I received an ARC of this book for free from Random House Publishing Group-Bantam Dell via NetGalley.
The All You Can Dream Buffet is a story about 4 friends, "The Foodie Four" who all run blogs related in some way to food. They are all different ages and at different places in their life but have an unmistakable friendship that enriches the soul. Ginny, an almost 50-year-old, runs a cake blog and is struggling with an adventureless life and an unhappy marriage. Ruby is a 26-year-old whose boyfriend suddenly left her and ripped her heart out just before she found out she was pregnant. Valerie is a widowed mother whose teenage daughter can't deal with losing her father and siblings. And Lavender is the 85-year-old headstrong, vibrant woman who has a little something to teach all of them. This is a story of growth and passion to live a life worth living.
I liked this book at first. It is sweet and fluffy. And I identified with all of the women in some way. I really love Ruby - she is so full of joy even though she has so many reasons to be sad. She is a flowerchild (loves to sit outside and enjoy the breeze and finds wonder in just looking out over the fields and mountains). I would say she's a 5-year-old at heart and really brightens up the story. The writer does a great job of making the story hopeful instead of brooding, and there's definitely a lot of room for that. There's also a hint of magical realism via a fairy god mother type ghost that I really liked. I wish she had been included more.
There's also of course the romance aspect. Some of it was sweet but ended up being really cheesy. Also, there are small, quick scenes that are reminiscent of a raunchy romance novel and just seem out of place. They just didn't go with the tone that was set in the rest of the book. (Problem #1) Also, everything about the love story side of the book is super predictable. I literally guessed everything that was going to happen. (Problem #2) And to me, cheating is a little bit glorified. (Problem #3)
Overall, this is just a fluffy read that ended up trying too hard in the romance department. I don't really mind predictability and would have still liked the book if not for the out of place and cheesy romance scenes. This is just an ok book.
Release in March 2014 if you want to give it a shot yourself.
Read more reviews at Great Minds Read Alike.
The All You Can Dream Buffet is a story about 4 friends, "The Foodie Four" who all run blogs related in some way to food. They are all different ages and at different places in their life but have an unmistakable friendship that enriches the soul. Ginny, an almost 50-year-old, runs a cake blog and is struggling with an adventureless life and an unhappy marriage. Ruby is a 26-year-old whose boyfriend suddenly left her and ripped her heart out just before she found out she was pregnant. Valerie is a widowed mother whose teenage daughter can't deal with losing her father and siblings. And Lavender is the 85-year-old headstrong, vibrant woman who has a little something to teach all of them. This is a story of growth and passion to live a life worth living.
I liked this book at first. It is sweet and fluffy. And I identified with all of the women in some way. I really love Ruby - she is so full of joy even though she has so many reasons to be sad. She is a flowerchild (loves to sit outside and enjoy the breeze and finds wonder in just looking out over the fields and mountains). I would say she's a 5-year-old at heart and really brightens up the story. The writer does a great job of making the story hopeful instead of brooding, and there's definitely a lot of room for that. There's also a hint of magical realism via a fairy god mother type ghost that I really liked. I wish she had been included more.
There's also of course the romance aspect. Some of it was sweet but ended up being really cheesy. Also, there are small, quick scenes that are reminiscent of a raunchy romance novel and just seem out of place. They just didn't go with the tone that was set in the rest of the book. (Problem #1) Also, everything about the love story side of the book is super predictable. I literally guessed everything that was going to happen. (Problem #2) And to me, cheating is a little bit glorified. (Problem #3)
Overall, this is just a fluffy read that ended up trying too hard in the romance department. I don't really mind predictability and would have still liked the book if not for the out of place and cheesy romance scenes. This is just an ok book.
Release in March 2014 if you want to give it a shot yourself.
Read more reviews at Great Minds Read Alike.
August 7, 2015
4.5 stars, a thoroughly enjoyable book! Really liked the women in this story, especially Ginny and Ruby. The author writes descriptively, but not overly so. Just right. I could almost smell the lavender, and the mountain air. I enjoyed this in the same way I enjoyed The Wedding Bees. Sweet stories of women:) I recommend if you're looking for an easy, sweet read.
December 4, 2017
I've read a few books by Barbara O'Neal and loved them.
This book, not so much...and I don't know why.
It has a lot of the elements I generally love in a work of fiction.
I love a book about an organic farm. I almost exclusively read books about women and I generally enjoy books about more mature women. Toss in a dog and it should be a jackpot.
But even as I was reading the synopsis I was hesitating for some reason...anyway, I don't really know why but for me this was just OK.
What I will say is the love scene (I think there was only one) was painful to read, and the recipes at the beginning of each chapter probably would have been edgy 10 years ago but today it just feels tired and over-used. But those are small things and aren't enough to explain why this book left me flat.
This book, not so much...and I don't know why.
It has a lot of the elements I generally love in a work of fiction.
I love a book about an organic farm. I almost exclusively read books about women and I generally enjoy books about more mature women. Toss in a dog and it should be a jackpot.
But even as I was reading the synopsis I was hesitating for some reason...anyway, I don't really know why but for me this was just OK.
What I will say is the love scene (I think there was only one) was painful to read, and the recipes at the beginning of each chapter probably would have been edgy 10 years ago but today it just feels tired and over-used. But those are small things and aren't enough to explain why this book left me flat.
April 10, 2016
Lavender Wills is worried about her family farm. As a young woman, Lavender escaped life on the farm for an eventful career as a flight attendant, but when she finally returned, much later in her life, she fell in love with it. As she turns 85 she's worried that her only heirs, her nephews, will turn around and sell to a developer as soon as she's gone.
Lavender has embraced technology in running and marketing the farm, and through her blog she has become really good friends with three other food bloggers. Will one of them be the right person to take over the farm instead of her nephews? With her birthday coming up, she decides to invite them over, both to finally meet them in person and to see if one of them has what it takes.
There's Ruby, a young woman who runs a vegan blog and who finds herself pregnant months after a traumatic breakup. There's Ginny, whose cake blog represents an escape from a boring life full of people (including her husband) who want nothing more than to keep her as small and miserable as possible. And there's Valerie, a wine blogger and former dancer still recovering from the death of her husband and two of her children in an accident.
I liked the premise and, initially, I liked where I thought the story seemed to be going. The setting is beautiful and I loved the supportive female friendships. But I had so, so many issues with this book, and in the end, it didn't work for me at all. So the rest of the review is really going to be a litany of complaints.
To start with, for a book that supposedly features an ensemble cast, this was very uneven. O'Neal seemed to be most interested in Ginny (who, to me, was the most tedious character -more on her later), closely followed by Ruby. There was a fair bit about Lavender, as she was basically the catalyst for everything here, but there was pretty much nothing at all about Valerie. As she was written, I really didn't see what the point of having her there was. It might be that there was more in earlier versions and she was cut out in an edit, I don't know. I just know that out of the four characters who are set out to be equal protagonists the only one who doesn't do anything in the story and who's not a point of view character is the black woman. This left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.
The focus on Ginny didn't work for me, because she annoyed me. I felt she needed to take a little bit more responsibility for her choices. Yes, her husband was a piece of work, and so were her "friends" and even her mother, but there are limits. There's a point when she goes on about how she feels her husband trapped her into marriage and a life she didn't want when he got her pregnant, and she wouldn't be at all surprised if he'd poked holes in their condoms (to be fair, she's consciously exagerating here). Whoa, hang on. This was the late 80s, early 90s. She had a choice if she didn't want to have a child so young. And every single other year she had a choice to confront things and try to change them. Her husband wasn't abusive or controlling, he was just immensely selfish. And honestly, I really have absolutely no idea what was going on on the sex front. It's not much of a spoiler, so I'll go into details: they haven't had sex in like 12 years, and he's refused to discuss it whenever Ginny's tried to bring it up. But in the end it turns out he's cheated on Ginny while she's been away? Huh?
Ruby was a lot more appealing to me. She's quite a sweet character, someone who had some miserable years as a child, when she became ill with cancer, but what that's done to her is made her very ready to see and appreciate the good things in life. But the break-up (which was unexpected and abrupt) has shaken her confidence a bit, and the time with Lavender and her friend does her good.
Lavender is ok, but the characterisation is shallow, and as I've mentioned, Valerie is paper-thin.
I also had issues with the characterisation of these women as bloggers. That element felt really off. There's a fair bit of WTF, like when Ginny's love interest, whom she meets on the road as she drives to Lavender's, rings her and tells her he was worried about her, so he looked up her phone number in her blog details. Yeah, no, no one with half a brain would put her phone number (not one of those voicemail thingies, either, but her regular mobile number) up on her blog! Then there's the way she refers to people who comment regularly on her blog as "backbloggers", which is a term I've never heard before, and I've been on this scene for 14 years now (google doesn't know the word, either). Those are all details, though.
More importantly, I found it really hard to believe that Ginny's blog would be as successful as it's supposed to be, to the point of her making oodles of money out of it. From what we see of it, it's basically really bland text and pictures of cakes. Even if the pictures are incredibly amazing, I can't see them being that revolutionary. Actually, all three of the blogs that we see (we see nothing of Valerie's, of course) were pretty unappealing to me. Ginny's is bland, as I mentioned. Lavender's is very commercial... paraphrasing here, but it's kind of "Lovely day at the farm today, remember we run tours every Saturday, cost is $X". That's actually fine for what it is, a blog attached to a business, but hardly inspiring. Ruby's I can see being more successful, but the whole emphasis on the health benefits of particular foods is exactly the sort of thing that annoys me... "This recipe uses ingredient X, which is packed full of antioxidants and vitamin whatever". Plus, her recipes didn't sound great, and I'm someone who eats mostly vegan, so I was looking forward to them. She seems to be the kind of vegan cook who takes regular meat- and dairy-based recipes and looks for ways to substitute the meat and dairy. I tend to prefer recipes that are naturally vegan, myself. That's just taste though; like I said, I could see her blog being pretty successful. The other two... hmm, nah.
The other thing that annoyed me was the whole attitude they had to the people who read their blogs. I'm not sure I can quite articulate it, but it was a bit like they're celebrities and the blog readers are their fans. It's that sort of condescending attitude. There was a thing near the end when they're all together when they decide they need to take a picture for their "backbloggers". It's sort of Hello magazine, and their readers are assumed to be desperate to live their lives vicariously through them. I think I might be being a bit harsh with this, but I didn't like it.
MY GRADE: A C-. Only Ruby saves it from a D.
Lavender has embraced technology in running and marketing the farm, and through her blog she has become really good friends with three other food bloggers. Will one of them be the right person to take over the farm instead of her nephews? With her birthday coming up, she decides to invite them over, both to finally meet them in person and to see if one of them has what it takes.
There's Ruby, a young woman who runs a vegan blog and who finds herself pregnant months after a traumatic breakup. There's Ginny, whose cake blog represents an escape from a boring life full of people (including her husband) who want nothing more than to keep her as small and miserable as possible. And there's Valerie, a wine blogger and former dancer still recovering from the death of her husband and two of her children in an accident.
I liked the premise and, initially, I liked where I thought the story seemed to be going. The setting is beautiful and I loved the supportive female friendships. But I had so, so many issues with this book, and in the end, it didn't work for me at all. So the rest of the review is really going to be a litany of complaints.
To start with, for a book that supposedly features an ensemble cast, this was very uneven. O'Neal seemed to be most interested in Ginny (who, to me, was the most tedious character -more on her later), closely followed by Ruby. There was a fair bit about Lavender, as she was basically the catalyst for everything here, but there was pretty much nothing at all about Valerie. As she was written, I really didn't see what the point of having her there was. It might be that there was more in earlier versions and she was cut out in an edit, I don't know. I just know that out of the four characters who are set out to be equal protagonists the only one who doesn't do anything in the story and who's not a point of view character is the black woman. This left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.
The focus on Ginny didn't work for me, because she annoyed me. I felt she needed to take a little bit more responsibility for her choices. Yes, her husband was a piece of work, and so were her "friends" and even her mother, but there are limits. There's a point when she goes on about how she feels her husband trapped her into marriage and a life she didn't want when he got her pregnant, and she wouldn't be at all surprised if he'd poked holes in their condoms (to be fair, she's consciously exagerating here). Whoa, hang on. This was the late 80s, early 90s. She had a choice if she didn't want to have a child so young. And every single other year she had a choice to confront things and try to change them. Her husband wasn't abusive or controlling, he was just immensely selfish. And honestly, I really have absolutely no idea what was going on on the sex front. It's not much of a spoiler, so I'll go into details: they haven't had sex in like 12 years, and he's refused to discuss it whenever Ginny's tried to bring it up. But in the end it turns out he's cheated on Ginny while she's been away? Huh?
Ruby was a lot more appealing to me. She's quite a sweet character, someone who had some miserable years as a child, when she became ill with cancer, but what that's done to her is made her very ready to see and appreciate the good things in life. But the break-up (which was unexpected and abrupt) has shaken her confidence a bit, and the time with Lavender and her friend does her good.
Lavender is ok, but the characterisation is shallow, and as I've mentioned, Valerie is paper-thin.
I also had issues with the characterisation of these women as bloggers. That element felt really off. There's a fair bit of WTF, like when Ginny's love interest, whom she meets on the road as she drives to Lavender's, rings her and tells her he was worried about her, so he looked up her phone number in her blog details. Yeah, no, no one with half a brain would put her phone number (not one of those voicemail thingies, either, but her regular mobile number) up on her blog! Then there's the way she refers to people who comment regularly on her blog as "backbloggers", which is a term I've never heard before, and I've been on this scene for 14 years now (google doesn't know the word, either). Those are all details, though.
More importantly, I found it really hard to believe that Ginny's blog would be as successful as it's supposed to be, to the point of her making oodles of money out of it. From what we see of it, it's basically really bland text and pictures of cakes. Even if the pictures are incredibly amazing, I can't see them being that revolutionary. Actually, all three of the blogs that we see (we see nothing of Valerie's, of course) were pretty unappealing to me. Ginny's is bland, as I mentioned. Lavender's is very commercial... paraphrasing here, but it's kind of "Lovely day at the farm today, remember we run tours every Saturday, cost is $X". That's actually fine for what it is, a blog attached to a business, but hardly inspiring. Ruby's I can see being more successful, but the whole emphasis on the health benefits of particular foods is exactly the sort of thing that annoys me... "This recipe uses ingredient X, which is packed full of antioxidants and vitamin whatever". Plus, her recipes didn't sound great, and I'm someone who eats mostly vegan, so I was looking forward to them. She seems to be the kind of vegan cook who takes regular meat- and dairy-based recipes and looks for ways to substitute the meat and dairy. I tend to prefer recipes that are naturally vegan, myself. That's just taste though; like I said, I could see her blog being pretty successful. The other two... hmm, nah.
The other thing that annoyed me was the whole attitude they had to the people who read their blogs. I'm not sure I can quite articulate it, but it was a bit like they're celebrities and the blog readers are their fans. It's that sort of condescending attitude. There was a thing near the end when they're all together when they decide they need to take a picture for their "backbloggers". It's sort of Hello magazine, and their readers are assumed to be desperate to live their lives vicariously through them. I think I might be being a bit harsh with this, but I didn't like it.
MY GRADE: A C-. Only Ruby saves it from a D.
December 24, 2021
This was not my first book by this author and I have to say that each time I read one of her novels, it got 4 or 5 stars. This was no exception as I absolutely loved everything about it. I loved each character, each storyline, each bit of growth they came away with, and the setting where it all takes place. There were times that I actually felt like I knew these women and was on the ride of my life...I am pretty sure this is an author where I will go out of my way to read each and every book I can find :)
May 23, 2014
I loved this author's How to Bake a Perfect Life because of her ability to develop her characters to the point that I felt as though I knew them and I felt their ups and downs along the way. The story was woven so slowly and so intricately that it was hard to put down and sad to close the cover on the final page. This book, however, was not for me.
Eighty-five year old Lavender owns prosperous Lavender Honey Farms but she knows her time is near. Not wanting her nephews to inherit the land only to sell out, she invites three close online friends to come to the farm in Oregon to celebrate her upcoming birthday. She also hopes to find one or more of those friends to be her chosen heir.
Ruby, young and pregnant and very much into organic foods could be the one. Then there is Ginny who bakes cakes and has developed quite a blog following. Valerie, once a wine enthusiast, might also be the perfect choice. Each of the women are "foodies" of some sort and each of them needs a break from their troubled lives. Noah, Lavender's farm manager would be a perfect choice, but he is coming off three tours of duty in the military and wants only to heal himself in his quiet solitude.
The concept of the story was inviting, but the characters came across as thinly developed and rather shallow. Sorry, but anyone who falls in love and decides to leave their husband after one meeting with a man at a truck stop just makes me roll my eyes. And really....I don't need to know over and over that it has been 12 years since a husband and wife have been intimate with each other.
Noah did not live up to his description of being a solitary man with issues from the war. For someone who wanted to live in solitude, he sure changed his mind in a hurry. His story could have been moving, but that storyline also came across as thinly developed.
Conversations between the characters seemed contrived and nothing seemed to come from the hearts of the characters. Again, sorry...but I can't take seriously conversations of characters over the age of 20 calling each other "Dude".
I could go on and on, but I will just say that I must be in the minority of the other reviewers. i just didn't care for this book. I gave it 2 stars instead of only 1 because I do love lavender. Sad. But true.
Eighty-five year old Lavender owns prosperous Lavender Honey Farms but she knows her time is near. Not wanting her nephews to inherit the land only to sell out, she invites three close online friends to come to the farm in Oregon to celebrate her upcoming birthday. She also hopes to find one or more of those friends to be her chosen heir.
Ruby, young and pregnant and very much into organic foods could be the one. Then there is Ginny who bakes cakes and has developed quite a blog following. Valerie, once a wine enthusiast, might also be the perfect choice. Each of the women are "foodies" of some sort and each of them needs a break from their troubled lives. Noah, Lavender's farm manager would be a perfect choice, but he is coming off three tours of duty in the military and wants only to heal himself in his quiet solitude.
The concept of the story was inviting, but the characters came across as thinly developed and rather shallow. Sorry, but anyone who falls in love and decides to leave their husband after one meeting with a man at a truck stop just makes me roll my eyes. And really....I don't need to know over and over that it has been 12 years since a husband and wife have been intimate with each other.
Noah did not live up to his description of being a solitary man with issues from the war. For someone who wanted to live in solitude, he sure changed his mind in a hurry. His story could have been moving, but that storyline also came across as thinly developed.
Conversations between the characters seemed contrived and nothing seemed to come from the hearts of the characters. Again, sorry...but I can't take seriously conversations of characters over the age of 20 calling each other "Dude".
I could go on and on, but I will just say that I must be in the minority of the other reviewers. i just didn't care for this book. I gave it 2 stars instead of only 1 because I do love lavender. Sad. But true.
May 7, 2021
3.5 stars. Really good overall story about four women bloggers who meet. I enjoyed the characters that were fully explored, but at least one was just vaguely brushed on. This wasn't terrible, but made those characters seem extraneous. Enjoyed all of the food talk and recipes.
O’Neal’s latest is a sweet tale of friendship and love. Two of the four female characters are fully developed, and readers get a true sense of their motivations. Yet the other two remain on the periphery, detracting a bit from the story. This doesn’t matter much in the end, because the heartwarming novel will touch the soul and resonate long afterward.
Four food bloggers meet online: 85-year-old Lavender, a honey and lavender farmer; Ginny, a Kansas housewife with a gift for baking and photography; Ruby, a pregnant vegan chef; and Val, a former wine blogger raising her daughter alone after a tragedy. When the women venture to Lavender’s farm to celebrate her birthday, they discover a great deal about themselves as women and about what they need to move forward
O’Neal’s latest is a sweet tale of friendship and love. Two of the four female characters are fully developed, and readers get a true sense of their motivations. Yet the other two remain on the periphery, detracting a bit from the story. This doesn’t matter much in the end, because the heartwarming novel will touch the soul and resonate long afterward.
Four food bloggers meet online: 85-year-old Lavender, a honey and lavender farmer; Ginny, a Kansas housewife with a gift for baking and photography; Ruby, a pregnant vegan chef; and Val, a former wine blogger raising her daughter alone after a tragedy. When the women venture to Lavender’s farm to celebrate her birthday, they discover a great deal about themselves as women and about what they need to move forward
March 4, 2014
Luscious! The All You Can Dream Buffet tantalizes, tempts, seduces--and satiates. Not since reading The Lost Recipe for Happiness have I loved one of Barbara O'Neal's books so well. Her writer's gift is fully showcased again here, prose that lights up the page, characters that light up your heart, love and dreams and sorrow and food and growing things--friendship and broken hearts, hot sex and broken promises. Yes, and the kitchen sink, too! Several of them, in Airstream trailers, no less.
Here's the blurb: Popular blogger and foodie queen Lavender Wills reigns over Lavender Honey Farms, a serene slice of organic heaven nestled in Oregon wine country. Lavender is determined to keep her legacy from falling into the profit-driven hands of uncaring relatives, and she wants an heir to sustain her life’s work after she’s gone. So she invites her three closest online friends—fellow food bloggers, women of varied ages and backgrounds—out to her farm. She hopes to choose one of them to inherit it—but who?
There’s Ginny, the freckle-faced Kansas cake baker whose online writing is about to lead her out of a broken marriage and into a world of sensual delights. And Ruby, young, pregnant, devoted to the organic movement, who’s looking for roots—and the perfect recipe to heal a shattered heart. Finally, Val, smart and sophisticated, a wine enthusiast who needs a fresh start for her teenage daughter after tragedy has rocked their lives.
Fear not, dear readers, buy the book and dream of spring. A feel-good, heart-warming, restore-your-faith, life-affirming little jewel of a novel. Breathe in the wafting scent of lavender tea, prepare your mouth for the luscious burst of scones and honey, and prepare to laugh and cry with a few friends. Did I mention I really liked it?
(Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance EARC for review.)
Here's the blurb: Popular blogger and foodie queen Lavender Wills reigns over Lavender Honey Farms, a serene slice of organic heaven nestled in Oregon wine country. Lavender is determined to keep her legacy from falling into the profit-driven hands of uncaring relatives, and she wants an heir to sustain her life’s work after she’s gone. So she invites her three closest online friends—fellow food bloggers, women of varied ages and backgrounds—out to her farm. She hopes to choose one of them to inherit it—but who?
There’s Ginny, the freckle-faced Kansas cake baker whose online writing is about to lead her out of a broken marriage and into a world of sensual delights. And Ruby, young, pregnant, devoted to the organic movement, who’s looking for roots—and the perfect recipe to heal a shattered heart. Finally, Val, smart and sophisticated, a wine enthusiast who needs a fresh start for her teenage daughter after tragedy has rocked their lives.
Fear not, dear readers, buy the book and dream of spring. A feel-good, heart-warming, restore-your-faith, life-affirming little jewel of a novel. Breathe in the wafting scent of lavender tea, prepare your mouth for the luscious burst of scones and honey, and prepare to laugh and cry with a few friends. Did I mention I really liked it?
(Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance EARC for review.)
August 13, 2016
Four years ago, when I was discovering that Barbara Samuel writes as Barbara O'Neal, I read that Barbara says her "question" (the one she is answering in her novels) is why do some people survive harsh challenges and why don't others. Since then I have read all of O'Neal's novels and I have enjoyed them all.
I do think that part of the attraction to me is the survival question. What is it that makes some families come together and others fall apart? Why are challenges good for some people's growth and others curl in upon themselves? This is the question for much of what I read and what authors write about. I guess it is a question that humans want an answer to and since one answer does not fit all, our literature shows us the many possible responses.
O'Neal's books are wonderful. I would not say that she is writing books for the ages, but who knows. What I know is that O'Neal writes well, that her characters are individuals with humorous interesting stories. I don't make time for every book by every author I have ever read, but I will always make time for Barbara Samuel or O'Neal. I know that I will find a story that takes me deep into a new world and makes it feel like home.
I do think that part of the attraction to me is the survival question. What is it that makes some families come together and others fall apart? Why are challenges good for some people's growth and others curl in upon themselves? This is the question for much of what I read and what authors write about. I guess it is a question that humans want an answer to and since one answer does not fit all, our literature shows us the many possible responses.
O'Neal's books are wonderful. I would not say that she is writing books for the ages, but who knows. What I know is that O'Neal writes well, that her characters are individuals with humorous interesting stories. I don't make time for every book by every author I have ever read, but I will always make time for Barbara Samuel or O'Neal. I know that I will find a story that takes me deep into a new world and makes it feel like home.
November 11, 2014
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I absolutely adored The All You Can Dram Buffet. So many things resonated with me. The blogging aspect of the story, the internet friendships that are very real, the desire to do something MORE with your life. The whole book just really spoke to my heart. And then there is Lavender's farm, the beauty described by the author left me longing for the Midwest farms of my heart. I also liked how the author highlighted the fact that Lavender was sixty when she took over the farm. An age when most people are looking to retire and there she is making a great success out of her organic farm, it was inspiring. Of course the scrumptious recipes you have come to expect from Barbara O'Neal find their way into the pages of this book.
I absolutely adored The All You Can Dram Buffet. So many things resonated with me. The blogging aspect of the story, the internet friendships that are very real, the desire to do something MORE with your life. The whole book just really spoke to my heart. And then there is Lavender's farm, the beauty described by the author left me longing for the Midwest farms of my heart. I also liked how the author highlighted the fact that Lavender was sixty when she took over the farm. An age when most people are looking to retire and there she is making a great success out of her organic farm, it was inspiring. Of course the scrumptious recipes you have come to expect from Barbara O'Neal find their way into the pages of this book.
February 26, 2014
Another great book by author Barbara O'Neal, this one centers on 4 food bloggers who call themselves the foodie four. They have become great friends over the years, and Lavender invites the other 3 to come to her farm for her 85th birthday celebration. Each one of them comes loaded with a lot of baggage & big life-changing decisions that need to be made. You will laugh, and cry right along with them, as you get completely immersed in their story. Definitely a must read!
April 13, 2014
I really enjoyed this novel. It's multidimensional characters and their lives propelled me through the book. I wanted to find out why Ginny hadn't had sex with her husband in 12 years and if Liam was going to come back around after finding that Ruby was pregnant with his child? Does Lavender find someone to hand down her farm to or will it be sold and divided up; never to exist again in it's current state? Some of my questions were answered and some were not quite.... but it kept my interest and made me want to keep on reading. The female characters empowered me and for a minute, I wanted to search for an airstream... decorate it in my gypsy style and travel to new places. O'Neal hit a nerve with my middle-age self and caused me to reexamine my life and see if I'd lived an authentic one. She also gave me license to dream about another half of my life that might even be more fulfilling and challenging than the first. That's cool. As for the magical element in the story... it was a dusting; glimmering the shadows of the story. An apparition touches two of the four character stories throughout the book and makes one wish that they too could have a visit from someone they have lost.
I would highly recommend this book. It's as enjoyable as a piping hot cup of coffee enjoyed while basking in the summer sun.
I would highly recommend this book. It's as enjoyable as a piping hot cup of coffee enjoyed while basking in the summer sun.
March 15, 2014
Four bloggers, The Foodie Four, meet at Lavender's farm in Oregon for Lavender's 85th birthday. Lavender blogs about her farm. Ginny, driving from Dead Gulch, Kansas, wants out of her uninspired life and even less fulfilling marriage. Ginny blogs about cakes. Valerie, a wine blogger, comes as a new widow bearing the loss of her husband and two daughters, with her only surviving daughter, Hannah. Ruby, a 26-year old vegan blogger, pregnant and alone, leaves her protective father behind for this great adventure.
As with Barb's other books, I was captivated by the attention to the beauty in the world, and how women act and interact with each other. I was proud when Ginny stood up to her lackluster husband and declared, "I'm never going back to Kansas." I was pleased to watch Ruby find her roots in Lavender's farm.
Two things I wish I knew at the end of this book - being a dog lover, what happened to Willow, Ginny's beloved dog left behind with Hannah and Valerie when she had to return suddenly to Kansas, and who was Valerie, really?
All in all, lovely book. I highly recommend it.
As with Barb's other books, I was captivated by the attention to the beauty in the world, and how women act and interact with each other. I was proud when Ginny stood up to her lackluster husband and declared, "I'm never going back to Kansas." I was pleased to watch Ruby find her roots in Lavender's farm.
Two things I wish I knew at the end of this book - being a dog lover, what happened to Willow, Ginny's beloved dog left behind with Hannah and Valerie when she had to return suddenly to Kansas, and who was Valerie, really?
All in all, lovely book. I highly recommend it.
May 24, 2015
Ok, I did win this in a contest. But it was not a goodreads contest.
Any book that has descriptions of food, coffee or wine are always good for me, ha ha! Three of my favorite things...
I've never read a Barbara O'Neal book. This is my first and I adored it.
It's about 4 women bloggers who become friends [which I can relate too]. They are all different ages, with different lifestyles and things going on in their lives.
The oldest named Lavender has a 85th bday party that they all come out to her farm for.
Which is a good thing for them all for different reasons which I won't go in to and ruin the story.
I loved the women. I loved their relationships with each other.
I loved the ending.
Very fast read for me [read it in 2 nights]. Loved it from the beginning to the end.
Any book that has descriptions of food, coffee or wine are always good for me, ha ha! Three of my favorite things...
I've never read a Barbara O'Neal book. This is my first and I adored it.
It's about 4 women bloggers who become friends [which I can relate too]. They are all different ages, with different lifestyles and things going on in their lives.
The oldest named Lavender has a 85th bday party that they all come out to her farm for.
Which is a good thing for them all for different reasons which I won't go in to and ruin the story.
I loved the women. I loved their relationships with each other.
I loved the ending.
Very fast read for me [read it in 2 nights]. Loved it from the beginning to the end.
March 21, 2014
This is the second book I've read by Barbara O'Neal and I am liking her more and more. I love how her books have such a mystical feel. She writes so beautifully about the relationships between four very different women in this book and I just couldn't get enough. By the end of the book I felt like I knew Lavender, Ginny, and Ruby personally. Valerie was the fourth of the "foodie four" but we only got to know her a little bit. In fact she was the only one who didn't have any chapters written from her point of view (perhaps to leave her story for a squeal??). I really hope we will get to hear more from these women!
September 8, 2016
This looked like a cozy little read about 4 friends, who are food bloggers, getting together for an 85th birthday. I was enjoying it until I got into the raunchy romance part and then I actually thought I wouldn't be able to finish it. I was trying to find what genre you would call this - is soft porn too harsh? There isn't a lot but it was scattered enough at the end section that it threw me off. The cover looks so innocent. I don't mean to be a prude, I'm just not into that at this stage of life.
August 13, 2016
Any book of Barbara O'Neal's is a pleasure--her writing, her characters, the setting, the FOOD. All together make a reader wish she lived in that book.
February 14, 2021
Lavender is 84 years old and knows her time is near. At middle age after a life of adventure she took over her nephew’s farm and turned it into an organic lavender and produce farm. But her remaining nephews are waiting for her to pass because the land is worth much more and they wish to sell. Lavender needs to find a successor, but who? Her farm manager a battle weary veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan has no interest and is too damaged to run it alone. So she summons her three best friends, all food bloggers to help her make this decision and celebrate her birthday. There is Ruby a young pregnant chef who was abandoned suddenly and without explanation by the father of her child. Ginny, a farm wife who has never left Dead Gulch Kansas, and yearns for something more. And Valerie who is touring the country with her daughter after losing the rest of het children and her husband in a plane crash. Each of these women are in a journey, Lavender to meet the souls of the people she loves, in the next life, Ruby to recover frim heart break and prepare for the birth of her child, Ginny to discover if there is something more than a loveless marriage and house work, and Valerie to find a path for her and her daughter out of grief. We follow these women as they make their way to Lavender’s farm in Oregon, and learn that there is always something more if you just look for it. The journeys are funny and the story tells us of real love which is never easy but worth the journey. A warm satisfying read for the cold days of winter.
December 10, 2019
This delightful novel features an ensemble cast of women of all ages. The theme is breaking free, becoming oneself. As with the other O'Neal novels I've read, female friendship is at the heart of all the self-discovery. In this way, this novel reminds me of Bad Girl Creek by Joanne Mapson.
Of the four women, Ginny and Ruby have the most prominent stories. Ginny is middle-aged and married to a creep, and when her blog takes off and she starts making big money from advertising, her friends, family, and husband all treat her like crap. And she lets them. One day she's had enough. She hitches up her tiny, adorable Airstream (all the women have their own RVs) and heads across the country to a lavender farm in Oregon, at the invitation of the aging farmer. Ruby is married to a jerk husband, too, and she's pregnant when SHE takes off. The scenes of self-discovery, truth, and romance are rich and vibrant. Makes you want to head to Oregon yourself.
It was nice to read about a midlife woman starting over. Another winner from Barbara O'Neal.
Of the four women, Ginny and Ruby have the most prominent stories. Ginny is middle-aged and married to a creep, and when her blog takes off and she starts making big money from advertising, her friends, family, and husband all treat her like crap. And she lets them. One day she's had enough. She hitches up her tiny, adorable Airstream (all the women have their own RVs) and heads across the country to a lavender farm in Oregon, at the invitation of the aging farmer. Ruby is married to a jerk husband, too, and she's pregnant when SHE takes off. The scenes of self-discovery, truth, and romance are rich and vibrant. Makes you want to head to Oregon yourself.
It was nice to read about a midlife woman starting over. Another winner from Barbara O'Neal.
May 8, 2019
A delightful story about four women who meet over their blogs and have an internet relationship for eight years before they finally meet in person. They are from four different generations and are meeting at Lavendar's Farm for her 85th birthday, sharing and growing and learning together. It is a wonderful story of friendship and support with a few good men thrown in for a well-balanced life. I enjoyed this immensely. Thanks to a goodreads friend for her great review that got me to read this.
June 4, 2022
I enjoyed this sweet book as I have never read a book set in the county I live in. The author did her research on our sweet town and surrounding areas. In this story the “Foodie Four” as the popular food bloggers call themselves, gather together for the first time to celebrate a big birthday in the idyllic farmland of Yamhill County OR. Although the storyline was a bit predictable it was a welcome escape. This is my third book by this author I do appreciate her ability to draw you in to her characters.
June 8, 2017
This is just about the best i've read in a good long while!
Four foodie bloggers meet, finally, for Lavenders 85th birthday. They are quite diverse and yet of one mind.
A great read!!!!!
Four foodie bloggers meet, finally, for Lavenders 85th birthday. They are quite diverse and yet of one mind.
A great read!!!!!
November 10, 2020
Round up to 4.5 stars.
December 20, 2020
2.5 stars. A nice read. Women facing adversity and working through to the other side.
August 21, 2021
3.5 stars, rounded up. Easy light read, I enjoyed the characters and their personalities. Felt very predictable and some things were a bit much.. so one character starts a cake blog and all her friends and family hate her for that? Seems weird.
December 31, 2021
A really sweet 4.5 for me about unlikely friendships that begin on the interwebz and turn into a sort of family.
March 2, 2023
Wholesome with a great ending but with a surprising amount of naughtiness for a cozy read about 4 food bloggers!
July 16, 2019
Just what I needed to get me out of a fiction book slump! Feel good, foodie, Pacific NW and a little magical feel. If you like Sarah Addison Allen you will probably like this one
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