Sandra Lee wrote a romance novel very close to reality

When you think of Sandra Lee, you probably think of semi-homemade, the horrifying Hanukkah and Kwanzaa cake, or because she was dating New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. What you probably don’t think about is romance novels. But the former Food Network host did write a romance novel in 2013.

The novel is called The Recipe Box and features Grace D’Angelo, a TV personality who loves cooking. Sound like anyone we know? She also happens to have a pet cockatoo which could be based on a gift Andrew Cuomo gave Sandra Lee in 2011. He gave her a parrot.

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But the similarities between the characters in the book and Sandra Lee and her life don’t stop there. Mike Lund, the book’s love interest, is a teacher who loves motorcycles, fishing, and the outdoors.

He also has curly hair and exudes confidence. While it might not be an exact characterization of Andrew Cuomo, it’s definitely close.

Sandra Lee published a novel in 2013 called The Recipe Box

While Sandra Lee has said it’s not based on real-life and just geared toward her reader, the couple had been in a relationship for two years and the similarities are too much to just be a coincidence, right?

That being said, The Recipe Box is about much more than just romance. It also features friendship, loss, divorce, single motherhood, and restarting your life. It also happens to feature a few of Sandra Lee’s recipes so you get romance, maybe a few tears, and a recipe to try.

You can read the full synopsis of The Recipe Box below:

"Grace Holm-D’Angelo is at her wit’s end, trying to create a new life from broken pieces. Newly divorced, she is navigating suddenly becoming a single mother to her fourteen-year-old daughter. Emma, resentful about being uprooted from Chicago to LA and still reeling from the divorce, is generally giving her mother a hard time.Then Grace’s best friend, Leeza, succumbs to breast cancer after a long battle, and Grace realizes that you don’t get a second chance at life. She returns to her hometown of New London, Wisconsin, to try to reconcile with her own mother, Lorraine, with whom she’s been estranged for longer than she cares to remember.Over the course of the summer, Grace rediscovers the healing powers of cooking, coming to terms with your past, and friendship, and learns you can go home again, and sometimes that’s exactly where you belong."

What do you think of this Sandra Lee novel? Would you read it? Have you read it? Let us know in the comments below! And if you know of any other celebrity chefs who have written books (beyond cookbooks) let us know!