I’m not sure how long ago I met Suzanne Beecher, but we were in our office on Madison Avenue then…and she’d set up an appointment…and was on my schedule.

I walked toward our board room, and the smell of fresh-baked brownies wafted around the office. People were peeking out from their desks, wondering if someone was baking. People who usually stay huddled behind their computer screens were appearing outside the board room to see if we were getting Duncan Hines as a new account.

But there she was, Suzanne Beecher, blonde and smiling and carrying a huge box of brownies for everyone. She was definitely my kindred spirit.

She told me then she was starting a new venture, an online book club…talking about different types of books and perhaps getting libraries to sponsor her business…so she could email her reviews each week to her readers.

It sounded a little far-fetched to me, but I figured if anyone could do it…Miss Enthusiasm would. Well. 350,000 people now read her DearReader.com and her daily column. She’s homespun, down-to-earth and funny and when she writes you feel like she’s writing only to you. She reminds me of Fanny Flagg.

We’ve talked on and off over the years and 2 years ago, I was visiting Sarasota and invited Suzanne to meet me for lunch. She did, and it was delicious to see her…and she told me she was going to write a book about her life, and add some recipes…and some photos of her family. We dropped her at her home, met her husband, Bob, and I missed her as we drove back to Miami.

Well, last month I received her new book (in uncorrected reader’s proofs), and she asked me to give it a read. I just loved it, like I do her. It’s her story of her own dreadful kind of upbringing, her challenges in life with illness and business. And, the whole time I’m reading it, I’m thinking I’m sitting at that little café in Sarasota yakking with her again.

You get a snapshot of her life as a little girl, and cooking when she was eight, while practicing singing her backup part to the Monkees. Then years later when she met her husband for the first time as she hobbled around with one leg in a cast and the other taped in an ace bandage.

Sprinkled with her grandma’s favorite recipes, she writes about her wonderful magazine that she had to walk away from, and her overnight stay with her grandson in the hospital, and life, in general.

What happens to Suzanne, happens to all of us. And the difference is she gives and shares more of life and love in her book than we often can. That’s why you’ll love this special book.

Buy it at amazon.com today and take it to the beach, or read it in your comfy chair. You’ll feel like you’ve just caught up with your best friend. Then buy lots more copies for your friends and family, as I am.

Suzanne called last week to see if I liked the book. I said I did so much, I was going to even try one of her recipes for my company last weekend. (I have a plant in my oven), as I never cook. So, I did ask her how I sift flour, or if I needed to.

On Monday she asked how my cooking went (afraid that she’d heard about a blazing fire in Miami). I told her no, not yet. Maybe this weekend I will try that marinated flank steak though. I’ll let you know how it works out.