Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close

Marrying the Ketchups is the humorous heartwarming story of three generations of a Chicago restaurant family who live for their restaurant, each other and the Chicago Cubs.

Sullivan’s is a restaurant which was started by Bud and Rose the patriarch and matriarch of the clan. Family comes and goes at the restaurant, sometimes leaving to pursue their own dreams, get married or start their own career, but they always know Sullivan’s will be there when they need a place to crash, or an ear to listen. Somehow, they always end up coming home. Sullivan’s is the comfort food for the family’s souls.

Everything changes when Bud suddenly drops dead. It seems to put push the family into a chaos none of them have ever witnessed. Rose is heartbroken and disinterested in everything. No one seems to be able to make a decision for their life, and no new idea is welcomed or even appreciated. So how on earth does this family come together?

Teddy is a cousin coming out of a heartbreaking relationship who decided to come back to Sullivan’s to help manage the restaurant. He has so many ideas which he feels will push Sullivan’s into the stratosphere of restaurants. But all his ideas are met with doubt for fear of changing what Sullivan’s has always been. Even to the point of saying no to changing the color of the tablecloths. Sullivan’s is stuck.

Jane is married with two young children. She comes to Sullivan’s every Friday to do the books. She lives in a different city and is not happy with the community nor their politics. She also begins to find she is not happy with her husband as well.

Gretchen, Jane’s sister lives in New York City and is a singer in an oldies band. Years ago, she honestly believed the band was headed for stardom, but alas all they were actually headed for was becoming a band who does weddings. When Gretchen finds out some devastating news, she decides to ditch the band and head back to Sullivan’s and try to put her life back together.

Riley, the youngest and still in high school is a bit wild opinionated and bossy. But when she begins to get bullied at school, she decides to take the advice of her aunt and suffice to say everything explodes in their faces and social media!

But, through it all and including mandatory family dinner on Sundays, nothing can prevent them from loving and caring and defending each other in good times but more importantly the bad times.

Marrying the Ketchups takes place after the 2016 election and the cubs winning the World Series is the absolute perfect backdrop for this funny family story!