SECRET RECIPE: A REDFORD FALLS STORY by Darlene Fredette

Fiction, Contemporary Romance, #4 in series

4****

Blurb: She has one last hope – a small, family-run bakery that might just be baking up second chances. Dwindling finances has Jesse Robinson running out of options. With a past filled with failures, she longs for a new beginning. Applying for a job she isn’t qualified for may be another crazy mistake, but at this point Jesse has nothing to lose. Juggling two jobs, Travis Cooper has absolutely no time for a relationship and isn’t looking for one. But when his mother hires an unqualified baker, he has more to worry about than three-tiered wedding cakes. Like whether to break his own no-dating-employees rule and make a little room in his life for love.

THOUGHTS: This was a different kind of romance story – oh, not in the general sense. We still have boy meets girl, loses girl, gets girl back for a HEA ending. But the characters. Or at least the heroine – and her past. Jess Robinson has moved to Redford falls and lives in a tiny apartment where she’s a month behind on her rent, drives a rusted car that breaks down quite regularly, and is broke and looking for a job. Most places won’t hire her because of her father—Slick Vic—who is in prison for murder. Her father raised her to be a conman (woman) and she was quite good when she was a kid. But she wants desperately to put that past behind her. Unfortunately, fate has other ideas.

Even though she knows nothing about baking, Jess stops in at a bakery that is looking to hire help. The woman who owns the place gives her a test—and Jess passes it (blueberry muffins). Jess discovers that she loves the job, not as a baker, but out front with the customers. Then her father calls her and needs her to do something for him. If she doesn’t he’s in trouble, even in jail. And it has to do with the bakery.

Meanwhile, the owner’s son, Travis, is leery of the new hire. Yes, she’s beautiful and smart, and good with the customers, but there’s something about her…

I loved the tie-ins with the other stories in the series, especially when the rabbit shows up at the moment Jess goes into the bakery (you have to read the other stories to understand why this is important). I love the way Travis’ mother Heather handles everything with a touch of mysticism. This is a sweet romance with a touch of suspense and a HEA that satisfies.

Enjoy!

I’D RATHER KISS YOU GOODNIGHT by Christine Columbus

Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Mature Adults

4****

Blurb:  has sworn off relationships. At forty-seven, she finds herself stuck in a rut and feels as if she’s going nowhere. Until her mother needs help to fix up her house, now Sally spends her weekends driving three hours to plaster and paint walls. Ty is also lending a hand with the repairs, and their attraction simmers just beneath the surface. As the house takes on a new life, so does Sally’s heart. By day, they work on the house, but in the evenings, they escape to a local campground, overlooking river sunsets and diving into a summer romance. What does Sally do when summer fades to fall, and Ty prepares to leave?

THOUGHTS: This story started off really slow for me and I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, but I’m glad I stayed with it because by the time it finished, I was really rooting for Sally and Ty. And for her mom too (even though she was not a likeable character at first). In this story, Sally’s mother’s boyfriend of ten years has passed away and his sons want to sell the house she lives in. But she doesn’t want to move and even if they do put it up for sale, it needs significant remodeling. Sally gets her to agree to move once the renovations are done and spends her summer weekends driving three hours to help with the remodeling and grows closer with the oldest brother Ty. Back at work during the week, she’s in a dead-end job that is draining her. Her two friends convince her to have a summer fling with Ty, but Sally was burnt by a crooked ex and is leery about getting into another relationship. But she does and has the time of her life during the weekends, and finds herself falling for Ty. But come the end of summer, he’ll be leaving for a life on the road in a big trailer. When he invites her to go with him, she isn’t sure she should take the chance.

The characters were well-done and the setting was beautiful with campfires, starlight (and yes, mosquitoes!). But the beginning was slow for me and Sally’s wishy-washy attitude got to me a bit. Still, by the end, she did find a backbone and go for the HEA instead of a boring life. And I really enjoyed the bits of humor scattered throughout – especially what happened to Sally’s ex at the end (not saying because you should get to enjoy the laugh). A satisfying HEA will make you smile.

Recommended.