Sweet Surprises
- Author Shirlee McCoy
- Release Date July 26, 2016
- Publisher Zebra
- ISBN/ASIN 9781420139297
- Our Rating
- Reviewed by Diana S
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Our Review
SWEET SURPRISES is a story about the Lamont family of Benevolence, Washington. The family are chocolatiers and have been for centuries. Byron Lamont is the force behind Chocolate Haven and talked his granddaughter Brenna into coming home to help him in the shop.
Brenna Lamont is a former model and boutique owner who left home and moved to New York at the age of eighteen. Now she is coming back to her roots penniless and ready to start a new chapter in her life. Her family doesn’t know about her fiancé stealing all her money and leaving her holding the bag for all the people he cheated. She wants to keep them from finding out, but knows she will have to tell them sometime. Her two older sisters are successful in life and Brenna feels like a failure, but she doesn’t want everyone feeling sorry for her. The whole town already knows her fiancé dumped her, thanks to her mother. She doesn’t need any more pity from them.
River Maynard was a foster kid who was raised by the Keech’s on their ranch for troubled children. His foster mother had a stroke so he has come back to Benevolence to help her. River is an accomplished restauranteur with two restaurants in Portland, Oregon. Coming back was never in his future as far as he was concerned, but he has to help his foster mother out. When he finds the house full of down-on-their-luck people, he wants them all gone, but Brenda says they stay as long as she is alive. River decides he needs to stay to try and get the ranch fixed back up and find a way to make money off of it.
Brenna is trying her best to help with the candy making at the store, but she can’t make the famous Lamont fudge that everyone orders online or comes to the store to buy. With her grandfather out of town, River comes to Brenna’s rescue as long as she will help him remodel the ranch house. The two working closely together sets off sparks that neither one of them need at this time in their lives.
SWEET SURPRISES is a fun filled story of betrayal, family love and a town that stands behind their neighbors always. I loved this second book in the HOME SWEET HOME series and I can’t wait for the next book to come out. Anyone who loves chocolate, romance and a story of starting over will love this book.