SWEET SURPRISES - Shirlee McCoy
Home Sweet Home , Book 2
Zebra
ISBN-13: 978-1-4201-3929-7
August 2016
Contemporary Romance

Benevolence, Washington - Present Day

When former runway model Brenna Lamont returns home, it's a defeating move for her.  Brenna is back home under the guise of helping her pregnant sister, Addie, run the family store, Chocolate Haven.  But in reality, she has nowhere else to go.  Her former fiancé ruined her business, cleaned out their bank account, and disappeared off the face of the earth with another woman.  The authorities are looking for him, but as yet, no one has been able to find him.  Brenna arrives in town in the dead of night in the rattletrap car she's driven all the way from New  York; she's flat broke and so, so tired.  The family doesn't know she's on her last dime, and she doesn't plan on telling them.  Now, all she has to do is learn to make fudge!

Bad boy River Maynard is back in Benevolence to help his foster mother fix up her run down ranch.  River was once a troubled foster child, one of many Belinda and Dillard Keech raised on their ranch outside of town.  Dillard passed away, and Belinda recently suffered a stroke, so River is back to help until he can persuade Belinda to sell the ranch and return to Oregon with him.  His biggest problem at the moment is dealing with the squatters at Belinda's house.  These aren't troubled youths, but grown adults that River is sure are taking advantage of a sick old woman.  Yes, he was once one of the less fortunate, but these people are adults, and River's first priority is getting them off Belinda's property.

SWEET SURPRISES stands alone and gives us a charming tale of two people who grew up in the same town, but never interacted until now.  As a youngster, Brenna wanted anything else in life but making chocolate, which, in her opinion, she has no natural talent for.  Beautiful and spirited, she grabbed the first chance to run when offered a modeling contract on the East Coast, as far away from her languid hometown as possible.  Meanwhile, River, now a distinguished chef, went from being a troublesome teen to an upstanding business owner of two Oregon restaurants.  He, too, never intended to return to this small town, until Belinda needed help.  And now, with Belinda's craving for Lamont chocolates and Brenna's lack of skill in producing said chocolate, these two unlikely lovers are inadvertently thrown together to find their own road to happiness.

SWEET SURPRISES is Brenna Lamont's story and the second book in the Home Sweet Home Series following SWEET HAVEN (February 2016).  Book three, BITTERSWEET, sister Willow's tale, is due soon.  Filled with delightful characters, SWEET SURPRISES will have you searching for Adelaide's story, SWEET HAVEN, if you haven't yet read it (I had to go buy it!), and you'll also want the next book, BITTERSWEET, as soon as it hits the shelves!

SWEET SURPRISES is a special treat for the senses and the reader, a love story and chocolate fix all in one package.  Don't miss it!

Diana Risso