Three women are torn between traditions of the past and
unexpected new beginnings in a warmhearted novel by Carolyn Brown about family,
romance, and the best pastries in Texas.
For Grace Dalton, her sister, Sarah, and her cousin Macy,
the Devine Doughnut Shop is a sweet family legacy and a landmark in their Texas
town. As the fourth generation to run the Double D, they keep their
great-grandmother’s recipe secret and uphold the shop’s tradition as a coffee
klatch for sharing local gossip, advice, and woes. But drama brews behind the
counter, too.
Grace is a single mother struggling with an unruly
teenage daughter. Heartbroken Sarah has sworn off love. Macy’s impending
wedding has an unexpected hitch. And now charming developer Travis Butler has
arrived in Devine with a checkbook and a handsome smile. He wants to buy the
shop, expand it nationally, and boost the economy of a town divided by the
prospect.
With the family’s relationships in flux, their beloved
heritage up for grabs, and their future in the air, it’s amazing what
determination, sass, a promise of romance, and a warm maple doughnut can do to
change hearts and minds.
Carolyn Brown excels at small-town stories involving
people whose lives feel like they could be yours or your neighbor's. This is a
story of love, family - by blood and of the heart, and dreams. Two sisters,
Grace and Sarah, and their cousin Macy are the fourth generation of women who
have run the Devine Doughnut Shop. The doughnut recipe is a cherished family
secret, and the shop is the center of the town's information-sharing community.
Drama abounds on both sides of the counter.
Grace is the oldest and the mother of sixteen-year-old
Audrey. She had Audrey while she was young, with a man who bailed when he found
out he would be a father. With the support of her family, Grace manages single
parenthood well. But as the story opens, she's ready to send Audrey to boot
camp or a convent. Audrey has been caught with contraband cigarettes and
alcohol on school property and refuses to say where it came from. Grace believes
in accountability, and Audrey isn't happy to find she's expected to work in the
shop from 3 a.m. to noon every day during spring break. I love Grace's
down-to-earth attitude and parenting style.
But Audrey isn't Grace's only problem. Three of their
oldest customers have invited a younger friend to try the doughnuts, with an
eye to buying Grace and the others out, building a factory, and taking the pastries
national. Travis is a handsome and charming man who doesn't give up easily, no
matter how often Grace tells him they won't sell. Complicating matters are the
sparks that fly between them.
Sarah has never been married and wants a family of her
own. She's spent a lot of time looking for love and finally found a man who
checks all her boxes. Everything comes crashing down when she discovers that he
hasn't been truthful with her. Brokenhearted, she wonders if she'll ever have
the family she longs for.
Meanwhile, Cousin Macy busily prepares for her upcoming
wedding to Neal. They have big plans for her cousins to buy her out while she
and Neal wait for him to be promoted to manager at the hotel where he works. Then
an unexpected encounter shows that he isn't what he claims to be, and Macy
joins her cousins in the love-lost ranks. And though Macy is the more spiritual
of the group, she has no trouble playing the part of an avenging angel on his
sorry hide. I laughed out loud at that scene and cheered her on.
Audrey is one of those teens who must learn things the
hard way. She wants to be popular and has ditched her old friends to hang out with
two of the school's queen bees. She has blinders on when it comes to those two
and doesn't see that she is being used. Grace gets nowhere when she tries to
point that out and suspects there will be trouble when it finally happens.
One of Audrey's former friends, Raelene, comes to Grace
looking for a job. The grandmother who raised her has died, and her mom has
left town with a boyfriend, leaving her behind. Grace's big heart steps up,
giving Raelene a job as a housekeeper for them and inviting her to move in. I
loved Raelene. She is a young woman who has had to grow up fast and has a good
head on her shoulders. But things going on in her life could upend everything
she's worked for.
Travis is an intriguing man. The head of his company, he
has a talent for selecting people who share his vision. His best friend,
Calvin, and oldest employee and friend, Delores, round out the trio that keeps
Butler Industries growing. Travis is a workaholic whose marriage crashed when
he and his equally workaholic wife grew apart. Grace had his attention from the
moment he walked into her shop and offered to buy her out. She turns him down
flat, both for the sale and for a date, but he isn't one to give up easily.
What he must decide is whether he is interested in buying her out for the
business or as a way to spend more time with her.
I enjoyed watching the fun as Audrey learned her lesson the
hard way. I liked the effect having Raelene around had on her once she got over
her snit fit. Once Audrey's eyes opened to her "friends" true natures,
she got that look in her eye that didn't bode well for them. I laughed at
Grace's sense of impending doom because she knew her daughter well. And when
that moment of reckoning came, it was a doozy. I loved how it turned out,
thanks partly to Raelene's intelligent actions.
Small towns being what they are, the gossip was out of
control after this. I loved seeing the three ladies decide it was the perfect
time to take the vacation they'd never had. Within hours the whole family was
on their way to Florida, and two weeks of rest and relaxation. Grace never
expected Travis to follow her down there, nor that she'd be so happy to see
him. Travis won my heart by including everyone in his plans while he was there.
He's a good man, and it shows in everything he does. But Grace is wary of
rushing into anything and is honest with Travis about her concerns.
I loved how the two weeks away gave each person a new
perspective on their past, present, and future. The two teens are given an opportunity
that could change the futures they thought they had in ways they'd never
imagined. The doughnut shop is no longer the be-all and end-all of the three
ladies' lives now that they've seen what a little life balance adds to their
lives. And Sarah and Macy discover it's never too late for love.
I always enjoy the variety of characters that populate the author's books. The three older men who come into the shop every day for their doughnut and coffee fix would fit in any small-town gathering place. Beezy, the honorary grandmother was a hoot with her joy of life, adventurousness, and sense of humor. I also liked her support for the family. The two so-called friends were spoiled brats and bullies, and I loved seeing them get their comeuppance. Their mothers were even worse. I liked what little I saw of Brock and Jimmy.
The epilogue was a grand wrap-up to the story. I loved seeing
where they were a year later. Some things were surprises, and some weren't, but
I loved them all.
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