I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Tyndale House Publishers. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
Brunch at Bittersweet Café by Carla Laureano Series: Supper Club #2
Published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. on February 5, 2019
Genres: Christian, Clean & Wholesome, Fiction, Romance, Women
Pages: 432
Source: Tyndale House Publishers
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From the RITA Award-winning author of Five Days in Skye comes a sweet, romantic treat that will leave you hungry for more.
Baker and pastry chef Melody Johansson has always believed in finding the positive in every situation, but seven years after she moved to Denver, she can't deny that she's stuck in a rut. One relationship after another has ended in disaster, and her classical French training is being wasted on her night job in a mediocre chain bakery. Then the charming and handsome private pilot Justin Keller lands on the doorstep of her workplace in a snowstorm, and Melody feels like it's a sign that her luck is finally turning around.
Justin is intrigued by the lively bohemian baker, but the last thing he's looking for is a relationship. His own romantic failures have proven that the demands of his job are incompatible with meaningful connections, and he's already pledged his life savings to a new business venture across the country--an island air charter in Florida with his sister and brother-in-law.
Against their better judgment, Melody and Justin find themselves drawn together by their unconventional career choices and shared love of adventure. But when an unexpected windfall provides Melody with the chance to open her dream bakery-café in Denver with her best friend, chef Rachel Bishop, she's faced with an impossible choice: stay and put down roots with the people and place she's come to call home . . . or give it all up for the man she loves.
If you remember (I don’t necessarily expect you to) it’s been just days over 11 months ago when I first gushed over this author. ‘The Saturday Night Supper Club‘ was my first Carla Laureano book. I vowed then it wouldn’t be my last. And here we are! And guess what? I absolutely loved this book as well. Melody is a train wreck, not necessarily in a disaster way, but definitely a train wreck. A slew of failed, intense yet failed, relationships. A stream of abandoned jobs, mostly due to failed relationships, that keeps her from following her true passion. And two ‘drop everything and meet’ best friends who have the ability to make things better. Not that they always do but the power is there.
Melody, more so than Rachel, is so very relatable. Not that Rachel wasn’t but Laureano created something in Melody that goes beyond just understanding. She managed to weave a perfectly flawed, minorly broken, person who has lived her life with all the good and bad. She’s not shamed for having lived with her former boyfriends. She’s not shamed from having a touch and go relationship with God. She’s just a person, living her life, building her dreams, and just trying to find her next right thing. We need more Christian fiction like this. More that focuses more on the person than the sins, so to speak. More that is a reminder that what we have done is not who we are. I think if there was more fiction like this then there would be more Christians like this. We are so busy judging each other and judging ourselves for our (their) sins that we forget we are all just human beings trying to do the next right thing. We forget that we all, even Job, struggle with our faith at times. Melody is such an example of truly just trying to do the next right thing.
There were a few little hiccups for me with this book though, more so than the first one. I did got bogged down in the food descriptions. Sometimes I felt like it was talking over me, if that makes sense. I would have appreciated this if there had been more description for understanding it would have made a difference between kinda annoying and totally OK by adding to the story. I saw the judgemental side of Rachel and Ana that I didn’t see in the last book. Judgemental toward Justin and his career and his faith. I didn’t see that so much from Ana and Melody toward Alex ya know? I mean, if I did I don’t remember. I’m sticking with that version of events. This book is all finding your niche in the world, whether it be wasting talents at a chain bakery or buying your own charter flight business. It’s about building the career of your dreams of finding your dreams aren’t necessarily tied up in your career. It’s about more than just first impressions and second thoughts. I didn’t get bogged down in the romance (thank you!). Overall, this is the perfect book to spend a cozy weekend.
About Carla Laureano
Carla Laureano is the RITA® Award-winning author of contemporary inspirational romance and Celtic fantasy (as C.E. Laureano). A graduate of Pepperdine University, she worked as a sales and marketing executive for nearly a decade before leaving corporate life behind to write fiction full-time. She currently lives in Denver with her husband and two sons, where she writes during the day and cooks things at night.
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