Title: Happy Ever After at the Second Chances Sweet Shop (Book 8)
Author: Hannah Lynn
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Source: Rachel’s Random Resources/Netgalley
Blurb: After difficult times, Holly is finally adjusting to her new normal. Her daughter Hope is happy, she’s created a beautiful home, and an unexpected offer may mean fantastic opportunities for her sweet shop, Just One More.
But her sense of calm is shattered when best friend Giles drops a bombshell – a proposal to Sienna, a woman Holly barely knows and who isn’t right for Giles at all.
For Giles’s sake, she tries to make peace with Sienna, throwing herself into wedding planning. But as everyone else cheers on the ‘happy’ couple, Holly’s left questioning whether her doubts are about them – or about something in her own heart…
Review: The eighth book is probably a bad place to start with a series. However, I’ve come in late with others and not had many problems. Sadly, the same cannot be said for this instalment of the Holly Berry Sweet Shop series – you really do need to have read the previous ones to have any idea what’s going on at first. I did eventually find my balance, but I still didn’t gel with the story.
First off is Holly. I understand being close to someone and not realising that your feelings go deeper. Holly has also had heartbreak, which makes her put her head in the sand even more. I’ll note that her hurt is not explained in this book – all you know is his name was Evan and he’s dead. No idea how or why.
Anyway, Holly. She has a child, but not with Evan. There was a one-night-stand (I think) with another guy, but they still get on and share childcare duties. He’s got married and Holly is friends with his wife. In fact, she has a tight circle of friends, most of whom have paired off.
She’s supposed to be 40, if I recall correctly, but her behaviour is very immature. She absolutely refuses to entertain that she might feel more towards Giles than friendship. Her friends are awful about this – seeing how well Holly and Giles get on but pussy-footing around the subject after Giles announces his engagement.
As Happy Ever After at the Second Chances Sweet Shop is only told from Holly’s POV, you don’t get to know how Giles met Sienna. Unless that’s in another book. Typical for romances lately, the “other woman” is a complete bitch. Shallow as a puddle with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Without the backstory, one is left wondering why Giles is dating her, never mind proposing.
And here is my problem with this book: there are mentions over and over of things that have happened in others, but no context for the story. It’s a shame because, Holly’s weird blinkeredness aside, the writing is really good. I kept reading because of that… and in the hope that someone would slap Sienna.
There is very little action in the sweet shop that the title mentions. Very little sense of place (the Cotswolds, apparently) and this lack is disappointing. I like to lose myself in a romance and I just couldn’t do that.
However, I will note again that I have not read the other books. Read in order, I might feel somewhat differently. If you haven’t read this series, I definitely recommend starting at the beginning!
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