The Second Chance Cafe (Hope Springs #1) by Alison Kent

The Second Chance Cafe (Hope Springs #1)
by Alison Kent
Published March 5th 2013 by Montlake Romance

review courtesy of Netgalley

Growing up, Kaylie Flynn was shuffled from foster home to foster home before being welcomed into Winton and May Wise’s family. It was May who taught Kaylie the comfort of home, and the healing power of baking the perfect brownie. Years later, May leaves Kaylie the money she needs to open her own café in the charming Victorian house they once shared. Now back in Hope Springs, Kaylie’s determined to finally make all her dreams a reality—and unearth answers to lingering questions about her past.

Soon, however, Kaylie’s carefully laid plans take an unexpected turn. The house needs far more work than she realized, and Tennessee Keller, the carpenter Kaylie hires, is proving to be a very handsome and very unneeded distraction from her quest to uncover the truth about her parents. When a crisis threatens to destroy everything she’s worked so hard to build, Kaylie must decide where her heart lies: with the ghosts of her past or the love and promise of her future.

My Thoughts:
I have been looking forward to reading Second Chance Cafe. I have read several of Alison Kent's books and enjoy her writing style.

Time heals all wounds. Several of the characters had some internal demons at work: guilt, regret and secrets. There are several subplots in the storyline, some where tidied up at the end, but some left you wanting more- hopefully to be explored in future books in this series.

The characters were well developed, the author created a realistic town, everyone seemed to know each other, I chuckle as I write this, the one thing you didn't find is the town gossiper. The secrets and past of these characters developed on their own without the help of some snitch creating "drama".

I cried and cheered for Kaylie. She may not have had the typical two parent upbringing, but growing up with her foster family(Wise's) filled the void. I loved the fact that Alison Kent showed that foster care can difficult but a rewarding job. It is a labor of love.  I liked the play on words of the name of her restaurant- Two Owls Cafe, her foster family name - Wise, both offering Kaylie their "wisdom."

Strong bonds of friendship were built or we saw them strengthen in this book from Luna, to Dolly, to Mitch and Indy. These were people that I can picture in my own life and they came to life before my eyes.

The romance is a slow bloom, more time spent building a foundation and friendship. .. the emotional involvement in the characters was not as intense as I would have expected. The characters interactions with each other were leading up to a sizzling scene but the author took a soft sex experience, in my opinion.

I want to learn more about Luna, Will and Ten's brother and sister-Dakota and Indiana. At the end of this book, the readers got a glimpse of the next book in this series, Beneath the Patchwork Moon, set to come out September 2013.  I will be one of the first in line for this one.

edited March 7th.... Special Thanks to Melissas Midnight Musings and her comment ...

I love romance book with food as a center..and thanks for reminding me... one thing I did not mention, so I will need to edit my post,  was there are scrumptious Brownie recipes... I can't wait to try them...
She even created one with Ten in mind, all the dark and sinful things..  :)  LOL

My Rating: