Bittersweet
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4.5 • 29 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
This tale of a man and woman brought together by an abandoned newborn “impressively mixes traumatic history, gritty reality, and resilient hope”(Publishers Weekly).
In Benevolence, Washington, the Lamont family’s luscious handmade chocolates are a beloved tradition—and the sweetest of comforts. And for the most reserved of the three Lamont sisters, they’re a much-needed way to challenge the past, rekindle hope—and make happiness for a lifetime.
Caring family and friends, tranquil streets—ex-prosecutor Willow Lamont wishes these could make her feel truly at home. She’s back to help her grandfather manage Chocolate Haven, a long-held dream come true. But she’s struggling to make their unique fudge—and to cope with a secret trauma that haunts her. Yet when she finds an abandoned baby who breaks her heart wide open, she wonders how long she can hide her emotions—especially from warm, handsome, and way too nosey Deputy Sheriff Jax Gordon.
Always an outsider, Jax knows more than he should about loss. But he didn’t expect his difficult search for baby “Miracle’s” mother would reveal such a vulnerable side to the accomplished, beautiful woman he’s always admired. Earning Willow’s trust is the hardest thing he’s ever had to do. Yet between her honesty and courage, he’s longing to fill her life with rekindled joy—and a forever of irresistible love.
Praise for Shirlee McCoy’s Sweet Haven
“Fans of Debbie Macomber will appreciate McCoy’s sweet, funny, heartwarming romance with its friendly, small-town setting.” —Booklist
“A delicious small-town treat.” —Library Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
McCoy (Sweet Haven) impressively mixes traumatic history, gritty reality, and resilient hope in the final book of the Home Sweet Home contemporary trilogy, which can be read as a standalone. Willow Lamont, the oldest of three sisters, is lured home 15 years after leaving Benevolence, Wash., and the chocolate shop everyone assumed she'd take over. She's become a prosecutor instead, but grudgingly agrees to help out while the shop's proprietor, her grandfather, convalesces. The setup, which has fueled the previous two books, wears thin, and McCoy wisely goes light on its repetitions. The focus is family trauma of a different kind. An early morning knock leads Willow to call 911, and Deputy Jax Gordon responds. They find an abandoned newborn by a trash bin and enter the tangled bureaucracies of social services and criminal investigation. Jax's family was murdered when he was 11, and he recognizes signs of past trauma in Willow's shadowed eyes. Unwilling to tempt fate by seeking happiness together, both will nevertheless gladly fight for baby Miracle's future. McCoy writes some haunting descriptions of orphaned Jax, Miracle's miserable mother, and the damage caused by fundamentalist, off-the-grid patriarchs such as Jax's father, but the pervasive theme is that happiness is always possible. Most subplots come to rest but aren't fully resolved, and three brothers living in the town are poised to continue the Benevolence saga.
