Sandy M’s review of Second Chance at the Sugar Shack by Candis Terry
Contemporary Paranormal Romance published by Avon Impulse 9 Aug 11

My luck with debut authors seems to be turning lately. This is the second book in a week by a first-time-published author that has charmed me and given me a good time while reading. And who doesn’t love a story that revolves around pies, cakes, and all other kinds of sweet stuff? You’re definitely in for a treat with this one.

Always being the polar opposite of her mother in temperament and creativity, Kate disappeared from home in Deer Lick, Montana, right after high school. She’d received a scholarship to attempt to make her dream of becoming a Hollywood stylist come true. And she does succeed at that. Dressing the cream of the crop from musicians to film stars, Kate’s like is a whirlwind day and night taking care of spoiled people who care nothing for anyone but themselves. Until she gets a call from her dad with bad news. Her mother has passed away. Going back to a place where she’d had more bad times than good isn’t on her foreseeable future list, but Kate knows her family needs her.

Matt has come a long way from being the boy from the wrong side of the tracks to the man he now is. He’s a deputy running for sheriff and contemplating marrying one of the eligible ladies in town to make sure he wins the election. But then he runs into Kate Silverthorne and all the heartbreak and anger returns in full force. And what the hell is with these other feelings of tenderness and lust at the same time? He can’t lose focus. His future depends on marrying the right woman, so his dating each lady on his list begins.

Conceding she’s the only one of her siblings who can stay with their dad and help out in the Sugar Shack, Kate at first cringes at the smell of sugar and flour flung everywhere. But when her mother appears to her as Kate drives around in her mom’s old Buick – and Tom Jones sings on the radio – something begins to change between them as Kate’s understanding of her mom’s supposed disappointment in her youngest daughter alters after each mother-daughter chat. But it’s Matt who she’ll never understand. The man is giving mixed signals like nobody’s business, and she wishes he’d stick with kissing her senseless instead of pushing her away. The longer Kate stays in Deer Lick (which her assistant has no respect for, calling it everything – Deer Spit, Deer Poop – but its proper name), the more she realizes life wasn’t as bad as she thought, and she begins to make a new life for herself, happy to leave the old, lonely one behind. But Hollywood has a different idea and can’t leave her alone.

I really enjoyed both of these characters. They had such a lovely relationship when they were young, but life always has a way of throwing you off track when you least expect it, as Matt finds out when Kate doesn’t even say good-bye to him when she leaves. I really felt for him when the past would rear up and hit him smack in the chest after she returns home and he would remember what happened all those years ago. When Kate finds out what she truly left behind, her perceptions of the history with both Matt and her mother take on a different light, as well as how she now sees Deer Lick and the folks who love it. And, of course, when Matt also begins to see things differently, acknowledges he’s always loved Kate, well, his dates go wrong and he now has to look at his life and his future with a whole new mindset. As does Kate. She reworks the Sugar Shack, behind the counter and in front of it. Deer Lick doesn’t know what’s about to hit it.

This is a charming and heartwarming read. I hope you’ll take the time to know these folks and immerse yourself in their story. Aren’t you ready for some sweetness today?

Grade: B+

Summary:

Kate Silver’s back in town, and her dead mother just won’t leave her alone.

Kate usually spends her days dressing Hollywood A-listers, but after her estranged mother dies she finds herself elbow-deep in flour in her parents’ bakery in Deer Lick, Montana. She thought she’d left small town life far, far behind, but it seems there are a few loose ends.

The boy she once loved, Deputy Matt Ryan, is single and sexy and still has a thing for her – and handcuffs.

Her mother, who won’t follow the white light, is determined to give maternal advice from beyond the grave.

And somehow Kate’s three-day stay has, well – extended. She never planned to fill her mother’s pie-baking shoes – she prefers her Choos, thank you very much. But with the help of a certain man in uniform, Kate quickly learns that sometimes second chances are all the more sweet.

Read an excerpt.