JUST DESSERTS

Author: Barbara Bretton ISBN: 9780515144246 3/2008 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: JOVE

Once upon a time, Hayley believed that a good woman (her) could turn a bad boy (her ex) into a knight in shining armor (pure fantasy). Ten years of marriage to Michael Goldstein finally drummed the truth into her head. People don't change with time—they just become more of who they were to begin with... Hayley Goldstein should be jumping for joy. She's been offered the chance of a lifetime: to bake a cake for world-famous rock star Tommy Stiles. But why would such a celebrity send his big-time lawyer to her small-time South Jersey bakery? Hayley's had enough hard knocks in her life to always suspect the worst. She has a sneaking suspicion that this is about more than just cake... And lawyer Finn Rafferty has to admit she's right. The truth is, Hayley is Tommy's long-lost daughter, and the aging rocker wants to meet—and maybe spoil—Hayley and her daughter. With her world turned topsy-turvy, Hayley will need help letting down her guard and focusing on the things that matter most. And Finn may just be the man for the job . . .

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Remember the feeling that you get after just spending the day with friends, family, or both that you haven’t seen in a long time but have missed dearly? A feeling much like that was what I felt as I read Barbara Bretton’s newest novel, JUST DESSERTS. It was almost as if I knew the characters, that they were old friends of mine whose joys and heartaches became my own.

Hayley Maitland Goldstein is the divorced, single mother of fourteen year-old Lizzie and owner and head chef at Goldy’s Bakery in the small, South Jersey town of Lakeside. She bakes cookies and cakes but also has a growing side business in decorating specialty cakes for corporate shindigs, some even political. But one day all that changes as Finn Rafferty shows up at the door of Goldy’s, ready to sign a contract for a cake for celebrity rocker Tommy Stiles after party for a benefit that he is throwing. Hayley, a worrier by nature, doesn’t know when the other shoe will drop and is hesitant to sign on the dotted line, but her daughter insists and the deal is done. But little does Hayley know that her life is about to take a dramatic change.

For Tommy Stiles isn’t just a rock legend. No, he’s also Hayley’s father—the father that she never knew growing up because she was told by her mother, Jane, that she was conceived with a donor from a sperm bank. And as Finn sets up negotiations for the cake, he starts to wonder just how the fame that is approaching Hayley and Lizzie’s lives will affect the two ladies. Because the one thing that Finn didn’t count on was falling in love with the beautiful, quirky, worrisome baker. And though her heart has been mangled by her ex-husband, Hayley finds herself falling right back in love with Finn.

JUST DESSERTS is one of those novels that will leave a smile on your face and warmth in your heart after reading it. The characters, both leading and supporting, could be friends of yours, neighbors that you know, and that is what makes the novel so personable. With Hayley’s career in baking, the reader gets a bird’s eye view of just how much time and hard work goes into creating those sweet confections that go so fast a birthday parties. And Finn, both lawyer and friend to Tommy, bucks the conventional theory of all lawyers being less than great people, for a better description, as his emotional attachment to Hayley is palpable from their first meeting and only builds as the novel continues. Throw in the glamour and calamity that surrounds the life of a rock star, and there is more than enough going between the pages to keep the reader glued to the story until the very end.

So don’t miss out! Pick up your copy of Barbara Bretton’s JUST DESSERTS as soon as you can! This one will be sure to garner a special spot on keeper shelves everywhere!

Maame Kanbi