cafe

Another absolute delight in the Dropped Stitches series!  Becca Snyder, next to the youngest of the Sisterhood of the Dropped Stitches, does volunteer work at a shelter for homeless teens in the greater L.A. area; it will look good on her application to law school.  She's also fighting an attraction to the shelter's director, Mark Russo.  They have less than nothing in common, so why can't she get him off her mind? 

Beth Lindstrom is doing more than fixing up the abandoned cafe left to her by her aunt.  She's escaping from the threatening phone calls following the death of her husband in the car crash that nearly claimed both their lives as well as that of their daughter.  The last thing she wants is to get involved with ex-cop Joel McAllen, who has suffered through the death of his daughter and the subsequent acrimonious divorce from his wife.  He can never think of remarrying, of being responsible for a child again, but as things escalate in the terror campaign against Beth, he realizes he already is...

Essie Walker, new mom, loving wife, etc., is not thrilled when her brother Mark-o, pastor of their community church, strong-arms her into taking on the second-grade boys' Sunday school class.  It's bad enough to have moved from New Jersey to the Bay Area of California for her seemingly never there husband's job in IT without having to take on "the Doom Room."  The baby is teething, the ladies of the church all seem so perfect, and Essie is about to lose her mind!  After all, the boys of the Doom Room earned that nickname...  Can a suburban housewife who wants nothing more than to go back to work as a coach for women's track and field find happiness caring for a baby, two parents who suddenly seem to need more than their fair share of assistance, and interacting with the "perfect" mothers of the "perfect" little boys in her class?  Chances are that you'll laugh yourself silly reading this, the way I did!

Beth was looking for a fresh start and the inherited cafe in the middle of nowhere was her ticket to it.  As a young widow with a young daughter, starting over in a small town was just what she needed.  Especially since her late husband's killer was after her now.