The Devine Doughnut Shop

by Carolyn Brown

Anyone who has traveled across Texas by car knows that most small towns in Texas have a doughnut shop. It’s a standard! Devine, Texas, an actual town near San Antonio, in this novel boasts the most divine doughnuts in the area. They are made in  small batches from a secret recipe passed down through four generations of Devine women who are a “family of sisters.” 

Grace and Sarah are biological sisters and their cousin Macy is like a third sister. The three women, who also live together in a house near the shop, are up at three o’clock six days a week making their delicious doughnuts.

All of the these women have suffered shattered romantic relationships ranging from a bad boy spouse who couldn’t stay around to parent his newborn, to a boyfriend who lied about his marriage, to a serial con man. In The Devine Doughnut Shop, the reader watches as some of these disasters unfold.

Grace’s teenage daughter Aubrey is beset with her own trust issues in her desire to be popular. She is used by a group of “mean girls” and foolishly casts off her old friends. One of those friends, Raelene, is herself abandoned by her own mother just a few months before her high school graduation. She finds herself without a home or food and in danger of losing the college scholarship she has worked for.

The mean girls have moms who spoil them and were obviously bullies themselves in high school. Now they are vicious gossipers who excel in and celebrate making others miserable.

All of the characters have trust issues to overcome. Grace finds herself oddly attracted to a successful businessman with a good heart. Married to his job, Travis is surprised by his attraction to this hard-working, no nonsense mother of a teenager who won’t sell either her business or the secret recipe. Is he really interested in Grace or does he just see her as a stepping stone to another business deal? What will it take for these characters to turn their lives around and begin to trust in love again?

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 5/5

Category: General Fiction, Romance

Notes: Standalone

Publication:  February 14, 2023—Mountlake

Memorable Lines:

She was wearing a five-dollar thrift store dress, but she was riding in a modern-day golden chariot, and she had to admit that the excitement bouncing around in the back of the limo was contagious.

“The way to a man’s heart might be through his stomach, but the way to a woman’s heart is through her family.”

“Honey, I’m swimming with the dolphins.” Beezy held up her tote bag. “I’ve got my bathing suit right here, and I don’t give a rip if my hair gets wet. At my age, we got to do what we can when we can, because tomorrow we might be too old and decrepit to even feed ourselves.”