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Their Surprise Reunion–being gentle with her heart
Their Surprise Reunion
by Shelley Shepard Gray
Kayla Harding holds on to her self-respect during the hardest of times—when her husband of three years wants a divorce, when the divorce leaves her financially and emotionally devastated despite her husband’s affair being the cause of the split, and when she is literally hungry because her salary as a part-time clerk at a card shop won’t cover the most basic of expenses. Swallowing her pride she resorts to a food bank at Loaves of Love where clients and volunteers also make bread for the needy.
Sean Copeland volunteers at Loaves of Love where he meets up with Kayla and they recognize each other. They had attended the same small high school. He was a football star, and now he is assistant coach and teacher at Medina. He assumes that, like him, Kayla is at Loaves of Love as a volunteer, and she is too embarrassed to correct him.
Their Surprise Reunion takes the reader through their backgrounds and their current home situations. Sean is a widower with an adorable six year old son and a supportive extended family. Kayla’s boss has perfected meanness in her leadership style with lots of gaslighting and ultimatums. Read this romance to watch the pair struggle through the need to be honest about their pasts and their feelings for each other. Kayla is sweet and kind, and Sean treats her with the respect she has always deserved, but rarely received. The story is touching, and the characters are worthy of a happy ending. Read Their Surprise Reunion to see if the pair gets one.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: General Fiction, Romance
Notes: 1. #1 in A Matchmaker Knows Best
2. Clean
Publication: April 29, 2025—Harlequin Heartwarming
Memorable Lines:
“Personal problems don’t give folks the right to take out their bad moods on everyone else, though.”
Making someone else’s life easier was a gift that kept on giving.
The Christmas Calendar Girls–an advent calendar that helps others
The Christmas Calendar Girls
by Samantha Tonge
Fern, Davina, and Cara bond over children who attend the same school in Birchwood Estate. With different personalities and strengths they value each other rather than hold jealousies. In The Christmas Calendar Girls by Samantha Tonge, the ladies work together to save the food bank that is a lifeline for so many in the community, from the addict to the unemployed parent struggling to provide.
It’s the busy Christmas season and late to begin a project to raise money, but Fern has an idea to save the food bank and engender community spirit and good will. Her friends jump on board to help.
All is not smooth sailing, however, with the project and its changing deadlines or in the “calendar girls’ ” personal lives. Fern is a widowed journalist trying to find a new normal for herself and her daughter Lily. Perhaps she is ready to have a relationship again. Kit, a former client of the food bank, stirs her heart, but is he ready for romance? Davina has always been close to her twin boys, but the more sensitive of the two begins pulling away and the pair get into a fight at school. Cara is fantastic with food, very creative, and a doting, stay-at-home mom. Suddenly she seems to have lost it all as she burns foods, uses the wrong ingredients, and forgets school notices and weather appropriate clothing for her kids. She fears the onset of early dementia.
Watching these characters grow as they lean on each other and gradually reveal their secrets and rooting for them as they try to help those less fortunate, makes for a gentle, interesting, and inspiring story. Birchwood Estate will never be the same.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Aria for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance, Women’s Fiction
Publication: October 3, 2019—Aria
Memorable Lines:
That’s what Cara’s homely place was like…If it was a person it would have been a welcoming aunt, who always had your favorite biscuits in and never forgot to send birthday money.
“Bringing everyone together, friends and family, over food and drink, with the purpose of helping people facing difficult times…your idea really does encapsulate everything that the festive season should be about.”
Sometimes I worried I’d never meet another man. I didn’t need one to look after myself and Lily. But I wanted the company. The closeness. I missed that.
education pathways 