cover image A Slice of Summer

A Slice of Summer

Melissa McClone. Tule, $3.99 e-book (280p) ASIN B092LY5L8G

McClone’s scrumptious second Silver Falls romance (after The Christmas Window) finds Taryn Lawson working to prove to her distrusting father that she’s the best person to run her family’s bakeshop. But a rival bakery, which seems to have access to the Lawson recipes and marketing plan, is undercutting Lawson’s prices and stealing customers, making Taryn’s task that much harder. Her solution is to win best booth in Silver Falls’s annual summer festival. But when she retrieves the booth’s design elements from storage, they’re ruined—and she has just a matter of days to recreate them. Enter hotshot L.A. lawyer Garrett Andrews, who’s back in town for his sister’s wedding. Garrett and Taryn grew close over the Christmas holidays, and Taryn’s furious at him for ghosting her upon his return to L.A.—though it turns out he had a good reason. Garrett is the only one who has time to help Taryn rebuild, and the pair reconnect. But Garrett’s visit has a built-in end date—can their relationship survive another goodbye? Taryn’s insecurities are as believable as the steadily building love between her and Garrett is convincing. With a surprising reveal of the bakery’s saboteur, a heaping helping of stellar supporting characters, and a dash of small-town charm, this is a winning recipe for romance.[em] (July) [/em]