Blurb:
Laura Senton has found peace and happiness,
knowing she’s right where she belongs, running her own kitchen at A Piece of
Heaven, a Christian coffee house in Pingree, MD. Being partners with her dear
friend, Trina, she has carved out a niche and counts her blessings daily for
being able to do something she loves doing. When the sins of her past are
brought to mind by the appearance of Sean Laylor, her teenage crush, Laura
tries to hide from Sean, as well as her own feelings.
At first not recognizing Laura because she
changed so much, Sean is at a loss as to why she tries to avoid him. He has no
idea of what Laura went through years ago, or how she felt toward him, but he
still feels a share of the guilt for her past once he learns some of the choices she made.
Both covet the memories of their time
together, but sins of the past can be a tough hurdle to get over.
Extract:
Trina’s
voice carried in over the sounds of the crowd.
Laura
set four salads onto the tray to fill the next order while she hummed along
with the song. She loved this version. How amazing God’s grace really was. Not
even a year since they opened the doors to A Piece of Heaven and
already they were talking about expansion. Well, Jared was talking about
expansion, probably because he would be doing the construction. But Trina, as
usual, was dragging her feet. Getting that girl to commit to change was about as
quick as tapping sap from a maple tree.
And
Laura knew just how quick that was. After growing up in Vermont with forty
maple trees to tap, she had learned patience when she was young, patience she
had needed as she grew up.
Lise
swept into the kitchen next and grabbed her dressings out of the fridge. “Can I
have the bowl of chowder now, please? They want it with their salad.”
“How
are you holding up tonight?” Laura asked as she ladled chowder into a bowl and
turned to set it on the tray, placing a sprig of parsley on top and a crust of
bread beside it.
Lise
had only been with them for a few weeks and this was definitely a trial by
fire.
“I’m
OK,” she answered. “I’ve seen worse. The last place I worked was like this
almost all the time, but I had to dodge grabbing hands while I delivered meals.
That was the worst.” She laughed as she lifted the tray and headed for the
door. “So, as long as I don’t have to worry about that part, I can handle busy,
no sweat. Plus it’s not like this all the time, so—piece of cake.”
“No, silly. A Piece of Heaven,” she said and laughed.
My
Review:
As Ms. Snow once again opens the doors of A Piece of Heaven she gives us another glimpse of life in a small town where everyone knows everyone and what everyone is doing. But when Sean walks back in he doesn't immediately recognise Laura who has changed over the years. But she knows him, and knows that she's changed more than he realises. After he left, in her mind spurning her all those years ago, she fell into a downward spiral from which she thought there was no recovery.
A wonderful read, this one kept me gripped to the pages wanting to know what happens next. A lovely example of how God keeps us all in His care and how second chances are never beyond our reach.
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