This summer I played catch-up with my reading (remember? I read 16 novels in 3 weeks!). I had read books 1 and 2 of Brenda Anderson’s “Where the Heart Is” series, Risking Love and Capturing Beauty, and had saved Planting Hope, book 3, for my summer in Northern Minnesota, where the series takes place!
The tagline for this novel is “When flowers and chocolate collide, love is sure to bloom,” and that certainly caught my eye. I’m sitting there, reading her book, in a cabin in Northern Minnesota, and get a text from Brenda in the Minneapolis area. We made arrangements to meet the next week, and when she told me that the candy store in Planting Hope was inspired by a real family-owned candy store on the North Shore of Lake Superior, not twenty miles from where we were meeting, I knew we had to go.
Here’s the back-cover copy from Planting Hope:
Family has always been the one constant in Jess Beaumont’s messy life, so when her parents separate, she puts “Operation: Planting Hope” into action. All she has to do is recreate the circumstances that helped her parents fall in love. Unfortunately, that includes the daunting task of restoring the family cabin’s gardens. When the handsome candy store owner shows up to help, she’s certain she has all the elements required for her parents’ love to bloom again. After all, flowers and chocolate are the perfect ingredients for romance.
Luke Harrison has spent his life trying to win his father’s approval, and a promotion in the family land development business would be a step in that direction. But when he inherits Gran’s candy store, his dreams of being promoted start melting away. Then his dad dangles a Vice President position in front of Luke, with one caveat—acquires the land on both sides of Gran’s store within five months, including the Beaumont cabin, and the promotion is his.
What at first seemed a simple challenge for Luke becomes a tangled mess. Buying the Beaumont cabin and land will nip his blossoming romance with Jess in the bud. Even worse, it could end her parents’ marriage. But if he doesn’t succeed, he could be trading in his corner office for the corner candy store.
Stacy Monson, Me, and Brenda Anderson at the Great! Lakes Candy Kitchen.
I asked Brenda how the candy store inspired her, and she said that when she walked into the Great! Lakes Candy Kitchen in Knife River, MN, there was an attractive young man who waited on her, and immediately the wheels started turning and she knew there could be a story there. It always starts with that magical “what if?”
Jess and Luke, as with all of Brenda’s fictional characters, are so real from the beginning. Brenda doesn’t do one-dimensional characters. They have hurts, habits, and hang-ups that they’re desperately trying to put behind them, and it’s through God’s grace and faith in Him that they get through the trials that beset them, seemingly from every side.
Read all three books in the “Where the Heart Is” series, as well as Brenda’s other books. You’ll be so glad you did!! I know I am!
Have a great weekend – snuggle up with a good book!
Love this, Regina! Thanks for featuring the series and for your kind words about my stories. 🙂
Even more, though, I loved spending the day with you and Stacy (and eating chocolate)! Just let us know when you’re back in Minnesota!
I definitely will!! Hugs, my friend!