enjoyed this book as much as the first, Sisters working together to solve their problems, not waiting for a rich man to swoop in and bail them out of course he's really hot.
A little bit of the supernatural to make this book different from the other,
I hope Mary Ellen Taylor writes more about the Bakery!,This is the sequel to The Union Street Bakery, Daisy is nervous about their major remodeling project at the bakery as it requires closing and a loss of revenue, During the process, they find a box of recipe cards and several personal items, The mystery behind the woman who wrote the cards becomes a touchstone for the sisters as each begins a new chapter in their lives.
Rachel is venturing into the world of romance with two potential love interests, while balancing her life with the twins, Margaret has gone on to a dream archaeology project, and Daisy is dealing with a life changing event that may ruin her chances to reconnect with Gordon.
The book reveals the story from the past as well as the evolving stories of the sisters as an act of kindness leads them to a new business opportunity that may benefit them all.
SWEET EXPECTATIONS by Mary Ellen Taylor was a charming read from the inviting front cover makes you want to curl up with a cup of coffee or tea, grab a bistro table, something sweet, and a good bookfor a few relaxing hours, to the ending! love the new plans for becoming more than just a bakery!
I read the first book in the series Union Street Bakery highly recommendthe book continues with challenges from Daisys characteradopted at ageby the McCraes owners of the bakery when she was left by her biological mother to some new ventures in small town of Alexandria.
In the previous book, Daisy returns home to help with the finances and management of the bakery as her parents have retired to help her two sisters Margaret and Rachel.
After Daisys big finance job in Washington ends and no money she finds herselfmonths pregnant and single from a drunken night before she moved back to her roots with a guy who is not father material.
She is getting accustomed to her new simple life full of hard work and upcoming renovations at the bakery, she finds her ex fiancé Gordon opens a bike shop down the street, and she has a ghost named Jenna urging her to find her former ex fiancé and her child who died at birth.
The hunt heats up during the renovation when they find a recipe box with scrumptious recipes and dog tags,
Not only was she shell shocked to be living in an attic, doing manual labor, now she finds herself single and pregnant and feels she has lost all hope of getting back together with Gordon.
Rachel, the sister mother of twins who lost her husband a year or so ago, experiences growth and confidence with her sisters guidance she has two guys Jean Paul the new French baker and a finance executive, and of course Margaret the other sister, an archeologist is busy at her digs.
The book was full of humor, romance, history, and mystery, Daisy is slowly finding she likes the bakery, the work, family, and is letting down her guard to show emotions and excited about researching Jennas past who formerly worked at the bakery years ago.
The story intertwines with her own past and present situation, She meets colorful older characters rich in history in rest homes to connect as she puts the pieces of the puzzle together,
I wanted the book to continue, it is the kind of book you dread ending as you fall in love with the characters in this charming town.
I hope Mary Ellen is planning on a third book in the series to keep the characters alive,
Dying to see how the new wine cellar will fare, possibly some cheese and other delectable, and other ways to grow the business Gordon/Daisy new life, and possibly a romance between Rachel and John Paul I think he will be a better choice than Simon however, would be fun to see how it plays out.
Maybe there is more about Terrys past to explore and Daisys biological father Also other plans for the bakery with mail order and other corporate ideas to keep them from working too hard and getting to enjoy some fun RampR! Maybe there is a story of the two teens who now work at the bakery and their momummmm worth a few more books.
Love the way the author seamlessly combines the new with the old past and present with some interesting generational stories you will want to relivealso some great recipes for the holiday season! Look forward to more from this author love her writing style!
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stars
As much as I wanted to finish reading about Daisy, this book has been slow going for me, Isnt holding my attention and Im skimming, I really wanted to find out whos box it was they found, and how things played out with Daisy and Gordon, I cant keep reading a book that Im skimming or not holding my attention,.I read this because I felt invested in the characters after reading the first book, These books have potential but are a real
step down from the author's other books, Unfortunately, I feel that there was a total lack of editing, I cringed my way through the bad writing, On the upside, these are the author's earlier books, Thankfully, her editing improved dramatically in her more recent books, Partea a doua a povestii a fost mai slaba decat prima, desi misterul pe care Daisy il are de rezolvat iti mentine atentia pe parcursul cartii.
Este extrem de previzibila, personajele nu impresioneaza cu mai nimic si ce parea urgent ca Daisy sa descopere nu a dus la nimic extraordinar.
Povestea putea foarte bine sa ramana la primul volum scris, I loved Sweet Expectations, even more than the first book in this series,
Daisy McCrea is still running the bakery, but she finds out that the terrible experience with Roger Trayler left her pregnant, At first, she thought that she was sick with the flu but but the tests showed that it had to be that time with Roger.
What a mess! Her friendship with Gordon could not take this surprise, But Daisy is determined to be as good a mother as she to her unexpected child,
The Bakery has to have renovations, the brick oven must be repaired and in order for the bakery to make a profit, there is a great need more area to handle the planned catering.
Margret gets the job of her dreams, is going to the new archealogical dig not too far off, Rachel gets really stressed out, Daisy and Rachel have a lot of tourmoil,
Then during the renovacations, a very old recipe box is found and more discoveries are revealed,
A lot of emotion and bonding in this second book and some the passages made me cry, I hope that you will be able to read both exciting books,. Daisy McCrae knows that change can be suddenand devastating, And while it doesnt have to be a bad thing, change has the power to turn your whole world upside down,
Running the family bakery and living in the stores attic might not be Daisys dream life, but shes beginning to understand what being content feels like.
And then she gets some unexpected news, In one moment, Daisys calm existence turns into chaos, Now shes struggling to keep it together, especially with renovations at the bakery spiraling out of control,
But when a box of recipes and mementos is found hidden behind a wall in the bakery, Daisy suddenly has something to cling toa mystery that echoes her own troubles and gives her the opportunity to figure out what she really wants out of life.
In Sweet Expectations by Mary Ellen Taylor, after a fast paced, financially rewarding career in finance comes to an end, Daisy is back in her hometown, back at the family business.
The family bakery is suffering in the economy too, and Daisy is determined to help revive it,
Daisy is in for a lot of surprises in Sweet Expectations, . . between renovations of the bakery, finding a long lost recipe box and the meaning behind it, and trying to rebuild a relationship with her ex boyfriend Gordon, Daisy doesn't think much else could possibly happen! But it does and Daisy is going to have to deal with not only the expected, but the unexpected.
With her entire future completely up in the air, Daisy is going to have to accept what's happening and be strong,
Daisy might come across as a bit rigid at times, but she's soon going to realize life doesn't always go as you planned, and Daisy turns out to be amazingly although sometimes grudgingly! flexible.
I loved the surprises and the relationships both past and present that Mary Ellen Taylor gives us in Sweet Expectations, You see what you expect isn't always what you'll get, . . sometimes it's sweeter. Daisy was a fun character who didn't always do what you thought she'd do, she was really fun to read about, She has a lot of depth to her character, . . and we could really see how long past events affect who she is today,
I don't usually like reading books written in the first person POV, but I found it fascinating and so interesting how Mary Ellen Taylor manages to switch from Daisy's first person POV to her sister Rachel's third person POV so effortlessly! I enjoyed reading Rachel's thoughts and loved following her story too.
There are a lot of interesting secondary characters in Sweet Expectations, Jean Paul, the baker, really added a lot of spice to Sweet Expectations and if there is a follow up book I'd love to read more about him! He sounds like someone I wouldn't mind spending more time with!!
After I read Sweet Expectations I found out it is the second book in The Union Street Bakery series.
Sweet Expectations can definitely be read as a stand alone book, . . I'm just hoping there is another one!
I'd recommend Sweet Expectations to any romance reader, . . it's exciting, funny, romantic and hopeful, .