About the Book
Book: The Sweet LifeAuthor: Suzanne Woods Fisher
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release date: May 3, 2022
Jilted by her fiancé, Dawn Dixon escapes to beautiful Cape Cod on a groomless honeymoon–with her mother. But she didn’t expect her mom to risk everything, on a whim, to move there permanently or buy a rundown ice cream shop in need of repair. In order to make their new life work, they’ll also need her ex’s help.
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My Thoughts:
When life keeps throwing curve ball after curve ball, what do you do? Well in Marnie
Dixon's carefree way of life you buy an ice cream shop. Not just any, but one with
historical value even if bringing life back into it will be next to impossible. Marnie is not
on her own. She has her daughter Dawn as well who has walked through the same
trials and tribulations.
Dawn, a planner all the way, is less than thrilled when her mother on the spur of
the moment buys this rundown shop. While they are on vacation no less, which was
supposed to be Dawn’s honeymoon. Not only did her father die in an accident,
but she just found out about her mom’s health, and her fiancé broke up with her
two months before the wedding.
But Marnie might have a crazy good idea. Will it work? Who knows, but Dawn needs
a distraction, and she also sees that her mom does too. So, she and her mom dig
in and hope they can make the ice cream shop a go. What neither of them realize,
is this might just be the very blessing they needed. A blessing that comes with its
own trials.
I liked this sweet story of a mother and daughter’s relationship. As they try to
maneuver a new path that life has unexpectedly thrown at them. Both need to
come to the realization that they have new dreams opening before them after
accepting the past and moving on. The faith is subtle and shown in real life ways.
This shows how one can slip away from God, but how He is always waiting for them
return. And the romance was a pleasant surprise, and I quite liked the journey the
author took us on. It was bittersweet, but almost perfect.
I was provided a copy of this novel from the publisher. I was not required to post a
positive review and all views and opinions are my own.
About the Author
More from Suzanne
The Sweet Life is a story about a mom and a daughter who, both in need of a little respite from life’s bumps and bruises, start an ice cream shop on Cape Cod…thinking it will be easy. After all, who doesn’t love ice cream?
Well, sure. That’s true. Everybody loves ice cream. But ice cream can be tricky. This I can say with authority. My husband is a serious hobby ice cream maker. He even attended Penn State’s Ice Cream School. While Steve was working on his vanilla recipe, he experimented fifty-nine times before he was finally satisfied. 59 times! Other flavors, like chocolate, can mask mistakes. Not vanilla. Too pure.
Here’s a few other things you probably didn’t know about ice cream:
The very first mention of a frozen dessert dates back to Persia in 550 BC, though it might have been sorbet-like. It’s said that Emperor Nero had ice brought down from the Apennine Mountains to produce a sorbet of honey and wine. And then there are those who insist that ice cream came out of China and were introduced to Italy with the help of Marco Polo. Regardless of its origins, a love of ice cream has been around for a very, very long time.
Quaker colonists introduced ice cream to early America, having brought their recipes with them from England. Some argue that the French brought ice cream to America. Regardless, during the colonial era, ice cream was sold in shops in New York.
George Washington loved ice cream. So much so that he even brought ice cream making equipment to Mount Vernon! There are many accounts of “ice creem” (as it was then called) served during his administration.
First Lady Dolley Madison, wife of U.S. President James Madison, served ice cream at her husband’s Inaugural Ball in 1813. Common colonial flavors were soft fruits, like peaches or strawberries, added to a vanilla custard. Dolley had a curious favorite flavor: oyster. (Ugh.)
In September of 1846, a Philadelphia housewife named Nancy Johnson filed patent #3254 for a simple hand cranked ice cream churn. Prior to this point, ice cream belonged to the wealthy. Her hand cranked ice cream churn made it affordable for everyone. Nancy Johnson’s design is still used today.
During the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, an ice cream vendor ran out of cardboard dishes. The vendor next door offered to make cones by rolling up his waffles. Voila! The birth of the ice cream cone.
The majority of American ice cream companies have been in business for more than 50 years. Many of them are still owned by single families.
For the last 128 years, Penn State University has held Ice Cream School for professionals and serious hobbyists during January (for obvious reasons). All the greats have attended: Baskin & Robbins, Ben & Jerry, Dreyer’s, Nestle’s, Blue Bell Creamery, Dairy Queen, and…my husband.
The most popular flavor in the world? Vanilla. Of course.
Blog Stops
Back
Porch Reads, May 26
Inside the Wong
Mind, May 26
The
Avid Reader, May 27
lakesidelivingsite,
May 27
Vicky
Sluiter, May 27
Remembrancy, May 28
Southern
Gal Loves to Read, May 28
Splashes of
Joy, May 28
Texas Book-aholic,
May 29
Happily
Managing a Household of Boys, May 29
Miriam Jacob,
May 29
Daysong
Reflections, May 30
Inklings
and notions, May 30
For Him and My
Family, May 31
The Book Club
Network, May 31
Blogging With
Carol, May 31
Babbling Becky L’s
Book Impressions, June 1
Abba’s
Prayer Warrior Princess, June 1
Library Lady’s
Kid Lit, June 2
deb’s Book
Review, June 2
Artistic
Nobody, June 2 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)
Locks, Hooks
and Books, June 3
Jeanette’s Thoughts,
June 3
Debbie’s
Dusty Deliberations, June 3
Ashley’s
Clean Book Reviews, June 4
Blossoms
and Blessings, June 4
Mary Hake,
June 4
Christina’s
Corner, June 5
Because I
said so — and other adventures in Parenting, June 5
Truth and Grace
Homeschool Academy, June 6
Book Looks
by Lisa, June 6
Simple Harvest
Reads, June 6 (Guest Review from Mindy Houng)
Pause for
Tales, June 7
Spoken
from the Heart, June 7
She
Lives To Read, June 8
Bigreadersite,
June 8
Labor Not in
Vain, June 8
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Suzanne is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/1e36c/the-sweet-life-celebration-tour-giveaway
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on The Sweet Life, this sounds like a wonderful story and I am looking forward to reading it myself
ReplyDeleteGood book for Spring reading.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the contest.
Dawn and Marnie may have different approaches, but they seem to need the same thing.
ReplyDelete