![]() Author: Suzanne Woods Fisher Genre: Contemporary Romance Series: Cape Cod Creamery #3 Pages: 304 Release Date: May 7, 2024 Publisher: Revell She met the man of her dreams, married him--and then ran away Convinced she's found the missing piece in her life, Brynn Haywood finds herself saying "I do" to a man she's known less than twenty-four hours. The dawn reveals a different truth, sending Brynn into a state of panic. In the quiet morning hours, she slips away, leaving her new husband in peaceful slumber, and flees to Cape Cod in a swirl of uncertainty and self-doubt. As Brynn strolls along the coastline, she realizes she's been yearning for a radical change in her life. Maybe she's found the answer here, in the quaint town of Chatham. With a newfound sense of purpose and identity, Brynn takes a leap of faith and purchases a local bakery. Yet, unbeknownst to Brynn, her twenty-four-hour husband is closing in on her whereabouts. Soon she'll be faced with a choice that will test the depths of her newfound strength and the power of love to heal and transform. ![]() Reviewer: Marta Aldrighetti In life, everybody makes mistakes. Sometimes your instinct is so pressing that you don't hear your mind. In this story, mom Marnie and daughter Dawn own an ice cream shop in the town of Chatham, Massachusetts. "It's your default path. If life doesn't meet your high expectations, you go to control mode. You have to decide everything for everybody. You can't leave well enough alone, Dawn." Dawn's best friend, Brynn, is a talented architect and has a successful life, but she struggles with decisions about her future and sees Dawn as a strong, confident, and helpful woman. In life, it's good to have people—family or friends—to refer to for suggestions, advice, ideas, and help. But you may choose your own path in life. I enjoyed reading this book. The nice story, lovely characters, and interesting life topics make you think about your own life, too. I received a complimentary copy from Revell Publishers via Interviews & Reviews and NetGalley. ![]() Reviewer: Kimberlee Sams Love on a Whim is the excellent third book in Suzanne Woods Fisher's Cape Cod Creamery series. This novel follows Dawn's friend Brynn as she navigates a difficult personal situation (she married a man she'd known for less than 24 hours) while also facing the fact that she's not finding her career fulfilling on a personal level. I believe that you could jump right in with this book without having read the first two, as the relationships between the key characters are clear from the beginning. I truly enjoyed learning more about Brynn, who only received a few off-page mentions in previous books. It was interesting watching her try to cope with her issues while staying with Marnie at the ice cream shop and getting to know Callie at her cooking school. I found her evolving relationship with both other women, as well as her old friend Dawn, to be simultaneously realistic and heartwarming. To further complicate things, Lincoln's daughter is getting married in town, and his ex-wife is making things difficult. Callie and Brynn get roped into a major catering endeavor for which the menu is constantly changing. I liked the way the wedding served as a backdrop for the other issues being addressed in the story: Brynn's quickie marriage, Lincoln's estranged relationship with his children, and Dawn's desire to have a baby. As I said earlier, I think this book can be enjoyed as a stand-alone. However, if you've read the first two, you'll care a lot more about some of the problems other characters are dealing with. I love how the author is able to focus this book on the "new' characters of Brynn and Bear while still providing meaningful storylines for characters from earlier books. I find myself feeling very invested in this community and all its "regular" citizens. I hope there will be more books in this series. I think we're getting close to time for another book focused on Dawn, her relationship with Kevin, and Kevin's business. Five out of five slices of creamy Provolone! I received a review copy courtesy of Revell, through Interviews & Reviews, for my honest opinion. ![]() Reviewer: Jane Mouttet Suzanne Woods Fisher continues the story of her much-loved Cape Cod characters. I really appreciated the “cast list” at the start of the book so I could reacquaint myself with the characters. At least one character from her Three Sisters Island series appears via text message. You’ll remember Maeve if you’ve read the series, but if you haven’t, all the info on her you need is in this book. If you haven’t read the previous books in the Cape Cod Creamery series, I’d recommend that you do, although you can probably enjoy Love on a Whim without doing so. Love on a Whim focuses on Brynn, the best friend and college roommate of Dawn (whose story started the series), and Marnie, Dawn’s mom. Marnie and Brynn’s lives are intertwined in more ways than the reader realizes until mid-book after some “new” characters are introduced. I had guessed this relationship, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of reading how it played out. Fisher is an excellent author. You can tell she has done her research on the location, as well as the careers and other topics represented in the series. While you won’t see the gospel on every page like you do in some Christian fiction, the gospel is shown through the lives of the characters as they grow to rely more on Christ in their lives. Fisher’s characters are real Christians living out their faith. I think Cape Cod Creamery is a trilogy, but I’m hoping there will be a book four so that we can discover how Brynn’s new endeavor and relationship play out. Even though Love on a Whim is an adult contemporary romance novel, it could find a place in a K–12 Christian school library. It is appropriate for high school students. I received a complimentary copy of Love on a Whim from Revell through Interviews & Reviews. This is my honest review. ![]() Reviewer: Elizabeth Eckmeyer I have enjoyed books by Suzanne Woods Fisher before, so I was excited to read this one. I was not disappointed in any way! This book was absolutely delightful! Brynn Haywood gets married to a man she has known for twenty-four hours. After she wakes up and realizes what she has done, she runs back to her best friend in a seaside town. While she is there, the town is getting ready for the biggest wedding of the season. Every character is thoughtfully created to make a beautiful story. There is room for happiness, tears, forgiveness, and growth. I loved this book so much that I bought the other two books in this series and look forward to reading them! For my honest opinion, I received a complimentary copy from Revell Publishers via Interviews & Reviews. ![]() Reviewer: Tammy Lunsford This book was charmingly full of hope, as these characters struggled to find their footing and their happy place. Forgiveness is a key part of this entire plotline, whether it be forgiving others or forgiving oneself. Brynn Haywood is never impulsive. She is always structured in every way and always has a plan. That is, until 24 hours ago when she married a man she had only known for less than 48 hours. She wakes up petrified, as well as mortified, that she acted in such a manner. So she runs and leaves her new husband behind. This is how she ends up in Cape Cod. She knows her best friend, Dawn, will help her through this time and give her some sound advice. It is a crazy time in Cape Cod as Dawn, Callie, and Marnie are helping Lincoln's daughter with her wedding. Brynn jumps right in to help, thankful that she has something to take her mind off her situation. Things get a little hairy when Lincoln's son, Bear, shows up with a boulder on his shoulder, not a chip. All of these characters will learn something about themselves and others around them as they follow their hearts and realize that sometimes you have to take a chance. All of the characters are very likable, even though Dawn, the control freak, sometimes got on my nerves. Her heart was in the right place. She thought she was helping. This book is a heart-happy book infused with a message of faith. The plus side is the ice cream shop and the descriptions of the homemade ice cream. It will make you want to run to your local ice cream shop and buy a cone. This book is worthy of so much more than five stars. This book would make a great beach read. I received a complimentary copy courtesy of Revell through Interviews & Reviews, for my honest opinion. I am leaving this review voluntarily. ![]() Reviewer: Raechel Helwig I like the Cape Cod Creamery series. It is a light-hearted and fun set of books with realistic and delightful characters. I was looking forward to Love on a Whim when I learned that it was sort of a Fools Rush In plot line where the main character Brynn marries a man she just met. I was hoping the story would mostly focus on the romance and complications involved, though I felt like that was more of a background plot overall, which I was a little disappointed in. Throughout the book, I really liked Brynn, felt for her, and rooted for her, but the storyline I was expecting was more secondary than the center stage. In all honesty, I found this book quite stressful due to the over-commitment of most characters to Lincoln Hayes' daughter's wedding, along with the unresolved family drama between the Dixons and Hayes. I understand why it was all happening, but like I said, I just found it stressful and ended up putting down the book a few times. I liked that Brynn started finding her voice towards the end and making decisions for herself about what she wanted in life. And the forgiveness theme was a good one. I didn't care for the strong emphasis put on following your heart, and that being so important. The Bible says we are not to follow our hearts because they are deceitful. I think I get what the book was trying to say, but I wish the emphasis had been more on checking ourselves and our intuitions against God's Word and will rather than just trusting that our hearts make the best decisions. I do think God gives us intuition, but listening for His voice is more important than trusting our hearts. The characters still came across well, and it was nice being back on Cape Cod with them and meeting a couple of new characters too. Love on a Whim was written well, and I'm sure a lot of people will love it. I enjoyed it. I just had some slight issues with it, and that's all. This book was provided courtesy of Revell through Interviews & Reviews. I was not required to write a positive review, and all thoughts expressed were entirely my own. ![]() Reviewer: Monica Huyser I have really enjoyed The Cape Cod Creamery series and could not wait for this third book in the series to release. It did not disappoint. I enjoyed Love on a Whim by Suzanne Woods Fisher so much that I read it in one day! Brynn Haywood is normally predictable and quite stable. Then one day she made an impulsive decision to marry a man she hardly knows. The next day she is mortified and flees to Cape Cod to see her best friend, Dawn. Once there, Brynn puts her decision on the back burner and fits right in with the rest of the town and Dawn's family as they work together to help Lincoln's daughter get married. Dawn's mom, Marnie, and Lincoln are good friends—and maybe a little more. Lincoln has also helped out many people in town, so they want to help him out. Readers also get an update on Dawn and Kevin from the first book and Callie and Bruno from the second book. However, the author wrote this book so that it could also stand alone. Still, I would encourage you to read the other two books first to get the most enjoyment out of Love on a Whim. I enjoyed Love on a Whim, and, as I already shared, I could not put it down once I started it. Fisher has created a community of characters that I have come to know and love. I like how Fisher focuses on various relationships. All of the characters seem like real people to me, as they have strengths and weaknesses, and we readers love them all. Many of the characters also seem to be learning and growing, as I think most of us do in real life. I also like the way Fisher incorporates faith into her stories—it seems to flow naturally within the story. There is a bit of a mystery to the romance in Love on a Whim, and I didn't figure it out until I got to that part of the plot. I enjoy Cape Cod and the people so much that I hope Fisher comes back with at least a Christmas novella to keep us in the loop with these special townspeople. While I had a hard time putting the book down, I also didn't want it to end. I received a copy of this book from Revell Publishers through Interviews and Reviews. All opinions are my own. Leave a Reply. |
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