If you’re looking for a seasonal romance, The Key to Love by Betsy St. Amant might be your key. Pun intended. 😉
Enter Bri Duvall, owner of the French-themed Pastry Puff in Story, KS. Hopeless romantic. Hopeful in love. Missing her deceased parents something awful. Carrying on her mother’s baking glory and finding incredible satisfaction by connecting with her customers. Dying to get the right macaron recipe correct.
Bri’s co-owners are Mabel and Agnes. Seventy-ish years old and constant personal life meddlers. Especially in the art of matchmaking. They have plans to find the right target match for Bri. Pastry Puff even has a lock wall just like in Paris for lovebirds who have found their person. Come in for a delicious carb enveloped in frosting and come out with a match made in heaven. Seems like a trip to Kansas is worth it, amirite?!
Sadly, Bri’s parents died when she was 18. She’s been clinging to the ideal of her parents’ marriage, and she refuses to settle. (Amen, girl) Our main gal’s most recent relationship was with the town slimeball (who ironically has his monster eyes set on buying the Pastry Puff so he can turn it into a chain coffee joint). For this reason, Bri is laser-focused on the Pastry Puff.
When one of Mabel and Agnes’ matches goes viral, the town of Story and the Pastry Puff get put on the map. Insert Gerard Fortier, a feature writer at Trek Magazine. He has been assigned to write about this famed matchmaking bakery with its US-version lovelock wall. Writing a story about romance is not just out of Gerard’s comfort zone; it is the last thing he would choose to write about.
Gerard is of the racing bicycles around cliffs, deep-sea fishing and skydiving varietal. His ex-fiance screwed him up somethin’ fierce and he isn’t interested in that rodeo again. Ever. Talking romance, writing about romance or being in this small town is his personal hell.
So Little Miss Sunshine and Sir Love Is For Dummies are not exactly a match. Yet, Gerard needs Bri’s involvement in the story. He needs to finish the story so he can leave town. Therefore, he needs to connect with Bri to move this little love puff piece train along.
One of my favorite quotes from The Key to Love:
It’s easy to love when life is shiny and looks its best – it’s a lot harder when it’s covered in tomato sauce and Pull-Ups.
St. Amant, The Key to Love
TRUTH! That is a whole blog post on its own for sure.
Moving along..
Sentimental is the name of Bri’s game. (This isn’t my jam and is very baffling to me.) Everything from her mom is a big deal. She has saved SO much stuff from her mom, including a trunk of her parents’ love letters. Bri discovers some bumps in the road once Gerard enters town. Does she lean on him for comfort? Can he open up to someone of the female persuasion? Is he going to blow out of Dodge the minute he emails his article?
This isn’t exactly an enemies to lovers book. Neither of these two are going to hit below the belt. Think more opposites attract (him to her, him to small town life, her to hearing the truth). And I love that. Such a refreshing take on a romance novel – woot woot! And how could I turn down a seasonal romance from the Midwest? Boom!
Have you read any of Betsy’s other books? Any recommendations?