The Sweet Life (Cape Cod Creamery Book #1)

When Dawn Dixon’s fiancé calls off the wedding, Dawn decides to go on the honeymoon to Cape Cod with her mother, Marnie. Marnie could use the break as well. She had been going through a rough time and Marnie had yet to tell her daughter about it. Marnie is exploring the shops in downtown Chatham when she comes across a run-down ice cream store. Marnie can imagine what the shop will look like all fixed up. She arranges to meet with the owner and Marnie purchases the Main Street Creamery without consulting Dawn. Dawn happens to be the one with the experience making ice cream. Dawn and her deceased father went to the Penn State Ice Cream School. While Marnie likes to dream and jump in, Dawn is a planner. She likes spreadsheets and lists which is not Marnie’s style. Dawn agrees to stay and help her mother for the summer to get the place renovated and open. The two women get help from Lincoln Hayes, a local, who takes an interest in Marnie. Their improvements, though, are met with resistance from the chairman of the local Historical Commission. As if the mother and daughter do not have enough on their plate, Dawn’s ex-fiancé arrives in town to offer his assistance. Will they make a go of the Main Street Creamery? The Sweet Life by Suzanne Woods Fisher is a charming story. I enjoyed my trip to Cape Cod with Dawn, Marnie, Lincoln, Kevin, Nanette, Leo, and Mrs. Nickerson-Eldredge. I thought The Sweet Life was well-written with developed, realistic characters. We get to meet some of the quirky and kind characters who live in the town. One of my favorites is Leo the Cowboy and I also loved Nanette (her antics will have you laughing). It was enjoyable following Marnie and Dawn as they fixed up the building and experimented with ice cream flavors. Dawn was determined to get the best vanilla ice cream possible. They came up with some interesting flavor combinations. I loved the quotes involving ice cream before each chapter. My favorite is, “When everyone has let you down, you still have ice cream.” There were also some fascinating facts about ice cream. I can tell the author did her research for the book. I liked seeing Marnie and Dawn grow in their faith as well as find their purpose in life and where they belonged. There are good life lessons in the story including having faith and taking a risk. God will lead you down the right path if you allow Him. The Sweet Life is a story about healing, love, self-reflection, faith, and ice cream. I do need to warn you that The Sweet Life will have you craving ice cream so make sure your freezer is well stocked with your favorite flavor. I am looking forward to the next book in the Cape Cod Creamery series. The Sweet Life is a sweet treat with nosy Nanette, jumbles of junk, a fragmented engagement, various vanillas, historical hitches, a pier support problem, and incredible ice cream.

The author did an amazing job connecting me to both Dawn and Marnie with their alternating POV’s. It was a pleasure to watch them both grow, connect and learn to appreciate the other. I found myself wrapped up in their building renovation, how to make ice cream,and in the town of Cape Cod. The author begins each chapter with a quote about ice cream and I noticed myself actively searching out ice cream in my home, in my neighborhood, and on vacation after reading.

A Sweet Story Dawn Dixon is a planner. Her favorite quote is, "I adore spontaneity, providing it is carefully planned." She thought she knew what lay ahead in her well planned life. However, it all fell apart when her fiancé, Kevin Collins, called off their engagement. Now she's heading to her would be honeymoon spot in Cape Cod with her mother, Marnie, instead of Kevin. Dawn and Marnie are like night and day. While Dawn is a planner, Marnie is a spontaneous risk taker. Unfortunately she doesn't look ahead to the big picture of her risk taking and spontaneous decisions. Consequently, she often ends up overwhelmed with her spontaneous decisions, the latest one being to open an ice cream shop in Cape Cod. The Sweet Life is a very sweet (pun intended) story. It is a story of self-reflection, healing, love, and faith. Some of the healing and self-reflection occurred between Dawn and Marnie, and some occurred between Dawn and Kevin. In each relationship, both parties went through a lot of self-reflection that resulted in a new understanding of themselves as well as a new understanding of the other person. Watching Dawn, Marnie and Kevin going through this process had me reflecting as well. It brought to mind that while we see things from our perspective and point of view, we need to also see it from the other person's perspective. Doing so will help us gain a better understanding of ourselves and them, which can bring our relationships to another level. Such was the case with Dawn, Marnie and Kevin, and watching them go through this process is what made this a wonderful and sweet story that I highly recommend. ****I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.