Honey Pie by Donna Kauffman

 

This is book 4 in this author’s “Cupcake Club” series but it is the first that I have read by this author. Even though this book is part of a series, I was able to enjoy it in spite of not having read the previous books.

At the opening of this book, Honey D’Amourvell is in a tough spot and things don’t get easier for her. She made the trek in her beat up old Bug from Oregon to Georgia because her beloved aunt died and left Honey her business property. Honey took this inheritance as a sign that she should make some changes in her life. Like her aunt Bea, Honey gets visions when she touches a person. Honey’s visions have always been more intense. The overload from her visions freaked her out when she was younger as well as others so she resigned herself to live as a virtual hermit, creating her art made of wood & clay and selling her artwork online. It has been lonely and difficult leading such a solitary existence but she feels it’s necessary to avoid the turmoil that comes from coming into contact with others and being subjected to her visions. With this unexpected inheritance, however, Honey dreams of having a physical shop to sell her artwork out of, teach classes, and hopefully connect with people as much as she’s able to. She expects her aunt’s business property to be vacant, open her shop and live above the business. When she actually gets to Sugarberry, much to her surprise, she finds that the building is leased to a cupcakery. She finds out that due to some planning and unforeseen things happening in her aunt’s life, the building is leased to the cupcakery for about 3 years. During that time, she can’t use the property or collect rent on it. So she’s in a strange town, no place for her business, nowhere to live, and her car in need of serious repair. Luckily her car problems lead her to the car shop owned by the very hot Dylan Ross. Dylan, while a nice guy, has insulated himself from the rest of the community. His family has an extremely bad reputation.

For me, this story was all about making connections and the path to recognizing a soul-mate. When Honey and Dylan first meet, it’s not love at first sight and they don’t jump into bed right away either. However, they both do feel drawn to each other for different inexplicable reasons. They realize that they both isolate themselves from others. As Honey puts it, they are both “cave dwellers” – Dylan by nature, and Honey out of what she believes is necessity. I loved the slow buildup of the romance. For me, the slowness allowed me to get to know the characters and care about their relationship more. It also made it extra hot when the sparks would fly out at unexpected moments and highlighted the chemistry between them. I liked the discussions Dylan & Honey have in the book. The things that Dylan said to Honey made me melt. Great romance and look forward to reading earlier books in this series and other books by this author.