The Perfect Blend

Perry (Sunset Beach) entertains and gently inspires in this first of the Tea Shop series, a cozy tale about love lost and found. Steph Vandergrift left all to elope with attorney Rick Manfred and was then left behind before reaching the altar. Beside herself with disbelief, Steph allows a kindly tea shop owner to provide her sustenance for stomach and a bruised soul. Milly Jewell, the twice-widowed shop owner, offers Steph a temporary job at her small restaurant. Having burned her personal bridges with family and friends, Steph thankfully agrees to the arrangement, and soon meets Kendall James, proprietor of the pricey hotel where she was staying before the wedding fell through. Mutually smitten is an understatement as Steph and Kendall immediately connect. Inevitably, obstacles interfere with an otherwise perfectly spun fairy tale. Perry takes what could be a glib, weightless tale and makes her own blend work. (Sept.)