Sweet Haven

Romantic suspense author McCoy (Deadly Christmas Secrets) turns to sweet contemporary in a new series about three sisters from Benevolence, Wash. Curvy redhead Adeline Lamont is up to her elbows in chocolate, keeping her grandfather’s confectioner shop open while he recovers from a broken hip. Her accounting business, her recently adopted puppy, and an elderly friend’s imminent wedding add to the chaos. In walks Sinclair Jefferson, who escaped Benevolence and his toxic family years ago, but is back to set his brother in order—and he’s renting Adeline’s grandfather’s apartment for the time being. It’s tried-and-true stuff, if a little heavy on backstory, and McCoy writes satisfying prose. What’s occasionally disconcerting is that the sweet setup is given an edge with dialogue that can only be described as mean. Characters talk to and about each other with a lack of generosity that is puzzling in this otherwise sugar-dusted tale. Agent: Melissa Jeglinski, Knight Agency. (Mar.)