The Second Chance Café

Veteran romance author Kent (Undeniable) inaugurates a small-town series set in Hope Springs, Tex., the kind of place where people remember Kaylie Flynn by name when she comes back after 10 years away. She left as a newly emancipated foster child; now she’s a college-educated woman with one successful business built and another taking shape in her mind. The gorgeous but deteriorating Victorian house that was her refuge in childhood will be renovated and opened to the town as a lunch cafe—if the surprises in those old walls and Kaylie’s own secrets don’t bring her plans crashing down. Shoring up the dream is building contractor Tennessee Keller, a man with a troubled family history of his own and a determination not to mix business and pleasure. Girl talk, brownie recipes, and a goofy dog named Magoo complete this pleasant confection with the right balance of hope and memory, tears and sizzle. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary Agency. (Mar.)