SWEET COMFORT

Comfort and Joy Trilogy, #1

by

KIMBERLY FISH

Women’s Fiction / Cozy Mystery / Later-In-Life Romance / Sweet Second-Chance Romance

Publisher: Fish Tales

Page Count: 359 pages

Publication Date: January 21, 2023

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Welcome to the hometown everyone wants to call their own.

Gloria Bachman, a retired bank executive, has eight weeks to flip a location on Comfort’s High Street into a boutique chocolate shop. Defying expectations for “women of a certain age,” Gloria rediscovers talents and a sharpening of skills. If only she could read people as well as she does a spreadsheet. Even with the renovation in good hands, the subsequent struggle to name the shop brings Gloria and her business partner into conflict with a shady citizen. While Gloria is capable of remaining in her retirement rut while opening a business, two competing social groups try to lure her into their networks, causing Gloria to wonder if she ever knew Comfort at all. A murder rocks the community and revives investigative instincts honed by years in the banking industry.

Mason Lassiter, a disgraced CEO, has his own dramas to escape, and the offbeat town seems the perfect place to recover his self-esteem. What was to be a quick reversal of fortunes becomes a quest to right a deeply felt injustice. Fascinated by the women driving the energy of Comfort, he extends his stay to find out why the small town is the backdrop to their best tales. Tangling with his neighbor Gloria becomes his favorite pastime and the key to unlocking the mystery of his past—if he can convince her to trust him.

Chocolate and joy become the glue bringing an unlikely cast together, which just might change Gloria’s and Mason’s course for the better. With characters familiar from previous Comfort novels and introducing fresh names, Sweet Comfort will entertain those who like their stories seasoned with coziness and sweet, second chances.

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Ahhhh, the town of Comfort is calling, and I answered! If you haven’t read any of this author’s Comfort series, you are missing out. While this includes many of the characters from those books and continues the story, there are new faces in town that we can come to love as much as the others. Plus, there will be chocolate!

Georgia is a woman that I definitely admire. She has dealt with some issues in her past work at a bank in the area, including being forced out thanks to the male ego and more. Being burned by a man has soured her outlook on men for the most part. However, enter Morgan Lassiter. A hunky man from Dallas has caught her eye, and she has caught his. However, she is reluctant to be more than friends, but maybe he will wear her down. I love when a new romance takes its time for the characters to experience each other and what they could potentially bring to the table and the relationship.

I mentioned chocolate. Georgia and Kali are opening a high-end chocolate store and are working non-stop to get everything done before their grand opening. There are some setbacks, as would be expected, but each one just strengthens what we know about these women and the skills that they have that they don’t even realize. I love when people learn more about themselves and what they are capable of in the process of a new venture. I am glad I don’t live in Comfort (although sometimes I wish that I did) because I would be there every day indulging in the truffles, bars, and other assorted chocolates. This author speaks to my heart when she includes chocolate in the mix.

There are a few minor mysteries included in this book. The first is who killed Ted Bodine. Georgia has an analytical mind, and it is evident as she susses out the clues and the facts as different situations present themselves. Now the mystery doesn’t really start until 40% into the book, so I would say that this is less mystery and more romance and second chances. There is also the mystery of Mason’s wife. She is supposedly deceased, but signs point other ways. Will Georgia and Mason determine if she faked her death or is truly gone? These add a twist to the story and create more depth.

I love the rivalry between the Knitters Club and the Bunco ladies. While there is some tension between various characters, it is also nice to see them come together in times of need, no matter which club they belong to. Plus, it adds some spice to the story. I’m not sure I’m Wanda’s biggest fan, but she does add some complexity to the story.

This story made me smile, laugh, drool (over chocolate), and engaged my brain to sort out the mystery.

We give this book 5 paws up.

Kimberly Fish has been a professional writer in marketing and media for over thirty years, with regular contributions to area newspapers and magazines. As an accidental historian, she wrote two novels, The Big Inch and Harmon General, both based on factual events in Longview, Texas that changed world history. Kimberly also offers a set of contemporary women’s fiction, based in the Texas Hill Country, that reveal her fascination with characters discovering their grit and sweet, second chances; all four of these novels have won distinguished awards.

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GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!

Two winners each receive a signed copy of Sweet Comfort plus a box of Sweet Shop USA candies!

(US only; ends midnight, CST, 3/31/23)

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