Book Review: Sweet Expectations

Author: Mary Ellen Taylor
Publication Date: November 5, 2013
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Series: Union Street Bakery # 2

Daisy McCrae knows that change can be sudden—and devastating. And while it doesn’t have to be a bad thing, change has the power to turn your whole world upside down....

Running the family bakery and living in the store’s attic might not be Daisy’s dream life, but she’s beginning to understand what being content feels like. And then she gets some unexpected news. In one moment, Daisy’s calm existence turns into chaos. Now she’s struggling to keep it together, especially with renovations at the bakery spiraling out of control.

But when a box of recipes and mementos is found hidden behind a wall in the bakery, Daisy suddenly has something to cling to—a mystery that echoes her own troubles and gives her the opportunity to figure out what she really wants out of life....

Our great-great-grandfather, Shaun McCrae, and his wife, Sally, had rebuilt the business and moved it to the current location on Union Street. They raised five children here, and there’d been a McCrae in this locale ever since.

Whereas fifty years ago a bakery had been a daily stop for most, that wasn’t the case anymore. Most folks these days did their shopping at grocery stores and rarely made a side trip to a mom-and-pop operation like the Union Street Bakery.

If my life had been a book, pregnancy would have been the last plot twist I’d have written.

Daisy McCrae’s life has changed all at once and maybe not all for the better, she is still trying to figure that last one out. Her once rewarding career fell through her fingers like sand, and now she is back in her hometown helping her sisters run the family bakery. Daisy is a bit skeptical of her new life between trying to mend things with her ex-boyfriend, Gordon, renovate the bakery without losing too much, and finding a hidden recipe box tucked away in the bakery’s walls she might just crack. Daisy has already come to realize that her life is not going to go the way she wants or even expects, but it will turn out just the way she needs it to be!

This is the second book in the series, and therefore the second book I have read by Mary Ellen Taylor. She has such a unique way of making things feel cozy and making readers feel right at home. I love the setting of the family owned bakery, and my favorite parts are when Daisy and her sisters, Rachel and Margaret, are together making decisions and plans for their lives and business. The cover alone is enough to sell anyone on the coziness and charming abilities of this book. I think books revolving around sisters are some of the best!

While this book is mostly told from Daisy’s first person point of view, Mary Ellen Taylor has a seemingly flawless ability to go between Daisy’s first person and her sister Rachel’s third person point of view without a problem. I am always a fan of seeing the same situation from two character’s perspectives. I was able to see directly into not only Daisy’s life, but Rachel’s as well. Margaret was not as prominent in this book, which made me sad, but she is not my favorite sister anyway. Daisy was developed even more in this book, and I am glad to see her breaking out of her shell and finally trying to find her own happiness and put the past behind her!

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Berkley Trade in exchange for my honest review***