While romance takes the center stage in these two novels by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, food and films play strong supporting roles (and almost steal the show).
“THE NEVERLAND INN,” by K.C. Grant, Covenant Communications, $14.99, 184 pages (f)
Sarah Michaels is the owner and chef of the Neverland Inn near Spindrift Cove on the California coast and thrives on catering to her guests at her bed and breakfast in “The Neverland Inn.” She’s trying to publicize it more, especially if she gets listed with the state association.
“The Neverland Inn” is by K.C. Grant.
Covenant Communications
K.C. Grant
Provided by Covenant Communications
Sarah inherited the land and buildings from her aunt, who took care of Sarah after her parents died in a car accident and taught her how to cook.
Daniel Cavanaugh makes a last-minute reservation at the Neverland Inn while he’s taking care of his late grandmother’s estate. Sarah finds him uptight and uppity.
Daniel’s life is perfect from the outside — he’s a lawyer at his father’s San Francisco firm, has a gorgeous fiancée and a promising future. While looking over his grandmother’s house and remembering the carefree memories there, he decides to take a break.
Daniel ends up staying in town a few days longer, due to parking in a tow zone during a weekend, and starts to relax a bit as he goes running on nearby trails and takes a slower pace of the small town.
Sarah volunteers at a local school where her friend Michelle Brennan teaches children with special needs. When an autistic girl in the class goes missing right after a storm on the cove, Daniel and Sarah join the search of the town and mountain for her.
Author K.C. Grant has created a cast of quirky yet lovable supporting characters in Spindrift Cove who interact with Sarah. Each chapter has recipes that Sarah makes for her guests.
“The Neverland Inn” is a bit predictable, but otherwise an enjoyable story about how romance can blossom in unlikely places.
“The Neverland Inn” is a clean romance with no swearing, sexual content or described violence.
Grant is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who lives in Northern Utah. She is also the author of “Abish: Daughter of God.”
“LIES, LOVE AND BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S,” by Julie Wright, Shadow Mountain, $15.99, 313 pages (f)
While Silvia Bradshaw is working in her dream job doing film editing on a major motion picture, it’s not her dream situation with an absent boss and she’s doing most of the work as “Lies, Love and Breakfast at Tiffany’s” opens. When she and her boss’s assistant have to go get him from a club hours before the producer and editor dream team want to see it, she runs into Ben Armstrong, a friend and former co-worker.
Deseret Book
Julie Wright
Deseret News archives
Ben helps her get the boss back to the office and to put some final touches on the film. With reconnecting, their friendship starts to take root and blossom into more, especially as they usually get each others’ movie references.
Silvia is wondering what is going on with her grandmother’s move to a new, smaller house, a boyfriend of sorts and her efforts to keep throwing Silvia and Ben together.
However, when a legal team gets word of how Ben, who works at a smaller studio, helped on the film, there’s a legal quagmire that threatens both of their hard-fought jobs and their relationship with it. It forces Silvia to look at what she wants in her life, but also how it affects others, too.
Movie references abound in “Lies, Love and Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” especially references to Audrey Hepburn (Silvia’s glass eye is named after her hero, Audrey), Hepburn’s movies and film quotes. Also, Silvia ends up at several locations around Los Angeles and Hollywood, including a breakfast diner called Tiffany’s Café.
It’s an entertaining romance with two characters who are trying to figure out if friendship can be more with all of the feelings and misunderstandings that go along with that.
“Lies, Love and Breakfast at Tiffany’s” is a clean romance; there isn’t any swearing, sexual content or described violence.
Author Julie Wright, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the author of more than 20 novels, including one that won the 2010 Whitney Award for best romance.