SWEETSHOP OF DREAMS

Rosie Hopkins has settled into life in London—with "settle" being the operative word—when her job gets put on hiatus and her mother convinces her to help an elderly great-aunt who lives in a country village and owns a sweet shop.

Rosie’s life is fine. She has a nice apartment, a steady nursing job and a loyal boyfriend, who, OK, might be a little annoying since he doesn’t help at all around the house and plays video games all the time. But really, she doesn’t have anything to complain about, does she? When her hospital gets renovated, however, and she finds herself doing temp nursing jobs, things seem more of a struggle, and she begins to question whether what she has is really what she wants. At her mother’s request, Rosie travels to the small village of Lipton to help her great-aunt Lilian get back on her feet after an injury, then finds herself falling under the spell of the village and the people there, especially the local doctor; the single mother who helps out in Lilian's shop; and the enigmatic Stephen, who's bitterly healing from an injury himself. Rosie soon discovers she's more at home in tiny Lipton than she ever was in London. Colgan’s novel celebrates small-town pleasures as Rosie realizes her existence in London pales in comparison to the life she's creating in her new home. Interspersed with Rosie’s tale of self-discovery are occasional vignettes of Lilian’s youth and her own heartbreaking experience with romance, which becomes a cautionary tale when Rosie’s love life goes awry. The story is a little slow at times, but it’s a pace and tone that fits well with the overall theme of the book.

A sweet and delicious journey.