Book Review: Love Arrives in Pieces by Betsy St. Amant

The sequel to Betsy St. Amant’s adorably fun novel, All’s Fair in Love and Cupcakes, is finally here!  I really loved reading that book last year, but I wasn’t aware that it even needed a sequel.  I was wrong!  A major point of Love and Cupcakes was the relationship that Kat had with her sister, Stella, and her ex-boyfriend, Chase.  Chase had cheated on Kat with Stella, thus crushing Kat’s heart and destroying her faith in men in general.  Her relationship with Stella was also nearly destroyed.  However, the Cupcake Combat competition with Lucas as her helper has restored Kat’s faith, in at least some men and resulted in her wedded bliss to Lucas.  I don’t know about most readers, but I didn’t have very good feelings for Stella in Love and Cupcakes, so it’s nice to get her side of things in this second book, Love Arrives in Pieces.

At least two years have passed since the end of the first book, maybe more.  I wasn’t sure of the timeline.  Stella and Kat have patched things up and are closer now than they’ve ever been.  Kat and Lucas are expecting their first child, and all seems to be going well for them.  Not so much for Stella.  She has always been beautiful and a pageant queen, but when her husband left her, she felt stripped of everything.  She has become a shadow of her former self—she doesn’t wear makeup, wears loose, baggy clothes and has very little confidence in herself.  Her greatest fear is that she will be forced to move back in with her parents.  When her mom lands her a job decorating a renovation job in Bayou Bend, Louisiana, she jumps at the chance.  However, she has no idea that Chase is the contractor of the job, and they’ll be working closely together.  Even though they both say they want to put their past behind them and start over, they still have feelings for each other.  But both of them have secrets, that may change things when they’re revealed. 

I actually didn’t like Love Arrives in Pieces as much as I did Betsy St. Amant’s past books.  Don’t get me wrong, it was a great read, and is perfect for summer, but it just didn’t grab me like All’s Fair in Love and Cupcakes.  I have always found Ms. St. Amant’s books to be funny, but this one did seem to be lacking a little in the humor department.  I liked the characters, although at first it was hard for me to switch my loyalties from Kat to Stella.  By the end of this book I liked both equally well. 

Love Arrives in Pieces is a lot of fun, and the reason for the title didn’t hit me until near the end of the book.  I’m still a big fan of Betsy St. Amant, and will definitely read anything new that she writes.  I love her scenes, and the deep-south setting.   I could definitely see myself sitting in the sand or beside the pool and reading this one.

 

 

Happy Reading,

Lyndsie

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.  All opinions are my own and a favorable review was not required.  Look for Love Arrives in Pieces for sale on or around June 9.