The Broken Hearts Bakery is the latest in a line of great fiction from Carla Laureano. As you can probably tell, I throughly enjoyed the story. Laureano is one of those authors who I trust to always deliver a strong, entertaining read.

The set up involves Gemma who left Haven Ridge when an affair ripped her family apart. The move also ended her romance with the quarterback of the football team, the one she thought would be hers forever. Fast forward almost ten years and Gemma is compelled to return to watch her honorary niece for a few days. She had no idea Stephen had moved back and started a new career as a teacher, at the very high school that didn’t flinch when her whole world imploded.

But Gemma is now a successful divorce lawyer and not the shrinking violet she was when she lived there before. Meanwhile Stephen has never gotten over Gemma, even though his actions broke her heart. Can a bunch of struggling teens, an abused wife and a snowstorm in a dilapidated town bring them back together?

I particularly enjoyed the journey the characters go in in The Broken Hearts Bakery. From shock and hostility, to an uneasy truce and then to working together. The path to forgiveness is never easy or pain free and the book doesn’t shy away from that. But it also shows the blessing that comes from acknowledging mistakes and course correcting before it’s too late.