Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book.

I haven't read an Elizabeth Berg for a few years and forgot how welcoming and heartwarming her characters are! I need to read The Story of Arthur Truluv now as I think it may have made the beginning of this book a little easier for me to understand and know. After the first chapter or two, I got into these lively characters and understand how they are all interacting. Each character has a lot of depth where you feel like you are in the room with them, watching and listening to them, and feeling their emotions.

It's a great, hopeful story that was an easy and welcoming read! ( )

Very good--entertaining. Light read. Reminded me a lot of Jan Karon type of book. This is a sequel to another book--found that out in reading it. Feel good book. ( )

Arthur Moses opens his home to Maddy the pregnant teen with whom he befriended on his daily trips to the gravesite of his wife Nola. It isn’t long before his neighbor Lucille Howard moves in to assist with Maddy. She is a lonely woman who tries to keep busy by giving cooking lessons. While Maddy is away at school for photography Lucille maintains the home which Arthur Moses left to Maddy when he passed.

Lucille develops an unexpected relationship with the family who currently live in her former home. She has experienced love and loss over the years but accepts an invitation to dinner by Jason and Abby Summers. They have a 10 year old son Lincoln and a dog Henry.

Again, the story has friendships forming between unlikely people. Lucille forms connections with many of the clients who attend her cooking classes. Several characters are introduced who will follow into the the next book, The Confession Club. Iris Winters becomes invaluable to Lucille when her health begins to fail. Lucille begins a rigid and meticulous training so that Iris might help continue her classes when she is unable.

The mix of characters provide a touching reminder that family are those with whom we choose to have around us. ( )

I loved this book - and I'll admit, it made me shed a tear or two! Lucille was a great character, sweet but very stubborn. I found her very relatable and realistic; really well developed.

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how all of the characters in the book interacted with and affected one another - it really brings home how small actions can set off chain reactions and make more of a difference than you think! And the female friendships and support in the book were just lovely to read.

I wish I could live in the little town of Mason, Missouri and take those baking classes - those desserts sound amazing!

I've never read Elizabeth Berg before, but I'll definitely be making a point to read more of her in the future; I thoroughly enjoy her world-building and characters. I didn't realize this book was a sequel to "The Story of Arthur Truluv. " I feel as though I may have enjoyed the mentions of the primary characters of that book more if I had read that book first, but this book was certainly still very enjoyable even as a standalone.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I missed the first book of this series, had the other two on my TBR shelf, so I jumped right in and read both. They were so appealing, a small town just dives in and helps each other, no matter the back drop story. The characters were wonderfully written and I really needed them due to what is going on in the world now. ( )