vision quest

Emmie Wynne has been waiting for her vision. All the women in her family have them. They come on a birthday, and they show a glimpse of their future. Emmie has been waiting her whole life for hers. And with her thirty-fourth birthday coming up, she thinks this might finally be her year.

She grew up in a small town in the Pacific Northwest at her parents’ fudge shop, The Happy Viking. After her high school graduation, she planned to go to Europe to learn to be a chocolatier. She spent years in Switzerland and then Paris, but Emmie moved back to Poulsbo seven years ago, when her father was diagnosed with cancer. Shortly after coming back, she found out she was pregnant, and now Gus is a shining light in her and her mother’s lives. He’s six and all about outer space facts.

When her best friend Daniela comes by to take Emmie for a birthday pastry, she finds out that her best friend from high school Jakob is back in town. After graduation, he had joined the Marines, and she hadn’t seen him since. Back then, he’d been nerdy, her partner in the debate team. Now, he has filled out and looks as delicious as the raspberry Danish she gets from him.

But Emmie doesn’t have much time for dating. She’s taking care of Gus and has been running the family candy shop since her father died. Her mother has rheumatoid arthritis and a French Bulldog named Mr. Butters that she dresses up every day, so Emmie has to care for her also. In the little time Emmie has for herself, she spends with her crush, a food television presenter named Henry Summers. He travels around the world filming inspiring stories of people making food for family and community.

Finally, at dinner that night, Emmie has a vision of her future. She sees herself in the artisan chocolate shop she’d always dreamed of, bright and shiny with large windows and wood floors. She’s wearing a beautiful yellow dress, and in front of her is Henry Summers (yes, that Henry Summers), kneeling and holding a small box. Emmie thinks that it’s ridiculous to think that Henry Summers would show up in her dream chocolate shop and propose to her, so she tells herself that it wasn’t her birthday vision. It was just somehow a fantasy that overtook her for a minute.

The next day, she shows up to the fudge shop to get ready to open for the day, and Henry Summers walks in. It turns out that he’s in town for the summer to finish a book he’d been writing. He came into the store to ask for directions, but Emmie took the chance to share some of her new caramels with him. He is charmed by her and her artisan candy. And Emmie thinks that she did get her vision after all.

Now all she has to do is create her perfect chocolate shop and get Henry to fall in love with her. How hard can that be? Well, it’s made more difficult when a water leak at the shop turns into expensive repairs, and her search for the perfect storefront for her new place goes nowhere. How can she make her vision come true when everything seems to be going wrong?

A Sprinkle of Sweet Serendipity is a sweet look at family and love through the eyes of an exhausted mom and chocolatier. There is a lot of warmth in Emmie’s family and in the community of Poulsbo, and I loved seeing how much support Emmie got for her chocolate dreams. I thought the story felt very real, with a touch of special magic, and I was moved by Emmie and her story. My favorite part is that she carries sprinkles in her purse for her son, and when Gus needs an extra bit of courage for a tough day at school, she adds sprinkles to his food and calls them “Courage Sprinkles.” This lovely novel gave me all the best feels. It’s perfect for when you need a pick-me-up to believe in your own courage and magic again.

Egalleys for A Sprinkle of Sweet Serendipity were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.