February 4, 2013
Toronto-based Bowen (Man Enough For Me) spins a fast-paced story about business, love, and family in her third novel. The hardworking Sydney Isaacs runs Decadent, a gourmet pastry business that her deceased father left to her brother, Dean. She is also struggling with her belief in God, but that’s a minor plot point. Her childhood friend and old flame Hayden Windsor arrives back in town just as Dean tells the family that he’s married a woman who has convinced him to sell Decadent to its competition. What ensues is a cleverly crafted series of capers punctuated by the kind of hospital scenes and characters one might find in a soap opera. The novel is easy to read, with a gratifying conclusion, though Sydney’s resistance to Hayden is at times unusual, given that they’ve known each other since they were young. Still, their love story is sweet without being as sugar-rich as Decadent’s desserts.