“Well, you’d better get used to things getting messy, because when I’m cooking something up, that’s bound to happen.”

So says Charlotte Gregory, second eldest Gregory sister, graduate of Fanny Farmer’s School of Cookery, and heroine of ‘While Love Stirs’ – a new novel written by Lorna Seilstad and published by Revell in the spring of 2014. As the second book in Ms. Seilstad’s ‘The Gregory Sisters’ series, ‘While Love Stirs’ is like a cool cream-puff desert – light and airy, sweet and creamy, a delightful treat for a summer afternoon.

From cooking contests to twisting tornadoes, ‘While Love Stirs’ is filled with surprises and excitement, not to mention more than a few deliciously detailed foods. The novel’s other specialties include:

– Humour, and lots of it!

Many of the characters from ‘When Love Calls’ (Book #1 of ‘The Gregory Sisters’), make regular appearances, gifting readers with ‘what happened next’ scenarios.

Entertaining allusions to the art of cookery are ‘peppered’ throughout the book, and then ‘stirred until blended’… : )

Quirky characters abound, and many personalities combine together to create an interesting collage of human nature.

By acknowledging the novel’s many strong points, it is necessary to note a few of the downfalls, as well. In Charlotte’s disasters and dilemmas, readers will NOT discover many challenging insights or thought-provoking issues, and the light-hearted tone continuously prevails – even in situations that have the potential to probe deeper. In addition, the slight ‘mystery’ of the story is resolved quickly and unsatisfactorily, leaving readers with more questions than answers. Finally, although the characters have unique personalities, they sometimes appear flat and lackluster by using stilted dialogue and over-the-top gestures.

Overall, ‘While Love Stirs’ resembles a cream-puff in multiple ways… While it offers light and creamy entertainment, readers will not receive much nourishment for the mind or soul before reaching ‘The End’. Like any desert, a story such as this one is enjoyable once in a while, but probably should not comprise a reader’s primary diet!

“Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group”.