Love and Lavender Ice Cream by Sara Freeze

Love and Lavender Ice Cream by Sara Freeze
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Romance, Historical
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A sudden summer storm drives Miss Sophia Selkirk into a confectioner’s shop filled with the delicious scents of ice cream and candies. Just as she settled in with her glass dish of delectable ice cream, a shadow falls over the table: the fiancé she jilted without explanation two weeks before has appeared. Can she trust him enough to reveal the secret that sent her fleeing from the only man she has ever loved?

Simon Warren’s entire life was jolted the night before their wedding when Sophia sent a brief note informing him she could not marry him. Now, he has tracked her down to this small confectioner’s shop, where over two dishes of ice cream, they will grapple with a secret scandal from the past and discover whether their love can overcome all obstacles.

Ice cream can’t fix everything, but it might be a good place to start.

Great chemistry is crucial for the romance genre. Luckily, Simon and Sophia had plenty of it! It was delightful to see how many different methods the author came up with for showing why these two people deserved to end up together. Ms. Freeze gave the audience plenty of information to work with, and she trusted us readers to put some of the pieces together for ourselves. It’s always neat when that happens.

I would have liked to see more character development. Of course, one can’t generally expect as much of that in a short story as in something that has a few hundred pages to work with, but I did find myself wishing for more detailed explanations of why both of these characters behaved the way they did. This was especially noticeable when it came to their discussions of how their pasts might impact the happy life they’d one dreamed of sharing together. Do note that this was a minor criticism of a tale I otherwise thought was nicely done.

The dialogue made me chuckle. I adored the fact that Sophia and Simon were both such witty and quick-thinking characters. Honestly, they could have discussed what to add to their grocery list or how quickly the price of tea was rising and still kept my interest. That was how much I enjoyed reading their banter! They were quite well matched for each other.

This is part of the One Scoop or Two series. It can be read as a standalone work.

Love and Lavender Ice Cream was a sweet treat.