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Heartbreak Cafe #6
Just Desserts
The delicate harmony of Heartbreak Cafe is upset when the gang learns that the popular hangout may be torn down to accommodate a new resort, and Debbie starts seeing her old boyfriend Grant, leaving Joe in the dust
- GenresYoung AdultFiction
176 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Janet Quin-Harkin
128 books76 followersJanet Quin-Harkin is a pseudonym of Rhys Bowen
Rhys turned to writing children’s books under her married name, Janet Quin-Harkin. Her first picture book was an immediate success and won several awards. More picture books followed, then her agent asked her to write a book for young adults. This was a turning point in Rhys’s career. Her first young adult novel was an instant hit. By her third she was selling half a million copies. Many more popular YA novels followed until Rhys decided she had said all she wanted to say about teenage love and angst, and she turned her real love—mysteries.
Rhys turned to writing children’s books under her married name, Janet Quin-Harkin. Her first picture book was an immediate success and won several awards. More picture books followed, then her agent asked her to write a book for young adults. This was a turning point in Rhys’s career. Her first young adult novel was an instant hit. By her third she was selling half a million copies. Many more popular YA novels followed until Rhys decided she had said all she wanted to say about teenage love and angst, and she turned her real love—mysteries.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 24, 2021
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book series in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
https://sophsbookworld.wordpress.com/...
The sixth book was probably the most disappointing and my least favorite in this series. I felt like not a lot happened (except for the big break-up) and honestly, I wanted a bit more from the last book.
Grant was brought in again just to stir in some drama and to make Joe look like the big hero and I wasn’t that into it.
Honestly, I was more into Ashley and Jason. Although it was a weird relationship story for sure, I liked how everything turned out and I’m so happy she finally found someone right for herself.
In conclusion, although the last two books could’ve been done better, I still really enjoyed this series and it was such a quick and cute read. I’d say if you like quirky teen dramas definitely pick this one up!
https://sophsbookworld.wordpress.com/...
The sixth book was probably the most disappointing and my least favorite in this series. I felt like not a lot happened (except for the big break-up) and honestly, I wanted a bit more from the last book.
Grant was brought in again just to stir in some drama and to make Joe look like the big hero and I wasn’t that into it.
Honestly, I was more into Ashley and Jason. Although it was a weird relationship story for sure, I liked how everything turned out and I’m so happy she finally found someone right for herself.
In conclusion, although the last two books could’ve been done better, I still really enjoyed this series and it was such a quick and cute read. I’d say if you like quirky teen dramas definitely pick this one up!
July 18, 2024
Just Desserts
Debbie is working at the Heartbreak Café Joe (her boyfriend) comes in from his break and says that he heard that on Beach Row (a collection of high-end boutiques) someone is trying to buy their land and put a Palace Inn in its place. Joe is unphased about this because his grandfather won’t sell the property. There’s a fashion show going on outside thrown by one of the shops. Howard (one of the employees whose into inventions) has created a dragon that advertises the café, But it gets out of control and wrecks the fashion show.
Two angry men and a police show up and they (Joe and Debbie) have to explain it’s a prank gone wrong. Joe and Deb talk about how they might try to use this to get the café shut down. When Pam comes in Deb relays it all to her. Pam *her best friend* is excited about their senior year. Deb is worried because now she won’t have the money for a scholarship. She plans to keep working at the café so she won’t have time for extra activities. She doesn’t want to go to community college because her mother will be going there. Joe will be going in the fall. Then Deb starts to worry that she won’t be able to play on the country club's tennis team. She muses how different things are since her parents got a divorce. On her way home, to get ready to go to a movie with Joe, Debbie thinks how much she doesn’t want the summer to end because she fears things will change once Joe goes to college.
When her parents got divorced, she went to live with her mom. They use to live in a big house but the money got split between both parents. Her dad (who was once a lawyer) is now writing screenplays. Her mom was writing on a paper as an intern but now they’ve asked her to stay on full term. This means she’ll have to drop out of college. She’s already dropped out before to marry Deb’s dad. Debbie says she won’t let her. She says she’d be moving up in the business world. She’d be a researcher but this could lead to a reporter. Her mom says she’s starting to question the validity of college anyway. Debbie argues that it will give her a degree but her mother says she’s looked at the courses and doesn’t know if she’ll be able to pass biology. Debbie reminds her of the time her boss used all her research and didn’t give her any credit and asks what if the job doesn’t work out. Debbie makes her promise she’ll think it over and don’t do anything rash without talking to her. Debbie tells her mom about the date and she’s disappointed that it’s not with someone “more suitable”. She turns the tables and tells Debbie don’t do anything rash without talking to her.
After the movie, Joe tells Debbie he’s decided not to go to college. The problem is Joe’s grandfather wants him at the café full time. Family is everything to him because he’s Italian. Debbie tells him his education is more important. Then she accuses him of being a coward. They get into a fight and he walks off. Debbie apologizes the next day and tells her about her mother. Joe thinks it makes sense. Why go to college when she has a ready-made job? He tells her to let her mother make up her own mind. Debbie decides to leave the issue alone with Joe about college.
Things with the Heartbreak’s neighbors got more tense. They start to nitpick everything the customers do One of the neighbors comes by to bitch about the kids and throw up the threat of the Paradise Inn. Then they see someone taking measurements. Brett (another employee) come up with a plan to make them decide Rockley isn’t suitable by having Howard make things that explode and smell bad. Debbie doesn’t think this is a good idea. It’ll give them the reason they need to close them down. Then Debbie notices that Joe’s been disappearing. Asley confines to Debbie that all week she was at Numero Uno (a snobbish restaurant) and she’s been looking for a certain boy named Jason that she saw at a nightclub. He and Ashley danced together but she didn’t give her number because she’s not rich. So, she told him her phone isn’t working. She’s afraid she’s scared him off. She hasn’t seen him since. She asks Debbie to transform her into Debbie (a rich girl). Debbie says if he doesn't like her for who she is he isn’t worth it. But she agrees to help her although she doesn’t think she’s going about it the right way.
Debbie looks up and then sees they’ve moved on from measuring the parking lot and now they have a bull dozer. Then there’s chaos. People rush out to avoid being crushed. Debbie confronts the bulldozer driver. He says he had orders to just leave the dozer by the fence. He says that by the end of the week he’ll have all the space he needs because that’s when the papers will be signed. He says he saw the owner talking to a lawyer. But who he describes wasn’t Joe’s grandfather. Joe comes up and the guy says that Joe was the one trying to sell the café. It turns out Joe did sell the café because he was offered a really good deal for it. Not only was he not pressured into it, he went to them and offered them the site. He says now his grandfather can retire.
He and Debbie get into an argument. She ‘can’t believe that after saying he wouldn’t sell out he did just that. He didn’t even consider where the others would go. Debbie just runs off home after her shift. She tells her mother it’s over with Joe. She is THRILLED! She then tells her mother what happened with the café. Her mother seems to be nonchalant about this and thinks ita a good thing. She says it would have been comdemmed anyway and that Joe was just being realistic. Her mother says she’ll help her find somewhere else. This means Debbie’s mother will accept the job at the paper.
At work the next, Joe tries to give Debbie the reasons why she sold the café, but she’s not trying to hear his excuses. He says that just because the café is being sold that doesn’t mean that their relationship has to end but Debbie says that when the café closes that’s IT for them. So, they avoid each other the rest of their shirts,. Ashley reminds Debbie of her promise and invites her to go to Jupiters as her wing woman the next night.
Jason seems to like Ashley but she keeps giving him excuses (and lies) about why he can’t see her. It goes a little better when they start dancing. Deb is left there alone and hit on by undesirable guys. But one of them turns out to be (Grant) Debbie’s ex 9 (the one that cheated with another girl). He’ll be leaving for college (Harvard) in another week. He agrees with the decision to close the cafe because he thinks it’ll be nice to have tennis courts. He encourages Debbie to join the tennis club and offers to give her some lessons. She agrees to start the lessons that weekend and they decide to leave together and find a quiet place to talk. During the talk, each notices how mature the other has become. Surprisingly Grant doesn’t try anything when they finally say good night. Debbie is happy that such a handsome guy is still interested in her, but realizes that’s all there is. She’s lost interest in Grant as anything but a friend. There’s an intruder when she gets back in the carport. It’s yelling for her not to go. It’s Ashley. She’s had Jason try her to a fancy house by the country club and needs Debbie to drive her to her *real* home. Debbie scolds her a little bit for her deception. She says Jason asked to meet her at the beach and Deb says she’ll have to tell him the truth. Ashley agrees but says she wants to make sure he really likes her first.
Deb asked Joe for Sunday off and why. Joe isn’t happy about it but says it's fine On the dy of the lesson, Debbie is a little anxious the old crowd will accept her back. Her game is a little rusty, but she finds out she’s still got it. Deb’s mother is delighted that she’s back with the right crowd. Debbie finds out the bulldozing has been put on hold because of an ecology group. Debbie's game improves Grant invites Deb to the lake to clear his head before he starts college. Her mother of course, agrees. Debbie is conflicted but decides she needs a getaway and she’ll make it clear she’s only interested in Grant as a tennis partner (plus he says his parents will be there also).
Joe flips out (which makes Debbie secretly happy) when he finds out about the lake. Debbie tells him she doesn’t have to explain anything to him, but they’re just friends. Joe warns her that when he gets there and has her alone he might not be so perfect. But don’t come crying to him when it doesn’t turn off the way she wants. Debbie quickly finds out that Grant only wanted to get her there because he thought she was easy and he wanted to lose his virginity before starting college. But Joe shows up at the lake and keeps popping up under the water trying to warn her. Grant has Debbie in a tight grip. When she relaxes these fools him and then she bites him and runs out the door. He chases after her apologizing. Outside, she plans to run to the store to call someone to come get her, but instead runs into Joe and his motorcycle. They apologize and makeup. They're about to go back and get her clothes but Grant finds them. When Joe appears Grant backs off and he and Debbie leave after getting her clothes. Joe explains why he sold the building. His grandfather would have never retired otherwise and worked himself to death. Then he wanted a chance to go to college without feeling tied down by obligations.
Debbie finds out that Mr. Garbarini isn’t interested in retiring. Even if he gets the money he’ll just put it into starting another café. There’s a hurricane and Beach Row is hit hard. Joe and Debbie help them out by helping them collect the things that are blowing away. Joe and Debbie are caught up in the wind but are able to make it back to the Heartbreak. Joe won’t let his motorcycle be left behind so he goes after it. The roof of the Hear break falls off. Debbie grabs him to avoid being hit and the roof crashes to the ground. Joe is ok. The bike is crushed. They head to the house and Joe has the misfortune of coming out of the bathroom in a towel while Debbie’s mom comes home. But Debbie explains it to her what all happened on the beach. They all sit down and have tea. Mom is turned off by Ralph’s insensitivity to the people on the coast that lost their homes and has decided to go back to college. Joe talked to his Grandfather and he understands that he wants to go to college. In fact, he’s proud of him. Of course, the aftermath of the beach is a mess! But Joe’s grandfather sees this an opportunity and all the workers crowd the café. Ashley tells Debbie she found out Jason is from Bayside (a normal area) Some men from Secret Hangouts come and offer their apologizes and they’ll ask the men from Paradise Inn to look elsewhere and if not they’ll do what they can to make sure the café stays open.
My Thoughts:
This kinda reminded me of an episode from a very old sitcom called Rags to Riches. Same plot. There’s a popular restaurant that’s being torn down and the kids don’t want to let it go. It’s owned by an old man who seems like he’s *willing* to let it go but in the end, he changes his mind because he really doesn’t want to let go of the place. Only in the episode, it’s declared a historical landmark. There was also an episode like this in the Jem cartoon. I think it was called “Old Meets New” so this must be a very typical plot. The best thing about this book was that it showed not to judge by appearances. The guy that was rough around the edges turned out to be Mr. Right while the smooth guy turned out to be an ass. And the two characters Asley and Jason who thought they had to be someone else in order for the other to like them found out they liked each other just the way they were without putting on airs and trying to be someone they weren’t.
Rating: 5
Debbie is working at the Heartbreak Café Joe (her boyfriend) comes in from his break and says that he heard that on Beach Row (a collection of high-end boutiques) someone is trying to buy their land and put a Palace Inn in its place. Joe is unphased about this because his grandfather won’t sell the property. There’s a fashion show going on outside thrown by one of the shops. Howard (one of the employees whose into inventions) has created a dragon that advertises the café, But it gets out of control and wrecks the fashion show.
Two angry men and a police show up and they (Joe and Debbie) have to explain it’s a prank gone wrong. Joe and Deb talk about how they might try to use this to get the café shut down. When Pam comes in Deb relays it all to her. Pam *her best friend* is excited about their senior year. Deb is worried because now she won’t have the money for a scholarship. She plans to keep working at the café so she won’t have time for extra activities. She doesn’t want to go to community college because her mother will be going there. Joe will be going in the fall. Then Deb starts to worry that she won’t be able to play on the country club's tennis team. She muses how different things are since her parents got a divorce. On her way home, to get ready to go to a movie with Joe, Debbie thinks how much she doesn’t want the summer to end because she fears things will change once Joe goes to college.
When her parents got divorced, she went to live with her mom. They use to live in a big house but the money got split between both parents. Her dad (who was once a lawyer) is now writing screenplays. Her mom was writing on a paper as an intern but now they’ve asked her to stay on full term. This means she’ll have to drop out of college. She’s already dropped out before to marry Deb’s dad. Debbie says she won’t let her. She says she’d be moving up in the business world. She’d be a researcher but this could lead to a reporter. Her mom says she’s starting to question the validity of college anyway. Debbie argues that it will give her a degree but her mother says she’s looked at the courses and doesn’t know if she’ll be able to pass biology. Debbie reminds her of the time her boss used all her research and didn’t give her any credit and asks what if the job doesn’t work out. Debbie makes her promise she’ll think it over and don’t do anything rash without talking to her. Debbie tells her mom about the date and she’s disappointed that it’s not with someone “more suitable”. She turns the tables and tells Debbie don’t do anything rash without talking to her.
After the movie, Joe tells Debbie he’s decided not to go to college. The problem is Joe’s grandfather wants him at the café full time. Family is everything to him because he’s Italian. Debbie tells him his education is more important. Then she accuses him of being a coward. They get into a fight and he walks off. Debbie apologizes the next day and tells her about her mother. Joe thinks it makes sense. Why go to college when she has a ready-made job? He tells her to let her mother make up her own mind. Debbie decides to leave the issue alone with Joe about college.
Things with the Heartbreak’s neighbors got more tense. They start to nitpick everything the customers do One of the neighbors comes by to bitch about the kids and throw up the threat of the Paradise Inn. Then they see someone taking measurements. Brett (another employee) come up with a plan to make them decide Rockley isn’t suitable by having Howard make things that explode and smell bad. Debbie doesn’t think this is a good idea. It’ll give them the reason they need to close them down. Then Debbie notices that Joe’s been disappearing. Asley confines to Debbie that all week she was at Numero Uno (a snobbish restaurant) and she’s been looking for a certain boy named Jason that she saw at a nightclub. He and Ashley danced together but she didn’t give her number because she’s not rich. So, she told him her phone isn’t working. She’s afraid she’s scared him off. She hasn’t seen him since. She asks Debbie to transform her into Debbie (a rich girl). Debbie says if he doesn't like her for who she is he isn’t worth it. But she agrees to help her although she doesn’t think she’s going about it the right way.
Debbie looks up and then sees they’ve moved on from measuring the parking lot and now they have a bull dozer. Then there’s chaos. People rush out to avoid being crushed. Debbie confronts the bulldozer driver. He says he had orders to just leave the dozer by the fence. He says that by the end of the week he’ll have all the space he needs because that’s when the papers will be signed. He says he saw the owner talking to a lawyer. But who he describes wasn’t Joe’s grandfather. Joe comes up and the guy says that Joe was the one trying to sell the café. It turns out Joe did sell the café because he was offered a really good deal for it. Not only was he not pressured into it, he went to them and offered them the site. He says now his grandfather can retire.
He and Debbie get into an argument. She ‘can’t believe that after saying he wouldn’t sell out he did just that. He didn’t even consider where the others would go. Debbie just runs off home after her shift. She tells her mother it’s over with Joe. She is THRILLED! She then tells her mother what happened with the café. Her mother seems to be nonchalant about this and thinks ita a good thing. She says it would have been comdemmed anyway and that Joe was just being realistic. Her mother says she’ll help her find somewhere else. This means Debbie’s mother will accept the job at the paper.
At work the next, Joe tries to give Debbie the reasons why she sold the café, but she’s not trying to hear his excuses. He says that just because the café is being sold that doesn’t mean that their relationship has to end but Debbie says that when the café closes that’s IT for them. So, they avoid each other the rest of their shirts,. Ashley reminds Debbie of her promise and invites her to go to Jupiters as her wing woman the next night.
Jason seems to like Ashley but she keeps giving him excuses (and lies) about why he can’t see her. It goes a little better when they start dancing. Deb is left there alone and hit on by undesirable guys. But one of them turns out to be (Grant) Debbie’s ex 9 (the one that cheated with another girl). He’ll be leaving for college (Harvard) in another week. He agrees with the decision to close the cafe because he thinks it’ll be nice to have tennis courts. He encourages Debbie to join the tennis club and offers to give her some lessons. She agrees to start the lessons that weekend and they decide to leave together and find a quiet place to talk. During the talk, each notices how mature the other has become. Surprisingly Grant doesn’t try anything when they finally say good night. Debbie is happy that such a handsome guy is still interested in her, but realizes that’s all there is. She’s lost interest in Grant as anything but a friend. There’s an intruder when she gets back in the carport. It’s yelling for her not to go. It’s Ashley. She’s had Jason try her to a fancy house by the country club and needs Debbie to drive her to her *real* home. Debbie scolds her a little bit for her deception. She says Jason asked to meet her at the beach and Deb says she’ll have to tell him the truth. Ashley agrees but says she wants to make sure he really likes her first.
Deb asked Joe for Sunday off and why. Joe isn’t happy about it but says it's fine On the dy of the lesson, Debbie is a little anxious the old crowd will accept her back. Her game is a little rusty, but she finds out she’s still got it. Deb’s mother is delighted that she’s back with the right crowd. Debbie finds out the bulldozing has been put on hold because of an ecology group. Debbie's game improves Grant invites Deb to the lake to clear his head before he starts college. Her mother of course, agrees. Debbie is conflicted but decides she needs a getaway and she’ll make it clear she’s only interested in Grant as a tennis partner (plus he says his parents will be there also).
Joe flips out (which makes Debbie secretly happy) when he finds out about the lake. Debbie tells him she doesn’t have to explain anything to him, but they’re just friends. Joe warns her that when he gets there and has her alone he might not be so perfect. But don’t come crying to him when it doesn’t turn off the way she wants. Debbie quickly finds out that Grant only wanted to get her there because he thought she was easy and he wanted to lose his virginity before starting college. But Joe shows up at the lake and keeps popping up under the water trying to warn her. Grant has Debbie in a tight grip. When she relaxes these fools him and then she bites him and runs out the door. He chases after her apologizing. Outside, she plans to run to the store to call someone to come get her, but instead runs into Joe and his motorcycle. They apologize and makeup. They're about to go back and get her clothes but Grant finds them. When Joe appears Grant backs off and he and Debbie leave after getting her clothes. Joe explains why he sold the building. His grandfather would have never retired otherwise and worked himself to death. Then he wanted a chance to go to college without feeling tied down by obligations.
Debbie finds out that Mr. Garbarini isn’t interested in retiring. Even if he gets the money he’ll just put it into starting another café. There’s a hurricane and Beach Row is hit hard. Joe and Debbie help them out by helping them collect the things that are blowing away. Joe and Debbie are caught up in the wind but are able to make it back to the Heartbreak. Joe won’t let his motorcycle be left behind so he goes after it. The roof of the Hear break falls off. Debbie grabs him to avoid being hit and the roof crashes to the ground. Joe is ok. The bike is crushed. They head to the house and Joe has the misfortune of coming out of the bathroom in a towel while Debbie’s mom comes home. But Debbie explains it to her what all happened on the beach. They all sit down and have tea. Mom is turned off by Ralph’s insensitivity to the people on the coast that lost their homes and has decided to go back to college. Joe talked to his Grandfather and he understands that he wants to go to college. In fact, he’s proud of him. Of course, the aftermath of the beach is a mess! But Joe’s grandfather sees this an opportunity and all the workers crowd the café. Ashley tells Debbie she found out Jason is from Bayside (a normal area) Some men from Secret Hangouts come and offer their apologizes and they’ll ask the men from Paradise Inn to look elsewhere and if not they’ll do what they can to make sure the café stays open.
My Thoughts:
This kinda reminded me of an episode from a very old sitcom called Rags to Riches. Same plot. There’s a popular restaurant that’s being torn down and the kids don’t want to let it go. It’s owned by an old man who seems like he’s *willing* to let it go but in the end, he changes his mind because he really doesn’t want to let go of the place. Only in the episode, it’s declared a historical landmark. There was also an episode like this in the Jem cartoon. I think it was called “Old Meets New” so this must be a very typical plot. The best thing about this book was that it showed not to judge by appearances. The guy that was rough around the edges turned out to be Mr. Right while the smooth guy turned out to be an ass. And the two characters Asley and Jason who thought they had to be someone else in order for the other to like them found out they liked each other just the way they were without putting on airs and trying to be someone they weren’t.
Rating: 5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2011
Life's easy for Deborah Lesley, she's pretty and well- off, with her own car. She's never had a job but since her parents split up she needs the money. Shs stumbles upon the Heartbreak Cafe, which is not the type of place she normally would hang out.
Joe Garbarini is cool. he likes motorbikes, girls and fun. he doesn't have time for much since he's running the cafe most of the time. He has to help out since his family can't run the place any more.
Joe has plenty of experience with the cafe, while Debbie has none. Does she have what it takes to last a month or will she quit?
Debbie learns what it means to work, to be responsible, even when it feels like the adults in her life are acting like anything but that. She grows up a bit in this book.
This book was the beginning of a 6 book series. For young adults, written in 1989, it has some substance to it. we get to know Debbie and Joe and their families.
I'm so glad I ordered the rest of the books since I"m curious to find out what happens next.
Joe Garbarini is cool. he likes motorbikes, girls and fun. he doesn't have time for much since he's running the cafe most of the time. He has to help out since his family can't run the place any more.
Joe has plenty of experience with the cafe, while Debbie has none. Does she have what it takes to last a month or will she quit?
Debbie learns what it means to work, to be responsible, even when it feels like the adults in her life are acting like anything but that. She grows up a bit in this book.
This book was the beginning of a 6 book series. For young adults, written in 1989, it has some substance to it. we get to know Debbie and Joe and their families.
I'm so glad I ordered the rest of the books since I"m curious to find out what happens next.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews