At the end of this book Sam muses:
"You never know where fate will take you, she mused, but if you’re open to the possibilities, exciting things really can happen."
This could be the theme of the entire series, as Sam starts her bakery business in her small bungalow kitchen in Taos, New Mexico, and by the end her dream of having a successful bakery has come true.
On June 26, 2018, I started book #1 in the Samantha Sweet mystery series. It was a free book I got from Amazon via BookBub. From then on I couldn't stop reading, paying $4.99 a piece for the rest of the series #2-10 plus the prequel "The Woodcarver's Secret" which I will read next. Assuming that I finish the prequel today (which I have no reason to doubt) I will have read all 11 books in this series in one week at a cost of $49.99! I have never done such a thing before but it was worth every minute and every penny!
Since the last book was published in 2015, I have come to the sad conclusion that there will be no more Samantha Sweet mysteries. I am already in mourning at the loss of the characters, Sam, Beau, Kelly, Zoe, Jen, Becky, Julio, and more.
This book #10 begins with a woman who wanders into the Sweet's Sweets Bakery with several injuries but claiming she not only doesn't remember what happened to her she has no idea who she is. In the meantime a detective in Albuquerque contacts Beau, Sam's husband and the Taos County Sheriff, to do the sad task of notifying next of kin of a man found dead in his hotel room in Albuquerque. How the two plots come together is a masterful piece of writing.
Thank you Connie Shelton for giving me such enjoyment in binge reading this great series. A caveat: I definitely recommend reading the series in order.
UPDATE: Just discovered this was NOT THE END OF THE SERIES! Moving on to #11 (I've just finished The Woodcarver's Secret, the series prequel). Yay!