Review: Sweet Misfortune

My Synopsis:

Sweet Misfortune by Kevin Alan Milne

(For review from Hachette Book Group)

Sophie Jones has weathered some big storms in her life, including loosing her parents in an auto accident and being jilted by her fiancée a week before the wedding. Needless to say her idea of happiness is a bit skewed. She has realized her dream of owning her own chocolate shop and created a niche for her business that isn't being tapped. Her latest creation are Misfortune cookies. Misfortune cookies have a bitter taste and an even more bitter fortune inside. But, somehow people really enjoy these dire predictions and keep coming back for more.

When Sophie's ex-fiancée, Garrett resurfaces after a year wanting to explain why he left, Sophie is adamantly against the idea. Garrett thinks Sophie is depressed but she believes she's a realist. He is determined to prove to her that happiness does exist. In order to get a date with Sophie, so that he can explain himself, Garrett must do the impossible. Place an ad seeking "real" happiness that doesn't "fleet" in the Seattle Times and receive 100 acceptable responses. Sophie has no idea how that little ad will change her life forever. Will Sophie find real happiness? Will Garrett finally be able to tell her why he left? Will Sophie ever stop blaming herself for the past?

My Thoughts:

Sweet Misfortune has shot to the top of my top ten of the year. What a great story. I loved the setting the characters and the premise of the story. Kevin Alan Milne has created a story that will speak to many people. With themes including forgiveness, surviving tragedy, and divine providence, this is a real winner.

Sophie character is a realist. She doesn't really believe in real happiness. Everything and everyone some how goes away. It's all fleeting. Readers can understand why she feels this way considering her past. I think at one time or another most people feel a bit disillusioned by their own circumstances. The part I really like about Sophie and her story is that something good can come out of tragedy and this book really portrays that well. We don't know why things happen the way they do but, sometimes the "wish of your heart" comes true in very unexpected ways.

Another part I really enjoyed was how connected the world really is. We sometimes call it coincidence but, Ellen would say it's divine providence and I believe that. It's amazing how small the world really is though. Sometimes we meet people that are somehow intertwined in our lives in ways we could never believe. Long lost relatives and friends of friend of friend. I truly enjoyed this book and gave me hope. I always say if a book can make you feel some kind of emotion it was a darn good book. It made me drop a few tears, it made me smile and it made me happy. From now on I'm going to call myself a "hopeful" romantic instead of a "hopeless" romantic, there's a difference!

Sweet Misfortune is available now from your favorite bookseller!

I give this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

Here is some more information about author, Kevin Alan Milne.

Kevin Milne was born in Portland, Oregon on June 13, 1973. Nearly eighteen years later he graduated from high school in Sherwood, Oregon, a small country town outside of Portland. From there it was off to college, where he studied anything and everything that caught his interest.

In his first two years as an undergraduate student he changed majors almost a dozen times, studying such varied fields as film, journalism, communications, philosophy, pre-dentistry, advertising, pre-law, pre-medicine, political science, and German, then finally earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. Just about the only thing he didn’t study was business, which, ironically, is what he chose to pursue in graduate school, earning an MBA at Penn State University in 2000. Today, Kevin is a business professional by day, an author by night, and a husband and father around the clock. He and his wife, Rebecca, were married in Washington DC in 1995. They now reside in Kevin’s hometown of Sherwood, Oregon, where they are the proud parents of five children: Mikayla, Kamry, Mary, Emma, & Kyler (aka "the boy").