Love at the Candy Heart Cafe (Chapter One--Lenora Worth)

Love at the Candy Heart Café (Our 2018 Valentine Serial)

Chapter One

Lenora Worth

“Candy, where’s my coffee?”

“On the way, Mr. Lovestock,” Candy Reese said with a smile. Her feet hurt and her back was numb, but this job paid the rent on her one-bedroom duplex down the beach from the Candy Heart Café.

The café had belonged to her grandmother and Candy, named after this quaint little place located on the beach, had inherited it six months ago.

A bitter irony if there ever was one. She’d fallen in love right here sitting in the bright red corner booth, over hot chocolate and a Valentine-shaped sugar cookie. Fallen in love and then lost her heart when she’d watched the boy she loved walk right out the lacy-wrought-iron encased front door.

“You make the best coffee,” Mr. Lovestock said with a sweet smile. “My Tootsie made good coffee, too.”

“I know you miss her,” Candy replied. “She was a good woman.”

“The best,” he said before digging into his pecan pie. “How about you? Big plans for Valentine’s Day?”

Candy scoffed and pulled at her strawberry red pony tail. Two weeks away and nothing on the horizon. “Yeah. I’ll be right here serving all the people who belong in the Lonely Hearts Club.”

Mr. Lovestock shook his head. “Well, you never know. You might get booted from that club when your true love walks through that door.”

Candy didn’t think that was possible. She was dead-broke and afraid she’d have to sell the Candy Heart. This little beach community depended on this place for fellowship and good home-cooking. The sweet treats the café provided gave people a reason to meet and mingle. But it needed serious updates and repairs and she didn’t have the funding. She couldn’t let her grandmother down. She’d find a way.

The front door rattled, the tinkling bells always bringing back memories of working here after school.

Not bothering to glance up from the chocolate shake she was about to pour from the blender, she called out, “Just sit wherever you want. We’ll be with you in a minute.”

“I’ll take the corner booth on the left,” a deep voice said from behind her. “And I’ll have a hot chocolate and a sugar cookie.”

Candy almost spilled the shake in her hurry to turn around. It couldn’t be. But it was. The boy who’d left her sitting in that corner booth ten years ago.

Chad Hershey. In the flesh and looking better than a double-chocolate cream cheese brownie with his silky dark curls and rich brown eyes.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, wishing she hadn’t chewed off all of her lip gloss.

“I came to see you,” he said, looking into her eyes. “I have a proposition for you, Candy.”

“Yeah, and what would that be, Chad?”

“I want to buy this place.”

Mr. Lovestock snorted. Candy huffed a breath. Her customer waited for his milkshake.

“Over my dead body,” she said before stomping off, her ponytail bouncing with determination.

She had no intention of selling out to the now rich and powerful real estate mogul and she certainly had no intention of giving her heart to him again either.

    

What will Candy do? Come back tomorrow for Chapter Two!

The Sweethearts of Truffle Manor--Valentine Serial--Lenora Worth

Valentine Serial 2016

The Sweethearts of Truffle Manor

Chapter One—

Lenora Worth

 

He found the antique ring when he was going through the old fixer-upper house on Candy Lane. It was tucked in a cranny inside the closet of the master bedroom upstairs. Like so many of the items he’d stumbled upon after buying the huge house, the ring had been hidden. Someone must have loved scavenger hunts or keeping their treasures in secret places.

Devon Hershey stared at the art deco style ring nestled in red velvet inside the intricate gold box, thinking the solitaire mounted on a silver filigree band had to be at least a carat in weight. Not something a construction contractor could afford.

But then, he was single and aimed to stay that way. His work kept him on the move day and night. No time for romance. And now, no extra money for anything.

“I need to visit Mrs. Dunkleman and give her this,” he said, his words echoing out around him like lost memories in the empty, eerie house. He stood in the  massive entryway of the two-story Tudor mansion he’d paid way too much to save and wondered again why this huge, rambling place had captured his heart.

But he knew Candy Dunkleman had a lot to do with that. The woman could persuade the ganache off a cupcake. And she made the best cupcakes. Or used to.

“You’re the one, Devon,” she’s mumbled from her bed at Nougat Peak, the assisted living place on the other side of Rose Lake, where she was finishing out her last days. “You can make Truffle Manor come alive again.”

Devon first met Mrs. Dunkleman when he’d visited this home with a church group one Christmas. She was an amazing woman and this house was impressive, an estate that encompassed a large acreage and a stunning view of the lake. Bailey and Candy Dunkleman had created Dunkleman Chocolates and Confections over sixty years ago. In love from the very first chocolate truffle, Mr. Dunkleman had named the street after her and the house after her favorite treat. But the Dunklemans hadn’t always had happy times. Their only son and his wife had died in a plane crash several years ago and Mr. Dunkleman had passed last year. Now they would leave a legacy for their only remaining relative, their granddaughter, Adette (which meant sweet, Mrs. Dunkleman always told him with a smile). But their granddaughter lived in New York City and she wasn’t interested in saving a crumbling estate on a lake in North Carolina.

So the Dunkleman Candy legacy would be gone unless he saved the house they’d built on Rose Lake. He couldn’t wait to get started on the renovations. He’d borrowed a chunk of change to make his dream a reality but Mrs. Dunkleman had given him a fair deal and her blessings. It would take everything he had to make this work, but Devon was determined to save Truffle Manor.

But first he had to get this ring to its rightful owner. Closing the box with a snap, he turned to leave.

And found a raven-haired woman wearing a flowing red dress staring at him from the open doorway. “Who are you and what are you doing with my grandmother’s ring box?”

Allie Pleiter on love and food...

I’m an emotional eater. If I’m happy, I’m reaching for the chocolate.  If I’m sad, well, I’m reaching for the chocolate as well.  My waistline will tell you this isn’t a healthy reaction, but I’m betting I’ve got lots of company in the “women who eat their feelings” department.

I had a book group once give themselves a party where they brought (and ate) all the food in BAD HEIRESS DAY.  I hadn’t even realized there was that much food until they showed me the list!  It felt like an odd, grown up version of THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR.  But they assured me, it was a festive night.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to me that food shows up in lots of my books.  In my world—the real one and the ones I make up—life often happens over food.  People relate over broken bread (or broken Mint Milano cookies).  Frankly, I think food is romantic.

I’ve already gotten lots of emails and letters about Jesse’s exquisite cooking skills in SAVED BY THE FIREMAN.   How can you not love a man who turns Brussels Sprouts into what Charlotte calls “the chocolate cake of vegetables”?!?

Romantic and memorable food scenes are everywhere: The heartwarming dogs-eating-spaghetti scene from LADY AND THE TRAMP.  Julia Robert’s amusing airborne escargot in PRETTY WOMAN.  The hysterical deli scene in WHEN HARRY MET SALLY.  What about you?  What are your favorites?

Love at Cupid's Cove--A Valentine's serial--Lacy Williams

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1401282

He moved, or she did, and their lips brushed in a tentative, seeking kiss. Slowly, Lacy raised one hand and threaded her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck.

Noise rushed in her ears, as if she’d turned on all of the electric appliances at once; heat flushed through her like she was standing in front of an open oven door.

She could feel his tension, his muscles coiled to move away. Duncan was a man who kept things so tightly bottled inside… until she felt him break, and he crushed her to him.

Moments—or eons—later, he ended the kiss, pressing her head to his broad chest, tucking her head beneath his chin.

“That was a mistake.” She was so close that his words rumbled beneath her cheek. Stubble from his jaw caught in her hair, tugging the fine strands at her temple.

“It doesn’t feel like a mistake,” she said, heart now pounding with more than adrenaline from their kiss. Somehow, she’d found a way inside the walls he kept up to protect himself. Would he push her away?

She wrapped her arms more tightly around his waist, willing him to hold on to her.

“It does to me.” Gently, he set her away from him.

She blinked beneath the harsh kitchen lights, away from his warmth and the protection of his arms.

“I would never… purposely… do anything to hurt you.”

Then why was he pushing her away? It had to be some misguided sense of honor, because of what everyone in town thought about him. Everyone but her.

“Duncan, wait—”

He turned away, one hand on the back of his neck. Headed for the door. “I shouldn’t have come. I should—we should stay away from each other.” He sounded so determined, but she also heard the thread of doubt underscoring his words.

Luckily for the both of them, his statement only sparked a new determination within Lacy—to find a way to make things right for him.


Start at the beginning:
http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/2013/02/love-at-cupids-cove-valentine-serial.html
http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/2013/02/love-at-cupids-cove-valentine-serial_2.html
http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/2013/02/love-at-cupids-cove-valentine-serial_3.html
http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/2013/02/cupids-cove-valentine-serial-debby.html
http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/2013/02/love-at-cupids-cove-valentines-serial.html
http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/2013/02/love-at-cupids-cove-valentines-serial_5.html
http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/2013/02/love-at-cupids-cove-valentine-serial_7.html
http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/2013/02/love-at-cupids-cover-valentines-serial.html
http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/2013/02/love-at-cupids-cove-valentine-serial_9.html
http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/2013/02/love-at-cupids-cove-valentines-serial_11.html
http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/2013/02/love-at-cupids-cove-valentine-serial_12.html
http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/2013/02/happily-ever-after-in-cupids-cove-happy.html

Love At Cupid's Cove - Valentine Serial - Jean C. Gordon

Duncan kept his head down against the wind, a chill running through him that was out of proportion to the slight dip in the temperature this morning.  He crossed the street in front of his mother’s house and ducked down the alley-like short cut that he and his friends had always taken to Cupid Cove High School. Mom had been sleeping when he’d left. She wouldn’t know that he’d detoured a bit with her surprise cupcake.

His thoughts went back to the bakery and its proprietress. She’d seemed as sweet and cheery as her pastries. And, of course she knew his mother. That was the way with small towns. Everyone knew everyone else and their business. Places like Cupid’s Cove had a way of putting labels on their inhabitants. She must not have heard his. It certainly wasn’t hero.

The path he’d been following came out on the driveway of the last house on School Street before the school. The grass in the back yard was a shade longer than last week when his offer to mow the lawn had been rebuffed. He followed the driveway to the kitchen door at the side of the house and knocked.

“Hi, Duncan,” the five-year-old towhead answering the door said.

“That’s Mr. Hines, Angie,” her eight-year-old brother Jason corrected from behind her. “What do you want?”

“To see your mother.”

“She doesn’t want to see you,” the boy said.

“Are those from Miss Lacy’s bakery?” Angie asked, pointing at the box he was crushing in his hands. “For us?”

“Yes.” He unclenched his fingers. Lacy. The name suited her. Delicate, feminine.

“Jason is right. I don’t want to see you,” a disembodied voice said from the front of the house. “Please leave.”

Jason reached over his sister’s shoulder and started to pull the door closed. Duncan pressed the box into Angie’s hands before the door closed in his face. He heard the lock click.

Leave. There was nothing he’d rather do than leave Cupid’s Cove. But he couldn’t. Not yet.

Love At Cupid's Cove--Valentine serial--Lenora Worth :

Love at Cupid’s Cove

“I’d like to place an order for some cupcakes. Four or so will be fine.”

Lacy Rose smiled at the handsome stranger who’d just walked through the doors of her bakery. What was an interesting man like him doing in quiet Cupid’s Cove, anyway?

Outside the seagulls cawed and lifted out over the pristine blue waters of the bay. But a brisk February wind pushed through the great oaks and swaying palms.

“What kind of cupcakes?” Lacy asked, her attention moving from the beautiful scene out the window back to the hunky man staring at her with eyes the same color of the sky.

“Chocolate,” he said, grinning. “My mother loves chocolate cake.”

“That’s so sweet,” Lacy replied. “Getting your mother cupcakes for Valentine’s Day.”

“She’d been sick,” he explained, his hands in the pockets of his lightweight leather jacket. “She lives just down the way. You might know her. Betty Hines.”

“I do know Mrs. Hines,” Lacy said while she went about getting his order ready. “So you must be Duncan. She talks about you all the time. I mean, you’re a hero around here. You served in the Army, right?”

The smile on his face died. “Yeah, I did. But I’m home now.” He glanced out the window. “I need to go. How much do I owe you?”

Lacy wondered what she’d said to upset him. She’d often heard that soldiers didn’t like to talk about their time on the front lines. “This one is on the house,” she said, hoping to make up for her faux pas. “Thank you for serving your country.”

Duncan took the pink box but turned back. “Thanks, but you need to understand something. I’m not a hero. Not by a long shot.”

 

Ask Elnora--About Valentine's Day??? Lenora Worth

Hello, my funny Valentines. It's that time of year--time to go red for our hearts and to go find some chocolate for our souls. Valentine's Day is one of the best days for a writer, especially a romance writer. Don't you just love romance? I know some people frown on all the sappiness of the day, but honestly where would we be without romance? Falling in love is natural in life, and celebrating that love long after the flowers and candy are gone is what makes romance count. Of course, as romance writers we love Valentne's Day and those happy endings. Romance starts with a relationship but it's what happens AFTER the romance that makes a lasting love. And that involves all the ups and downs of life, the little things that mean so much. As many of you know, I traveled to Florida to our "retirement condo". I planned to work while Big Daddy renovated all around me. But my bad back decided to mess with my plans. I whined about it here already, but I could barely function. But here is where romance goes into overtime and turns into love. My husband took care of me by putting my desk near the only chair I could be comfortable in, by bringing me coffee and cooking for me, by helping me with my medicine and trips to the doctor.When I got cabin fever, he drove me out the beach and let me listen to the waves. That is the kind of romance that will last a lifetime, the kind that involves messiness and multi-tasking. That is the kind of romance that lasts long after the sigh and the closing of the book. Love begins with romance but it continues with grace and understanding and compromise and perservance. It takes the good and the bad and the happy and the sad and wraps all of it up in a pretty bow of commitment. So let's discuss Valentine's Day??? What do you love about it? What do you think about it? And remember, giving out hearts and flowers isn't all about couples. Friends sometime need a nice Valentine reminder that they are loved. Family members need a little bit of encouragement on a day that can sometimes be lonely. We all need a little romance. Flowers, hearts, chocolate--they all became wrapped up in this unique day, but we can carry a little bit of Valentine's Day with us every day. What do you think??

Ask Elnora--About Redemption????Lenora Worth

Hello, my lovelies. Elnora has had a long, stressful week. We all have those weeks, don't we? Something good happens but something bad follows. I call this a "prayer and chocolate" week. Say a prayer and eat some chocolate. But it's Friday. Friday has a certain appeal to Elnora. It's a nice shopping day. Today, I'm attending "A Tea Party in the Pink" to raise awareness for the Susan G. Komen For the Cure. (Most of us know that's the cure for breast cancer.) We're supposed to wear hats. Now where did I put that Fascinator?? I am wearing pink because I want to celebrate with several friends who are survivors. But Elnora wears many hats--figuratively speaking. Wife, mother, friend, sister, writer, writer, writer. Speaking of writing, I was involved in a "fascinating" discussion this week about how a standard plot involves action, reaction, and apology and why this can make a book a page-turner.

Elnora believes this works because of redemption. We are all flawed so we all seek redemption. We also find redemption in others fascinating, right? We want to be there when someone admits they did wrong. We want to see them do the right thing and redeem themselves because this is a universal and time-honored thing. Redemption is intimate, thus allowing the reader in on this action, reaction, apology formula that happens all the time in real life. What do you think? Let's discuss this formula and my redemption theory. And more importantly, please tell me the remainder of my week can find redemption. I'm running out of chocolate!

LEIGH BALE BLOGS ABOUT WEDDING CHOCOLATE

You may recall that I’m in wedding planning mode for my daughter. Valentine’s Day provided LOTS of opportunities for me to look at various chocolate goodies I can possibly serve during the reception in June. Chocolate with butter cream fillings, topped with luscious berries, cake, petit fours, you name it and I was looking at it. (But not tasting too much as I’m on a diet so I can fit in my Mother of the Bride dress…but that’s another story.)

I came up with this confection…a chocolate shell filled with a creamy pudding and topped with raspberries, my daughter’s favorite. Her grandmother (my mom) bottles raspberry/peach jam every year and gives a case of it to my daughter for Christmas. That’s how much my daughter loves this jam. It’s one of her gifts under the tree. So I was also thinking about mini-cheesecakes topped with this jam and one fresh raspberry. Pretty and tasty.

In my new book titled The Forest Ranger’s Promise being released in May, the little girls enjoy summer ice cream cones. That was another thought I had for the reception, but I fear June 17th might be hot enough to melt the cake and all the desserts.

What do you think? Do you have a favorite decadent dessert that might work well for a summer wedding reception out in our back yard? We’re open to ideas at this point. Mmm. All this talk about chocolate is making me hungry. :) Happy Eating! Leigh Bale

Moonstruck Chocolate-Yummmmm

Terri Reed here from wet and green Oregon. Okay so Valentine's is over, but that doesn't mean we (me) have to stop with the chocolate. I love chocolate. There I admitted it. I'm a chocoholic. I prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate, but really, any chocolate will do. However, I do have a favorite brand--okay several favorites-- but only one is made right here in Oregon.

Moonstruck Chocolate
http://www.moonstruckchocolate.com/index.aspx

There are five Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe's around Portland Oregon. Did you catch that? Chocolate cafe. Everything made of chocolate! You know giving a gift of delicious chocolate doesn't have to be only on Valentine's Day. Every day is a day to celebrate with chocolate. Good chocolate.

My heroine in my latest release loved chocolate too!

Hmmm, author projecting onto character?

Chocolate: Too Much Can't Be Bad

Pamela Tracy here, writing about two of her favorite things: chocolate and books! Below is a picture of a chocolate book. Underneath that, is a quiz about romance books and chocolate. I hope you enjoy both!

1) Close your eyes and imagine you're in your favorite place. Where are you?

[] Comfy chair in your living room, a Love Inspired romance in one hand, a box of chocolates on the table.

[] Restaurant, alone, hot fudge sundae in front of you, a Love Inspired romance in one hand, a spoon in the other.

[] Leaning against a tree in a part, husband or favorite person's head is in your lap, a Love Inspired romance is in one hand, the other is gently wisping through your favorite person's hair, you're chewing a piece of chocolate.

2) What is your favorite thing?

[] Travel, packing both chocolate and a Love Inspired romance

[] Exercise, promising yourself a reward of chocolate and quality reading time of a Love Inspired Romance

[] Spending time with family, passing out the chocolates and reading aloud certain passages from a Love Inspired romance (okay, this one was a stretch!)

3) When do you get your strongest chocolate and reading a Love Inspired romance cravings?

[] Lunch

[] Right after dinner

[] Late evening

[] You're kidding, I have to narrow it to a time?

4) Why do you like chocolates and Love Inspired romances?

[] They energize me

[] For escape

[] They're good for you

5) How much chocolate eating and Love Inspired romance reading can you do in one day?

[] I can eat a whole box/read a whole book

[] I can eat half a box/read half a book

[] I eat and read in brief periods

6) Women eat more chocolate and read more Love Inspired romance books than men?

[] true

[] false

7) How many pounds of chocolate does the average American eat and many pounds of Love Inspired books does the average American read?

[] 8.5

[] 12

[] 18

{] 26

8. Kojac loves both chocolate and Love Inspired romances

[] true

[] false

9. During Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, one of the Oompa Loompas could be seen reading a Love Inspired romance

[] true

[] false

10. This quiz has made me both hungry and made me want to go read a Love Inspired romance

[] true

[] false

See, it's true. Too much chocolate, when combined with too much reading, can't be all bad.

I'll post the answer to number 7 later tonight. In the meantime, have fun nibbling on chocolate and getting lost in a Love Inspired romance.

Rainy days and Mondays--Lenora Worth

Yesterday was a cool damp Monday. It rained all day Sunday, making for a lazy afternoon after church. I had the blues yesterday since we heard the news that a friend and fellow Steeple Hill writer had died of cancer. It's never easy knowing someone has died but this one hit me hard since I've lost several friends to this awful disease. But what can you say about cancer? While scientists and doctors do their research and we walk or run races to find cures and hold fundraisers to raise money for cancer research, it's still a horrid disease that takes people way too early from this life.

We've written about this in our stories, hoping to help our readers make sense of things such as this, hoping to give people a bit of comfort in knowing that God is always there with us, during the worst of times. And our faith will help us through this loss, this sadness that weighs us down at times such as this. So I will pray for the family left behind. I will pray for those who hear from their doctor this week that they, too, have cancer. I will pray for a cure and for comfort until there is a cure. And we can all keep fighting the good fight, running the race, until we find a way to stamp out this disease. Okay, I think I need chocolate. Lots of chocolate. And I need someone out there to say something funny to make me laugh or tell me about the kicking pair of shoes you found on the clearance rack last weekend.
That would help a lot right now. Chocolate anybody?