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Pages: 55
Goes Well With: Fresh pastries and a hot cup of coffee
There’s just something warm and cozy about the stories in author Mary Manners’s Sweet Treats Bakery series. Especially during the chilly winter months, these sugary-sweet short romances seem like the perfect way to spend a lunch break. And, for fans of the series, the fourth and final book, Mattie’s Meltaways, will feel like a cozy cup of coffee with a bunch of old friends.
Ever since their parents’ death, Mattie Spencer has been responsible for raising her three younger sisters—all while running the family’s Sweet Treats Bakery. Through the years, she’s watched as her sisters found love and started families of their own—and she fears that her own chance of doing the same has passed her by.
But Mattie’s chance for love might come from regular bakery customer Tyler Jacobs, a local firefighter who’s devoted the three years since his wife’s death to raising his seven-year-old daughter. After so many mornings of coffee and conversation with Mattie, though, he begins to wonder if it might be time to give love another try.
If you’ve read any of the other books in the Sweet Treats Bakery series (like Tessa’s Teacakes or Grace’s Gold), you already know what to expect from the final installment. It fits the usual formulas, with budding romance that’s challenged by some kind of obstacle, only to fight its way to a neat, sweet ending. While it’s not hard to guess how the story will end, though, it still makes for a charming read.
Meanwhile, though most short novels struggle with things like character development, Mattie’s Meltaways doesn’t have the same problem—since, after three previous books, the female characters are already rather well developed. At the same time, while Tyler gets just a minimal introduction, it’s still enough to make him a pretty strong character, with concerns that are easy to understand. He and Mattie are both likable characters, and you’ll look forward to reaching their happy ending.
Of course, as with earlier books in the series, everything about Mattie’s Meltaways is just a little too neat—and a little too folksy. Today, the thought of a 35-year-old woman believing that she’s destined to spend her remaining days lonely and childless is laughable—and the old-fashioned notion that the characters’ happiness depends on marriage and babies (especially when these women have close family relationships and a successful business) is rather frustrating.
While the old-fashioned tone of the series might turn some readers off, though, Mattie’s Meltaways is still an undeniably adorable read. If you’ve enjoyed the other books in the series, you’ll want to make one last visit to the small town of Mount Ridge to see how the Spencer sisters’ story ends.
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