Today for Fiction Friday I’m sharing my book recommendation for Kate Landry Has A Plan by Rebekah Millet, a delightful contemporary romance set in New Orleans.
Here’s the Book Description:
I turned to him, and he winked at me. Winked! We needed clear lines in place between us. We would not be flirty friends. We’d be friends, period. The sooner I made that distinction, the better.
Forty-year-old Kate Landry’s carefully planned life has become as messy as the powdered sugar on her famous beignets. Juggling the responsibilities of running her café, raising her teenage niece, and the emotional baggage from her breakup, Kate finds her world once again turned upside down when her first-ever crush, Micah Guidry, returns to town as the hunky local librarian.
As Kate struggles to implement her plans to expand her café amid the New Orleans Mardi Gras madness and the meddling of her conniving ex-fiancé, Micah becomes the unwitting hero of her misadventures, stirring up feelings she thought she’d long buried. How can falling in love in the Big Easy be this hard?
Narelle’s Thoughts:
I enjoyed reading Kate Landry Has a Plan, the second book in Rebekah Millet’s Beignets for Two series set in New Orleans. Kate is a busy single parent who’s raising her thirteen-year-old niece, Hayley. They live above Beignets and Books Cafe, that Kate inherited from her grandmother in the Garden District on Saint Charles Avenue.
It’s Mardi Gras season and Kate holds functions in her renovated cafe courtyard. The story opens with a Bridezilla delaying Kate at the cafe, which makes her run late to collect Hayley from the library. Kate calls the librarian and leaves an apology message.
When Kate arrives at the library, she’s mortified to discover the new temporary librarian, who listened to her embarrassing phone message, is Micah. He was Kate’s first crush in seventh grade and their library meet cute is awkward and amusing.
Micah’s back in town to help care for his father after living in Colorado since college. The story is in first person from Kate’s point of view, and we learn more about Micah, including why his marriage didn’t last, as the story progresses.
I enjoyed journeying with Kate in the story. She’s a go-getter with business smarts and a quirky sense of humor who adores her niece. Hayley loves hanging out at the library, which means Kate can’t avoid seeing Micah. Hayley is also desperate to own a puppy.
Kate and Micah’s romance is delightful and sweet. They have many problems to overcome and I love how all the story threads came together in a satisfying story ending. The charming New Orleans setting, with its unique culture, food and delicious beignets, provided a beautiful backdrop for the story. The fascinating and quirky cast of side characters, and the animals in the story, added many humorous moments.
I recommend Kate Landry Has a Plan to contemporary romance readers who like midlife second chances romances set in New Orleans with family drama and a relevant faith element in the story.
Many thanks to Bethany House for the advanced reader copy.
Check out my Fan Girling with Narelle podcast/YouTube episode on the book at the link below.