by Heather Hepler
Point
2015
272 pages
ISBN: 9780545792598
Available October 27, 2015
A sweet surprise just in time for Halloween!
Heather Hepler has done it again! Following the wildly successful and entertaining The Cupcake Queen, Hepler takes readers back to Hog's Hollow, a teensy town where Penny Lane's (her mother loves the Beatles, obviously) newly divorced mother has opened The Cupcake Queen, the sweetest bakery the town has ever seen. Penny helps at the bakery, spends time with BFF Tally working odd jobs to help the animal shelter buy a new generator and pitches in with boyfriend Marcus to build a scale model of the solar system to honor his mother's memory.
Penny faces hard times: this is the first year her dad won't be around for the holidays. Mean girl Charity is still a pain, but now Penny faces competing for Marcus's time with super model lookalike Esmerelda. Penny's mom is being secretive about something and Penny plans to find out what is going on.
Penny juggles work, school, her fractured friendship with Tally, her mother/father divorce issues, Gram's secret, volunteering, raising money and hoping/praying/dreaming that Marcus likes her. And she does it all with aplomb and humor and a few tears.
The girls are in crisis in Frosted Kisses. So many life changes are happening it's hard for Penny to take in. Thank goodness she can always depend on her true friends. Sometimes though, true friends have problems of their own. Penny may have to navigate treacherous waters on her own.
Someone is out to get Penny, leaving her cryptic messages, damaging her property and undermining her relationship with Marcus. Penny needs to get to the bottom of the mystery before something more serious occurs.
My favorite character besides Penny is Tally's "almost boyfriend" Brandon. He has a great sense of humor and always appears just in the nick of time. Readers will fall in love with him, too. Every girl should have a Brandon as a BFF,
Recommended grade 7-up. No language. A couple of sweet kisses.
FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.
