Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

Emma Laurent lives in Starlight Cove, near Lake Michigan and her best friend Kailyn is the town’s real estate agent. Emma’s a nice person, she likes to help others and everyone in her home town respects her. Emma’s life hasn’t been easy, her mother left when she was a baby, her father passed away when she was a young girl, her step mother Gillian wasn’t maternal, and ten years ago her fiancée Joe died in a tragic attack.

Emma lived with her beloved grandmother, she now has dementia, she's living in an expensive nursing home and Emma's worried her grandmothers insurance cover will run out. When, Emma’s father suddenly passed away, his widow Gillian inherited the house, the family sweet shop and not Emma. Gillian's announced she wants to sell the shop, to a big company and Emma's devastated. Emma runs the business, makes all the yummy chocolates and sweets, using her fathers recipes and Kailyn thinks Emma should buy the shop.

A couple visit the sweet shop, they notice a painting that's been hanging on the wall for thirty years, they want to buy it and offer her a lot of money. Emma’s not silly, the painting belongs to her and she remembers the artist painting it. Could selling the painting be a way for Emma to buy the business, pay for her grandmothers care, can she part with a precious memory and it must be worth more than the couple have offered?

Emma’s also helping a lady called Lydia and her son Jamal, she found them sleeping in their car and she's organized a place for them to stay. Cody Henderson owns the local hardware store, he also runs a program to help troubled teens and it’s exactly Jamal needs. Cody makes Emma flustered, she hasn’t been in a relationship since Joe passed away and is it time for her to move on?

A Bittersweet Surprise is a story about Emma reevaluating her life, she's been stuck in a rut, she needs to stand up for herself, the new people in Emma’s life make her aware that it’s time for her to be in control of her own destiny and secrets from the past are uncovered. I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, a perfect follow on from the previous book in the series The Winemaker's Wife, the character of Emma is as sweet as the treats she makes and four stars from me. I have shared and posted my review on Goodreads, Australian Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Edelweiss and Twitter.

Well, I am glad that I pushed through and read A Bittersweet Surprise. It was slow, really slow to start, but after ten or so chapters it gets interesting. The story is about Emma, The Sweetery and the relationship between her, her grandmother and Gillian, her stepmother. She really has serious issues, lacks in self-confidence and feels unworthy. Emma doesn’t feel like she’s enough or that she deserves help from other people, and to keep friends or to be liked, or have a feeling of belonging she helps others and has been setup from being too... naive, to say it gently.
In the end, everything works out, but I was really hating her. Sorry, but that’s the true. Will I read other books from this author? Yes. Perhaps I was tired of seeing Emma being the « Welcome » carpet.

A lovely sweet story with a bit of intrigue and a bit of romance to keep your interest and a good selection of characters. Good light easy read that a read in one session.

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. The word building was phenomenal in this book. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

I really enjoyed a previous book by this author and was pleased to see another.
I loved the sweet setting in the book, and was enthralled with the several stories running through .
It was a relatively quick read, and it left me with a smile on my face.
Definitely a book to recommend for a pick me up.

This was a cute book about Emma working to buy her father's candy shop. There is also some mystery with a woman she takes in to her house and a painting hanging in the candy shop. I enjoyed discovering these mysteries with Emma and following her story to obtain the shop.

I gave less stars because I at times felt there were so many storylines going on at once.

If you need a sweet, small-town story, this is what you need!A little mystery and a little angst keep your interest till the end!It touches on so many important issues but in a light and easy way.It is very easy to read, I love both the main protagonist as well as all side characters.The characters are believable and well developed.

Emma has a very kind heart and will do anything to help anyone. But now she needs help, her stepmother is selling her late fathers sweet shop and the fees at her grandmothers nursing home are becoming too much to manage. She would love to buy out her stepmothers portion of the shop but everything seems too much right now. However with the discovery of a painting that is apparently worth quite a lot of money, are things changing direction for Emma?

A sweet story wth some twists and turns that I enjoyed.

A Bittersweet Surprise by Cynthia Ellingsen was a joy to read. Set in the fictional town of Starlight Cove, it’s the story of chocolatier Emma, who’s father founded The Sweetery, the towns chocolate shop. Emma’s stepmother Gillian surprises Emma with the news that she plans to sell the chocolate shop. Emma and Gillian have a troubled relationship and this news does not help that. But Emma discovers a painting that’s been hanging in The Sweetery for years may have been painted by a famous artist, and would provide the collateral Emma needs to buy The Sweetery. Then there’s mystery woman, Lydia, and her son, Jamal. Emma has mixed feelings about them, but having a good heart, she sets out to help them in whatever way she can, even providing them with a place to stay. In the midst of the story is best friend, Kailyn, and romantic interest, Cody. This was just a very sweet story of forgiveness, family, doing the right thing, charity, hope, and all things that make life sweet.

I enjoyed A Bittersweet Surprise and thank Netgalley and the publisher for a e-copy of the book for a review. #netgalley #abittersweetsurprise

A feel good, quick read book for fans of Elizabeth Berg - a close town where everyone knows everyone’s business but everyone works together to form a close knit community. A happy story with a happy ending.

There is not one thing bad you can say about this book. From the first page to the very last word it kept my interest. It flows so wonderfully and keeps you happy and upbeat most always. There are a few tears in it but overall it’s a uplifting story.
I believe this is my first by this author. I’ll be reading more now.
Thank you #netgalley and #lakeunion for this book. This review is my own.

A big 5 stars for a highly recommended book.

Emma has always been a person who helps other. Now her life is crumbling around her. Her step-mother is selling her late dad's candy shop to a conglomerate and her grandmother's nursing home fees are going up to the unaffordable. This is on top of the anniversary date of her fiance's death. Emma's friends and neighbors decide to help out. This is a good story of good returning to those who deserve it. A nice easy clean read. This is book 3 in the Starlight Cove series and can be read as a stand alone. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Nice feel good book. It flowed very well. was easy to read. Nice characters. Good storyline. What’s not to love.

Emma loves running her family's candy shop, creating new delicious treats and seeing her friends savour her new offerings; however, her father left the candy shop to his second wife who is selling the shop to a corporation. The only way that Emma can keep the shop is to buy out her step-mother at a higher profit than the corporation has offered her. The catch, of course, is that Emma has no extra money and very little self-esteem to think outside of the box. What she does have is loyal customers, friends whom Emma has helped over the years who are ready to return the favor and.... a mysterious painting that has hung in the candy shop since her father was alive. When a stranger makes Emma a flabbergastingly large sum of money for the artwork, Emma begins to suspect there is more to the painting than she realizes.

I absolutely loved and adored A Bittersweet Surprise. There was drama, family issues that had to be overcome but, most importantly, it illustrated how women, given the chance, can overcome obstacles in order to succeed. Emma not only has the skills necessary to be a successful business owner, she a heart that is full of gold. We see Emma as she selflessly helps the other people in her town, a homeless woman and her son, everyone she comes in contact with. She isn't perfect but she shows what goodness means. I found myself completely immersed in Emma's story and all of the characters in the book. A Bittersweet Surprise is the third installment of a series but it works beautifully as a stand-alone. Ellingsen uses the "shared universe" style of writing where, as readers, we are introduced to a town or setting that is common throughout the series but the characters, though they may be familiar to us, each have their own story and plot. She has done a great job introducing the characters so that you know their backstory without the need to read each book in order. I highly recommend the book and the entire series - which I've now read.

Cynthia Ellingsen is a new author to me and I was really impressed with her work. The setting, a sweet/candy shop, appealed to me from the very first chapter but I also really enjoyed the character development too. The storyline had some interested twists with characters that both surprised me and provided people that I enjoyed disliking. I’ll definitely read more from this author!

Starlight Cove and Emma's Sweetery store are so enchanting and growing up in MI and having ties in Northern MI I could really picture the little town that was depicted and the small town feel of it! I really enjoyed the storyline and the snippets of info throughout the book that led me to the sweet ending. There are good people in this world yet, and I was thankful to see in this book good things happen to good people! This was a nice easy read and I wanted to keep coming back to it to solve the mystery of the painting. Definitely will be finding more stories on Starlight Cove and it's people from Cynthia Ellingsen.

Cynthia Ellingsen's "A Bittersweet Surprise" is a delightful book about Emma Laurent, a young woman trying to overcome more than her fair share of struggles: she's struggling to love again following the death of her fiancé, she's struggling to get her finances in order after a bad experience helping out a friend, she's struggling to keep her grandmother in an assisted living facility, and she's struggling to hold on to her late father's chocolate shop in the small town of Starlight Cove.

Emma is a most winsome character and clearly has a heart for helping others, even when criticized for doing so by close friends and family. Her efforts to help a homeless mother and son are particularly enjoyable to read, because Emma wonders whether she's being taken advantage of and clearly wants to be compassionate yet smart about it.

The book includes an intriguing subplot about an old painting hanging in the candy shop, a portrait of Emma as a young girl. A vacationing couple offers her $20,000 for the artwork, and Emma wonders why. Meanwhile, she finds herself developing feelings for her fitness instructor and wondering whether she's ready to love again.

Ellingsen's writing is lovely, her characters are thoughtfully crafted, and the story is one that will stick with readers. It even felt a little bittersweet to leave Starlight Cove, and I can't wait to book my next stay.

This is simply a beautiful story written so well that as a reader I was drawn into the charcters and story. That is the sign of a great writer. I have not read the previous in the series but found I was able to learn all the charcters and follow along with ease. I highly recommend this book for your reading enjoyment for all who love stories of redemption, starting over and strong women that steer their own life course.
Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley. My review opinion is my own and will be cross posted.

Here we have the continuation of the story of Emma, a women with a big heart who has known hard times. She has opened her heart to a homeless Mother and son while facing losing her long time job in the family candy shop thanks to her evil stepmother. She adores the family shop and does not want to lose it so she forms a plan to possibly save the shop and take over. She is also faced with a mysterious offer of 20K for a painting of her that has been in the shop since she was a child. Intrigued why someone would want to buy her painting she beings to investigate and soon a mystery forms. Although the sale would be her saving grace she is hesitant until she researches their motives.

I loved the well drawn charcters, the elements of life in a small town and Emma as a strong charcter. This is the perfect afternoon read . Well done to the author. I hope to read more by this author in the future. Quite well done and one of the best books I have read in 2019 !

Beautifully written, this charming read is a delight from start to finish. There's a lot going on, and it's a credit to the writer's skill that it is nonetheless easy to follow.

Many thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.