We meet former high school sweethearts Riley and Raymond. Riley is coming back to Los Angeles and staying with her Mum. She has left her previous job and is looking for something else. Her first stop after stopping at her Mum’s to drop off her luggage is Colton’s Creamery – owned by Raymond and his father.
The creamery is not doing well and needs help to get back to its former glory. Much to Raymond’s reluctance his Dad encourages him to ask Riley to help them, as she is the marketing business. She agrees but is worried about working with Raymond as they broke up on not good terms. This is their story.
This is very well written and constructed novella, that had you rooting not only for the characters but the business as well.
I would recommend this novella.

An ice cream parlor in trouble, a second chance romance, and a small beach town scream luscious summer reading! I couldn’t resist and now I want a triple scoop sundae with cherry on top to go with my next book.
Review

Rebecca Layton returns to her small beach-side home town after spending two years away pursuing her career and secretly pining for the one she let get away because she shut him down. Raymond Colton her high school sweetheart has every right to move on with his life after what she did because she didn’t think he cared. But, can his family ice cream parlor which is on rocky financial ground be her in?

Raymond always knew what he had with Rebecca was too good to be true and she proved it when she dusted off him and her hometown for the bright lights of the big city. Now she’s back and he’s not as unmoved as he’d like to pretend. Is there a second chance here? But, there are complications because he’s dating a lovely woman who doesn’t deserve to be treated badly and it looks like Rebecca found herself a hero. Or, has she?

A Whirl with My Mocha-Chocolate Swirl was a quick, one-siting story. It moved swiftly setting up the current situation and dipping a little into the past to explain matters. Once Rebecca and Raymond are back in each other’s orbits, it’s obvious that they are still it for each other even with two other people in the picture. In truth, these others were really nice and so were the cross-starred pair so I was anxious to see that part get untangled. This whole story boiled down to lack of communication. Rebecca and Raymond, for their own reasons did a lot of assuming and it got them into trouble, but was also easily fixed if they’d just talk. I wanted them to get back together and work it out because they worked well together on the shop marketing and shared a history. It turned out to be a sweet one.

The failing ice cream shop and the beach town setting was a fun, summery backdrop for the story. This was perfect for capping off my summer and I hope the author writes more in this town setting. Definitely recommend for those who want something quick and sweet with a summer flair.

I received this novella for review via NetGalley.

I love the concept of second chance at love. It truly is one of my favorite tropes in the romance genre but this book didn’t really do it for me. The dialogue felt so disjointed and sometimes, it fell flat. Even in a short novella, I need character development and pithy dialogue— especially between old high school flames who just can’t seem to communicate. The banter just wasn’t there.

It was a small town, sweet romance with very little heat which i don’t mind. But if there is not going to be any heat, then i am going to need really great dialogue to make up for it.