Touchstone by Karen Stivali [Review]

Touchstone (Speakeasy) by Karen Stivali
Format: ebook
Source: borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: February 12, 2023

Speakeasy
Touchstone - Paperback | Kindle
Heartwood
Homecoming
Sideways
Wildflower
Firefly
Starlight
Stargazer
Safeguard

Related Series:
(find all the books in the series on the 1st book review)
The Busy Bean
1. Sweetheart

In Vino Veritas
1. Wildfire

Moo U
1. Boyfriend

True North
1. Bittersweet

Vino and Veritas
1. Roommate

Karen Stivali
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Sam doesn't think love is in the cards. The cards disagree.

When Phoebe Stevens' life implodes in a spectacularly public fashion, she's desperate to escape Manhattan. So the offer of a job setting up a new Vermont gastropub couldn’t come at a better time. Driving a U-Haul on winding mountain roads is Phoebe's personal version of hell. But when the caretaker of her guesthouse answers the door tousled, shirtless, and baking cinnamon rolls, her first impression of Vermont dramatically improves.

Sam Trembley believes everyone gets one true love, but he’s already blown his chance. He's spent five years avoiding relationships. Now he’s back in Colebury where sunrise tarot draws and moonlit hikes soothe his soul. But why do the tarot cards keep showing him this nonsense about soulmates? Could it have anything to do with the jaded city girl on his doorstep?

Playing tour guide is fun, but taste-testing her culinary creations as she shimmies her luscious hips around his kitchen is downright irresistible. Soon their chemistry burns hotter than the pub's wood-fired oven.

Has fate brought them together for a summer of love...or a lifetime of happiness?

Thoughts on Touchstone: Okay. We've moved from the Bean to Colebury's forthcoming gastropub and I AM HERE FOR IT.

So. Phoebe and Sam. She's a chef who's just had her personal life take a nosedive. He runs the town's one and only crystal shop and he's pretty chill. No lie, these two are smokin' hot together. Sure, she's fresh off a bad breakup and he's convinced himself he's not angling for love, but they work, man. They work.

As an aside, Phoebe's ex is awful. Not only does he drop her in a very public place, but he rips her dream out from under her. Of the two, the breakup bothers her less. So being able to step into Speakeasy and design menus and create new things for people to eat is exactly the break Phoebe needs at exactly the right time.

Small town shenanigans, delicious food, a sexy greenhouse, and two people who find their way toward one another just when they need it most. *thumbs up*