If you’re one of those readers who added your name to a list when I reviewed The Dead Romantics, you might want to watch for The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie. Kaye Wilkinson Barley is seldom wrong when she tells me I’ll love a book, and she was right about Rachel Linden’s novel. This is one that will make you examine your own life. Did you make the right decisions? Do you have regrets?

It’s been ten years since Lolly Blanchard’s mother died. In that time, she took over her mother’s role at the family diner, bakes the lemon meringue pies there, raised her younger sister, and gave up her dreams. It’s only when her sister, Daphne, brings her diary from years ago that Lolly remembers she had to list her life goals for a class when she was thirteen. In looking over that list, she knows she didn’t fulfill any of her dreams in the last twenty years. But, Lolly doesn’t have time for nostalgia or regrets. She has a diner to keep afloat, and it gets harder every year. She and her father struggle with that while Daphne finishes college. Lolly’s best friend, Eve, had a breakdown before living her dream of raising goats and making cheese. It’s Lolly’s great-aunt Gert who sees through Lolly’s facade of strength and determination.

At eighty-eight, Dr. Gertrude Lund is a retired profession of religion and mythology, a world traveler. She has one gift to offer Lolly, three lemon drops. But, Lolly has to be careful. Those lemon drops are special. They offer her the chance to experience her dreams, her regrets. Does she really want to know what her life would have been like if she’d gone a different direction? What if she had opened her dream restaurant in England? What if she could spend one more day with her mother? What if she hadn’t broken up with the boy she loved, Rory Shaw? For one day, Lolly can know what would have happened.

Gert has some advice for Lolly when she decides what she wants to do with those lemon drops. “Be honest. Pay attention. Seek joy.” Gert tells Lolly her heart will remind her to seek her bliss. What truly makes her happy?

The author’s short bio at the end of the book says she writes about “strong women facing big challenges, food, travel, and second chances at love”. Here’s a question for anyone who chooses to read The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie. If given the chance to find out what your life would look like if other things had happened, would you take it? The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie will make you wonder.

Rachel Linden’s website is https://www.rachellinden.com/

The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden. Berkley, 2022. ISBN 9780593440193 (paperback), 352p.

FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher supplied a galley, with no promise I would review it.