Blurb:
Their collections may clash but their hearts are a perfect match.
Moving to eclectic New Hope, Pennsylvania, and running The Beautiful Things Shoppe is a dream come true for elegant and reserved fine arts dealer Prescott J. Henderson. He never agreed to share the space with Danny Roman, an easygoing extrovert who collects retro toys and colorful knickknacks.
And yet here they are, trapped together in the quaint shop as they scramble to open in time for New Hope’s charming Winter Festival.
Danny has spent years leading with his heart instead of his head. The Beautiful Things Shoppe is his chance to ground himself and build something permanent and joyful. The last thing he needs is an uptight snob who doesn’t appreciate his whimsy occupying half his shop.
It’s only when two of New Hope’s historic landmarks—each as different as Danny and Prescott—are threatened that a tentative alliance forms. And with it, the first blush of romance. Suddenly, running The Beautiful Things Shoppe together doesn’t seem so bad…until Danny’s secret threatens to ruin it all.
Review:
The Beautiful Things Shoppe, which is the second book in the Seasons of New Hope series, is a sweet enemies-to-lovers/opposites attract romance. It completely stands on its own as this story focuses on different characters, though a couple of the characters from the first book (The Hideaway Inn) do make a guest appearance.
The two main characters in this story are Danny and Prescott, are so much fun! Here we see two opposites who find themselves in somewhat of a forced business situation. I loved how different they were from each other, with Prescott being a stuffy, elegant, almost snooty fine arts dealer and Danny being an easy-going extrovert who collects retro toys and colorful pop culture tchotchkes. I enjoyed the plot device of having these two opposites sharing the same retail space when they thought they’d leased the entire space for themselves, all of which resulted in plenty of comical situations and snarky banter.
Our two characters, each of whom finds the other attractive, come to realize that they actually complement each other in ways they didn’t expect. Once they stop bickering, they eventually discover that there’s a fantastic chemistry between them, and I enjoyed watching their false assumptions about the other come crumbling down as they wormed their way into each other’s hearts. The rich and quirky secondary characters also really added to this story’s charm, and I loved seeing a couple of familiar faces from the first book.
It was heart-warming to see how both of the guys set their differences aside in order to come together to help save a couple of architecturally significant buildings. So, all in all, I found The Beautiful Things Shoppe to be a light-hearted yet addicting and engaging story that oozes with romance yet is layered with complexities of identity and judging people by outward appearances. It’s an emotive story with distinctly drawn, genuine characters, and I loved watching their relationship play out on the page. I’ll definitely be picking up the third book in this series.
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