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Thursday, May 04, 2023

THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS - Suzanne Woods Fisher - One Free Book

Bio: Suzanne Woods Fisher is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than thirty books, including The Sweet LifeThe Moonlight School, and A Season on the Wind, as well as the Three Sisters Island, Nantucket Legacy, Amish Beginnings, The Bishop’s Family, The Deacon’s Family, and The Inn at Eagle Hill series. She is also the author of several nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace and Amish Proverbs. She lives in California. Learn more at www.suzannewoodsfisher.com and follow Suzanne on Facebook @SuzanneWoodsFisherAuthor and Twitter @suzannewfisher.

About the story: In 2022, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher unveiled her deliciously compelling new book, The Sweet Life, the first book in the Cape Cod Creamery series. In Fisher’s sophomore novel, The Secret to Happiness, Fisher introduces readers to executive chef Callie Dixon, who is recovering from a major setback in her well-planned life. Desperately in need of some soul searching, she ends up at a small ice cream shop on Cape Cod. It takes the charm of a young boy to help her find the answers she’s looking for—and maybe the secret to happiness. Callie Dixon had the world by its tail . . . until it all slipped away. Fired from her dream job after making a colossal mistake, she’s escaped to her aunt’s home on Cape Cod for time to bounce back. Except it isn’t a home, it’s an ice cream shop. And time isn’t going to help, because Callie’s bounce has up and left. There’s a reason she made that mistake at work and she’s struggling to come to terms with it.

Things go from bad to worse when Callie’s cousin Dawn drags her to a community class about the secret to happiness. Happiness is the last thing Callie wants to think about right now, but instructor Bruno Bianco—a curiously gloomy fellow—is relentless. He has a way of turning Callie’s thoughts upside down. Her feelings, too.

Could Bruno be right when he says that hitting rock bottom is the very best place to be? If so, how is that supposed to help her find exactly what—or who—has been missing all along?

Can you please provide a brief summary of your novel, The Secret to Happiness? Callie Dixon arrives at the Main Street Creamery for a short visit with her relatives. Just to get her bounce back, she says, while she’s in-between jobs. To Marnie’s and Dawn’s distress, Callie heads straight to bed and stays there. Turns out her bounce has up and left.

In The Sweet Life, book one of the Cape Cod Creamery series, you introduce readers to Dawn and Marnie Dixon. How is Callie Dixon in The Secret to Happiness related to Dawn and Marnie? While at Penn State’s Ice Cream School, Marnie Dixon bumps into her husband’s niece, Callie, whom she hasn’t seen in years. Something seems “off” with Callie, so Marnie invites her to Cape Cod. More specifically, she doesn’t stop Callie when she invites herself. 

Callie Dixon is an executive chef until a colossal mistake upends her “perfect” world. Can you offer a hint of what might have happened at her former job? I borrowed a real-life situation for Callie. During an actual Food Safety Conference, a sauce for chicken was accidentally left out overnight and served to attendees the next day. Hundreds got sick. Such irony! That scenario had to go into a novel.

Why did Callie choose to relocate to Cape Cod? Actually, I think Cape Cod chose Callie.

Although Callie’s life has gone through a major upheaval, she is resistant to going to a community class about the secret to happiness. How does this class make an impact on her life? While Callie didn’t know what to think about the Secret to Happiness class, she definitely didn’t expect a gloomy instructor. Although Bruno Bianco had written a book on the topic, he never smiled. Never joked, never laughed. Happiness, it seemed, was serious business. 

Your male protagonist, Bruno Bianco, told Callie, “Hitting rock bottom may be the very best place to be.” What did he mean by this statement? Bruno might be gloomy (he would say “somber”), but he has tremendous insights about what it would take to live a fulfilled, contented life. Readers will enjoy discovering how he ended up studying and teaching on the topic of happiness. Let’s just say it has something to do with hitting rock bottom.  

What other life lessons can readers gain from reading The Secret to Happiness? Here’s the biggest one Callie learned: Who or what is telling her story? Once she realized what she’d been letting define her, she was ready to grab hold of her life.

What inspired the idea for this series? My husband’s passion for ice cream making. Like Dawn and Marnie Dixon, he attended Penn State’s Ice Cream School. My editor, after sampling my husband’s ice cream, and told me she wanted a series that would include ice cream. I took that suggestion and ran with it!  

What do you love most about writing contemporary romance novels? Creating relevant love stories with characters who are committed to hanging in there and working things out. Like Dawn Dixon and her mother, Marnie. I enjoy writing from the eyes of a modern millennial, then bouncing back to the point of view of a middle-aged-ish character. After all, love doesn’t have an expiration date.

What are you working on next? Next fall, Lost and Found will release. It’s a story about a young man in love, caught between two sisters.

How can readers connect with you? My website is the place to find me: www.suzannewoodsfisher.com.

Thank you, Suzanne, for sharing this new book with us. I’ve loved every book of yours I’ve read.

Readers, here’s a link to the book.

https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Happiness-Cape-Creamery-Book-ebook/dp/B0BLW62NCR/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WR9KYP29T63&keywords=The+Secret+to+Happiness&qid=1683217195&s=books&sprefix=the+secret+to+happiness+%2Cstripbooks%2C112&sr=1-1

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

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11 comments:

  1. This sounds like a fun book. I read and loved The Sweet Life. Thanks for the lovely spotlight and chance to win!

    Winnie T. from Utah

    ReplyDelete
  2. The secret to happiness is when Publix,
    our local grocery store has a BOGO,
    Buy One, Get One, on their brand of
    Ice Cream.
    When they do, I stock up.
    Thank you for entering me in your giveaway.
    Janet E.
    Florida

    ReplyDelete
  3. I didn't mean to enter twice.
    My computer does that to me
    sometimes and today is the day.
    Janet E.
    Florida

    ReplyDelete
  4. I learned many new things about ice cream when I read the first book about Dawn. I'm excited to read The Secret of Happiness! :)

    Elizabeth L
    Maryland

    ReplyDelete
  5. My secret to happiness is a big bowl of ice cream and a new Suzanne Woods Fisher book!
    Connie from Kentucky
    cps1950atgmaildotcom

    ReplyDelete
  6. Connie Lewis Leonard1:18 PM

    This sounds like a fun book. I love ice cream. My mother wasn't a baker, but we always had ice cream on hand. I am a baker, and almost everything tastes better with ice cream.
    Connie Lewis Leonard
    Texas

    ReplyDelete
  7. Brenda1:52 PM

    Brenda from Mississippi. I would love to read this book. I love Suzanne Woods Fisher’s books.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Suzanne Woods Fisher's books are always good. I'd love to read this. I love ice cream. It does make me happy. lkish77123 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sharon Bryant9:53 PM

    Enter me in your awesome giveaway!!
    Nichols SC.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sounds like a great book! I like that it involves a culinary theme. Cherie J from Florida.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Suzanne Woods Fisher is such a good author plus I love ice cream so this is the book for me!
    Beth from IA

    ReplyDelete