The Devine Doughnut Shop(93)

Dear readers, Making bread, cinnamon rolls, and doughnuts from scratch has long been my “thing.” I’ve perfected my recipe and given it to folks, but most of them say they can’t get the technique down just right. I guess that part comes from years and years of practice. I thought it would be fun to write about a secret recipe for a shop, but I never realized just how invested I would become in the characters who run the place—or how much of my own past would make cameo appearances in the book when Raelene showed up at the door, looking for a job. I hope that you enjoy reading this and meeting the whole cast as much as I did when I was writing the story. I have a confession: sometimes at night, Audrey would wake me up to fuss at me for not getting a scene just right, and she wouldn’t leave me alone until it was like she remembered it.

As always, there is a lot of work between the first few lines of an idea and the finished product you have in your hands. And as always, there is a whole truckload of thanks for all that hard work for the team that has made this book possible. My thanks go out to my agency, Folio Management, and my agent, Erin Niumata. Erin and I have been together now for almost a quarter of a century. That’s longer than most Hollywood marriages, folks. Also, to Montlake for continuing to believe in me, with special thanks to Alison Dasho, my acquiring editor, and Krista Stroever, my developmental editor, who pushes me to tell my best story. And to my family for understanding what a deadline is all about, and my husband, Mr. B, who is my biggest supporter. But most of all, thank you to my readers. Your notes, reviews, and support mean the world to me.

Until next time, Carolyn Brown