Apron Strings #5: Joann by Donna Jo Stone

 

Joann by Donna Jo Stone is part of the Apron Strings book series that each feature a special cookbook. However, they don't have to be read in order and I enjoyed this book as a stand-alone.

Joann Kinkaid grew up with her sister, Barb, in the grocery business that her dad owned. Joann enjoys the grocery business and has had plans to run the store someday with Barb. This is the 1960s and women aren't taken as seriously as business owners at that time so she faces some challenges of that era. She also struggles when Barb decides to get married and start a family. How will she run the grocery store now? And why won't her dad realize how hard she tries at the job and how capable she is? 

Joann also likes Nathan. Nathan runs a produce farm so he supplies some food for the store. He also helps out at the store when Barb gets married. Can Nathan and Joann form a relationship and she still continue her family's legacy store?

Joann is set during the Vietnam era and there is some background info as to how that may have affected families at the time, which I found interesting. 

Joann is a sweet story with some romance and some family issues that need resolved. I enjoyed the book and how the author handled  the issues. At first I didn't really like some of the characters but as the book went on, I enjoyed them more and more. I also enjoy cooking and cookbooks so I especially enjoyed that aspect and it was one reason I wanted to read this book.  I hope to read more books by this  author as this is my first one.

I purchased a copy of this book for this review. However, the author also gave me a PDF but I had trouble using it--technology is not my friend sometimes which is why I rarely read digital books. All opinions within this review are my own.