Already Home by Susan Mallery

                About a month ago I stayed home from work very ill.  The first day I could hardly keep my eyes open.  On the second day I felt well enough to at least read.  I figured I would read for about an hour until noon and then I would take another nap.  Noon quickly turned into three in the afternoon.  I had started Already Home a couple days earlier and now that I was up for reading, that is all I wanted to do.  Eventually I took my much needed nap, but not until I had finished the book.

                Jenna is a chef who leaves an ex-husband and a restaurant career to return to her hometown in Texas.  On an impulse she opens a cooking store despite her lack of knowledge of the retail world.  Thankfully Jenna makes the wise decision to hire Violet.  While Jenna has the cooking skills, Violet is the one with the great ideas to get the store going.

                When the store really starts to get moving, an unusual surprise walks in the front door, Jenna’s biological parents.  Jenna has always known she was adopted, but with two loving parents, finding her biological ones was not of an interest to her.  As a result, they come to find her.

                Tom and Serenity are two people who follow the messages of the Universe, are vegan, and definitely live a different lifestyle from what Jenna is used to.  At first Jenna is reluctant to let Tom and Serenity into her life.  Eventually, between her mother’s encouragement and Serenity’s persistence, Jenna begins to learn about the family she never knew.

                I really liked the characters in this book.  Jenna’s parents are very supportive of their daughter, even when it hurts them.  They always have her best interests at heart.  Violet is very different from Jenna, but she is extremely interesting and has her own complete storyline.  I like how it intertwines with Jenna’s and how she becomes part of Jenna’s family.  Serenity drove me a bit nuts, but I liked Tom.  Then there was Dragon, one of the brothers Jenna is introduced to.  He is the rebel of the family.  Not only is he a lawyer and not a vegan, but he is also a hard core meat eater.  Despite these “flaws” he loves his family and respects their ways.  Finally there is Ellington, the man Serenity believes will be a good match for Jenna.  That I will leave for you to read about.

                There is a lot that happens in this book, but never so much that I felt lost.  Everything flowed smoothly and it left me with a satisfying ending.  Well, maybe not completely satisfying.  I do want to read more about Dragon.