The Kindred Spirits Supper Club by Amy E. Reichert
In Amy E. Reichert‘s The Kindred Spirits Supper Club (Berkley), down-on-her-luck Sabrina Monroe returns home to Wisconsin after a splashy journalism job in Washington D.C. goes awry. She dreads reconciling with fake friends and ex-boyfriends who are best left in the past, but most of all, she’s anxious about the family curse once again taking hold the minute she arrives: the women in her family can see ghosts. Not only can Sabrina see and hear the ghosts, but they plague her until their problems are resolved. The only ghost Sabrina has ever liked is Molly, a young woman who loves to dish out advice about Sabrina’s non-existent love life. As Sabrina crosses the threshold to the family home, Molly’s voice immediately sounds in her ear.
With a job at a waterpark (did you know Wisconsin is the waterpark capital of the world?) and a good-looking new restaurateur named Ray, her return home might not be so bad after all. When Ray invites her to a supper club where he serves up brandy old-fashioneds, she accepts. Soon, she finds herself falling for him, an easy-going — and cute — guy who can cook the perfect fried cheese curds. The truth is, the more she likes him, the more she fears that if he learns the truth about her freakish skill for communing with the dead he’ll shun her like her ex-friends did.
A DELIGHTFUL ROM-COM WITH A SPRINKLE OF THE SUPERNATURAL
The Kindred Spirits Supper Club dishes out a host of unique and lively (pun intended) characters, from the quirky and endearing Sabrina to the heroic Ray, a thoughtful and confident sort who isn’t threatened by a woman with a little anxiety and a penchant for wanting to help people. Molly, the unsettled ghost-friend, adds a humorous voice to the narrative and a story thread that brings depth and intrigue to a well-balanced plot.
Reichert skillfully draws us into a sensory novel with a lush setting in the Wisconsin Dells, a city on the Wisconsin River famed for its rock formations left behind by prehistoric glaciers and its forests beyond. Her descriptions of local cuisine make the reader’s mouth water as they learn about how to make the perfect cheese curds dipped in breadcrumbs and fried to perfection, old-fashioneds served up with amber-colored brandy and a splash of lemon-lime soda, and the enticing supper clubs that appear to be a custom at various restaurants in the region. An atmospheric and tasty tale is on the table.
At a time when many of us could use a charming story with plenty of heart, The Kindred Spirits Supper Club delivers with a flourish. Fans will relish Reichert’s uplifting new novel, a delightful rom-com with a sprinkle of the supernatural (or is it magic?)
