In this magical story, Josey, the main character, spends her days toting her stiff, formal mother around to all her high-society events in their tiny Southern town and her nights sneaking contraband goodies from the secret place in her closet to enjoy while reading a good romance novel. Not only does she secretly enjoy candy and sweets, but longs to run away with the mailman and see the world. Then, on a cold November morning, she wakes up to find a woman hiding in her closet and everything turns upside down.

This enchanting tale of sweets, snow and romance is everything I love about Sarah Addison Allen’s novels: warm, interesting characters, abundant quirkiness, unique descriptions and just enough magic realism to bring it all together. The story includes love so passionate it can boil the water in the coffee pot, books that appear when a reader needs them and magic in the color red. Reading this book is akin to finding a jar full of your very favorite treats sitting on the kitchen counter (mine would be gummy bears and peanut M&M’s). I highly recommend this book, but I must warn you: do not sit down to read it without some tasty treats within reach.

Rated: Moderate for a few slightly detailed sexual references and a handful of uses of foul language, including a few f-words.