Peas, Beans & Corn (Book 2 in The Sovereign Series)

The romance of a bygone era infuses Book 2 in The Sovereign Series, when Maine Army Guardsman Bruce Gilpin, 35, returns to Sovereign with the secret dream of restarting the town's old sweet corn canning factory. He's encouraged in his mission by the passionate young organic foodie Amber Johnson, 21, who reawakens his youthful heart. The course of their true love becomes muddied by their well-meaning mothers, however, and by the arrival of Bruce's ex-wife Sheila and the handsome corporate attorney Ryan MacDonald, who hits town to rusticate.

History pervades this little tale of hummingbird moths and morning mists, horse-drawn sleighs and corn desilkers, and a surprising (and satisfying) connection with the poet Emily Dickinson, who could have been describing Sovereign when she once wrote: "I Went to Heaven -- 'Twas a Small Town."

"Peas, Beans & Corn" is the second book in Jennifer Wixson's Sovereign Series. The Series began as simply one book -- "Hens & Chickens" -- which was Wixson's reaction to the greed of Wall Street. However, early readers loved the town and its inhabitants so much they encouraged the Maine farmer to stretch her one little tale into four novels. "The Songbird of Sovereign" is slated for publication in 2014, and "The Minister's Daughter" and "The Sovereign Series Cookbook" in 2015.