In the book The Same Bright Stars, Jack struggles with the decision to sell his family restaurant to the corporate juggernaut DelDine. As he wrestles with navigating life after the restaurant, he starts teaching himself how to make pies. One of the first pies he shares with his friends, Andie and Deacon, is a lemon chess pie. Learn how to make this southern classic yourself from Saving Room for Dessert.

Jack, who is 52,  owns a restaurant named Schmidt’s on Rehoboth Beach.  The restaurant has been in his family for three generations, starting with his grandmother, Hazel.  Jack aspires to run the restaurant like his father, Johnny.  However, the day-to-day operations of the restaurant have worn him down over the years.  Jack realizes that one of his employees is stealing from him, and he fears that it is Genevieve, his dedicated manager who has worked for Schmidt’s ever since Jack was a boy.  With all of the stress piling up, Jack longs to see what life has to offer when he is not tied down to his workplace.

Jack has spent years watching the simple joys of family life with his best friend, Deacon, and his wife, Andie.  When he looks at their cute daughter, Evie, he wonders what might have been with Kitty, a long-time girlfriend whom he never married, or Alexis, a summer fling that he met when he was young.  His love for Alexis was strong and passionate, but their relationship died off. Kitty comes back to Rehoboth Beach to spend some time with her mother, Janet, before she dies.  She asks Jack to stay with her after Janet passes, and Jack helps her get through the moment of grief out of respect for Janet.

Shortly after Janet’s death, one life-changing incident between Jack and Genevieve’s good-for-nothing son, Ziggy, convinces him to sell Schmidt’s to the soulless corporate developer group, DelDine.  As part of the deal, Jack agrees to a six-month gradual takeover.  The news about the takeover does not go over well with Jack’s dedicated staff. Everything feels wrong, but Jack cannot shake the feeling that it is time to move on from the restaurant. Will his feelings change during the course of this slow takeover?

I love how deep emotions weave themselves through each one of Ethan Joella’s books. He is an expert at making you feel the heart and soul of each character as they navigate through their life circumstances. You feel the love, the loss, and the hope of each character as you connect to them through the story. The Same Bright Stars feels like a lighter read than Joella’s last two books, but it still addresses loss in its own way. What do we do when we feel stuck in a rut? Should we make the best of the life in front of us, or should we forge a new path? I absolutely loved this book, and it once again affirms that Joella should be a must-buy author on your list.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️