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Going to the Chapel is book two in the Tales From Grace Chapel Inn series. There are the same main and supporting characters, but different authors write the books.

The setting is the fictional village of Acorn Hill, Pennsylvania. The main characters are the Howard sisters: Louise Howard Smith (a widowed pianist), Alice (a nurse), and Jane (a chef). Their late father was the pastor of Grace Chapel, a name they borrowed for the bed-and-breakfast they made from their ancestral home.

The time has come for the congregation to choose a new pastor. The associate pastor, Henry Ley, doesn't want the job because he stutters. Grace Chapel is not without candidates: Reverends Eugene Smith, Highland, Jacob Winchell (his wife is Brynda), Kenneth Thompson (widower), and Bruce Golding (wife and children). The choice isn't easy for the church board. Daniel Howard had held the post for than 50 years. Alice is on the board. So is Daniel's half-sister, Mrs. Ethel Buckley. I'd already read book three, so I knew who won. It was interesting meeting the candidates, though. No two had the same style.

A subplot involves small items disappearing from the inn. Is one of their guests a thief? Louise's memory lapses are another subplot.

NOTES:

Chapter 3:

a. Rev. Thompson's interesting story about how he solved the problem some tenants were having with an uncaring landlord is here.

b. This chapter also mentions the locations of some of the regularly-featured shops in this series.

c. Look here for the late Rev. Howard's old trick to get his children to eat food they don't want to eat.

Chapter 8 offers some medical advice about losing one's memory.

Chapter 10:

a. There's a remedy for slugs in one's garden.

b. Louise helps an old friend whose husband has cancer.

Chapter 13:

a. It has the lyrics to all four verses of Samuel Francis Smith's 'America,' better known as 'My Country 'Tis of Thee'.

b. It also has the play the church youth group puts on.

c. There's an excellent cautionary tale about a meant-to-be-thoughtful gesture that almost killed a patient.

d. Chapter 15 has a skit where some of the congregation pretend to be Rev. Howard and the sisters when they were girls.

This is a nice, gentle series with entries that are particularly good for stressful times when more exciting books might be too much for one's nerves.

The recipe for this volume is Strawberry Popovers with Yogurt Sauce.

Cat lovers, Wendell the Howards' big tabby has a cameo, as well as one of Viola Reed's many cats, a black tom named Byron. ( )