Frosting on the Cake 2 by Karin Kallmaker

Publisher:                   Bella Books

Karin Kallmaker occasionally creates anthologies that are a gift to her regular readers.  She goes back to her books and writes short stories that allow the readers to visit characters again.  These stories extend the original stories, enhance the characters or satisfy the curiosity of "What happened next?"

Frosting on the Cake 2 revisits sixteen of Kallmaker's books.  Some of them go back to her earlier works like Car Pool, Touchwood and In Every Port, while others are inspired by recent books, such as Above Temptation, The Kiss That Counted and Warming Trend.  The styles range from humorous to serious to erotic and visit a number of different issues.

"Snap Judgment" (Above Temptation) shows Kip Barrett establishing her new company. "Good Morning" (Warming Trend) deals with the issue of gay marriage and "The Curve of Her" (Touchwood) addresses how age differences don't really matter when two people are in love.  In "Losing Faith" (Wild Things) the problem of trying to balance two different careers is the issue.  "Divided Highway" (Car Pool) shows that when a child's health is threatened, nothing else should matter.  The other stories are in the same manner, adding touches to tales that readers might have thought were completed.

At the end of the book, Kallmaker discusses the inspirations for some of her books, why some of them get added chapters and the reasons she's left others alone.  The reader doesn't have to have read the books the stories are based on, but some of the stories won't have their full impact if the background story isn't known.

If the reader is a Kallmaker fan and is looking for a book that can be read a little and put down without losing the continuity of a story, then Frosting on the Cake 2: Second Helpings suits the purpose.