Author: Karen Hawkins
Published: July 6th 2021 by Gallery Books
Format: Kindle, Paperback, 352 pages
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Dove Pond #2
First Sentence: Standing beside her daughter’s open grave, Ellen Foster dug her fingernails into her palms as the annoying sound of a kazoo wafted through the wintry, pine-scented air.
From the Publisher: Ava Dove—the sixth of the seven famed Dove sisters and owner of Ava Dove’s Landscaping and Specialty Teas—is frantic.
Just as her fabulous new tearoom is about to open, her herbal teas have gone wonky. Suddenly, her sleep-inducing tea is startling her clients awake with vivid dreams, her romance-kindling tea is causing people to blurt out their darkest secrets, and her anti-anxiety tea is making them spend hours staring into mirrors. Ava is desperate for a remedy, but her search leads her into dangerous territory, as she is forced to face a dark secret she’s been hiding for over a decade.
Meanwhile, successful architect Ellen Foster has arrived in Dove Pond to attend the funeral of her estranged daughter, Julie. Grieving deeply, Ellen is determined to fix up her daughter’s ramshackle house, sell it, and then sweep her sixteen-year-old granddaughter, Kristen, off to a saner, calmer life in Raleigh. But Kristen has other plans. Desperate to stay with her friends in Dove Pond, Kristen sets off on a quest she’s avoided her whole life—to find her never-been-there father in the hopes of winning her freedom from the grandmother she barely knows.
Together, Ava, Kristen, and Ellen embark on a reluctant but magical journey of healing, friendship, and family…. (Simon and Schuster)
My Opinion: It seems forever ago the first book in the series (The Book Charmer, 2019) debuted, and it took a couple of beats for me to remember all the characters and their relationships with the Dove sisters. Once I got past the reacquainting hurtle, I was able to dive right back into the sweetness of Dove Pond; and the deep caring shared among the residents.
There is sadness, joy, laughter, and intrigue, but the feeling of belonging is what carries this book from beginning to end. Karen Hawkins does a remarkable job of holding her characters together and, as they say, “slowly peels the onion” so each layer is defined and the characters imbue their importance to each other and the community.
From the Publisher: Ava Dove—the sixth of the seven famed Dove sisters and owner of Ava Dove’s Landscaping and Specialty Teas—is frantic.
Just as her fabulous new tearoom is about to open, her herbal teas have gone wonky. Suddenly, her sleep-inducing tea is startling her clients awake with vivid dreams, her romance-kindling tea is causing people to blurt out their darkest secrets, and her anti-anxiety tea is making them spend hours staring into mirrors. Ava is desperate for a remedy, but her search leads her into dangerous territory, as she is forced to face a dark secret she’s been hiding for over a decade.
Meanwhile, successful architect Ellen Foster has arrived in Dove Pond to attend the funeral of her estranged daughter, Julie. Grieving deeply, Ellen is determined to fix up her daughter’s ramshackle house, sell it, and then sweep her sixteen-year-old granddaughter, Kristen, off to a saner, calmer life in Raleigh. But Kristen has other plans. Desperate to stay with her friends in Dove Pond, Kristen sets off on a quest she’s avoided her whole life—to find her never-been-there father in the hopes of winning her freedom from the grandmother she barely knows.
Together, Ava, Kristen, and Ellen embark on a reluctant but magical journey of healing, friendship, and family…. (Simon and Schuster)
My Opinion: It seems forever ago the first book in the series (The Book Charmer, 2019) debuted, and it took a couple of beats for me to remember all the characters and their relationships with the Dove sisters. Once I got past the reacquainting hurtle, I was able to dive right back into the sweetness of Dove Pond; and the deep caring shared among the residents.
There is sadness, joy, laughter, and intrigue, but the feeling of belonging is what carries this book from beginning to end. Karen Hawkins does a remarkable job of holding her characters together and, as they say, “slowly peels the onion” so each layer is defined and the characters imbue their importance to each other and the community.
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