Title: 

Sugar may be on the run from her life in the South, but her past still travels with her in the form of the bees she raises and her sweet Southern manners. Although her neighbors in Manhattan are skeptical of both at first, they quickly realize that Sugar and her bees are changing their lives for the better. Now they just need to get Sugar to realize that she deserves as much help and love as she shows everyone else.

As Leah at Books Speak Volumes once described a book, starting The Wedding Bees was like sinking into a warm bath. The writing is just so beautiful! It’s lovely, warm, vivid, charming – perfect for the story of a Southern girl like Sugar. When I first read a post by Kayla at The Thousand Lives, I didn’t get what she meant about wanting authors to write with more color. Since then, I’ve read several books, including this one, where the author describes things using more color. And I love it! The addition of more colors to the descriptions gave the places she described a vibrancy that brought them to life. I also loved the dialogue, which was cute and funny, but not unbelievable. Sugar is almost unbelievably sweet and positive, but I couldn’t help falling in love with her right away.

While the other characters the author created weren’t as sweet as Sugar, they were easy to fall in love with too. They’re very real and they all have their flaws, but the author puts you right into their heads and into their lives. By sharing the bits of their past that got them where they are, she makes you understand each and every character she introduces. Even though all of the characters have their flaws, this is not a book that makes you wonder if everything is going to work out. The saddest of back stories still seems optimistic in this book, because you just know that everything is going to work out. For the most part, everything does. I would like to mention though that one of the characters is anorexic, and while things get going in the right direction for her, they don’t just magically work out. While this isn’t a topic I know much about, I thought this was a far better way to end her story than with an unrealistic instantaneous cure.

I’ve been a bit overwhelmed by my blog this week so this sweet, beautiful, happy little confection of a book was just what I needed. If you love Southern lit or NYC or sweet romances or are just looking for a book that will put a smile on your face, I highly recommend you pick this one up.

For some other perspectives, check out the other stops on the tour, Amazon, or Goodreads.

The post The Wedding Bees appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

Lady Elizabeth Neville-Ashford has always thought fondly of her bother’s friend Robert since as a child he encouraged her to pursue her dreams. A surprise meeting years later reveals him to still be equally supportive and their mutual attraction is obvious. However, Elizabeth’s mother disapproves of Robert almost as much as she disapproves of Elizabeth’s career aspirations. The war and encouragement from friends give Elizabeth the courage to break with her parents. As an ambulance driver she is eventually sent to the front, where she is reunited with Robert (a surgeon). Although they are reunited, his fear for her safety is a strain their relationship might not survive.

Even in historical fiction, I feel like most readers want female characters to behave like modern women. I personally find it unpleasant to read a book like Mrs. Lincoln’s Rival which doesn’t at least condemn the sexism of the time period. In many time periods though, I suspect it was unusual for a woman to successfully resist seixst social pressures. That is one reason why Jennifer Robson’s choice of setting is so perfect. It is clear that many women are beginning to have the freedom to attend school, have careers, and marry who they like. A woman from an old fashioned family might have to fight for those privileges. She also might believably succeed. Watching Elizabeth do so was inspiring and a ton of fun.

The romance, like Elizabeth’s personal story, was perfectly suited to the time period. Having to deal with the war and the social issues that might separate them made every happy moment of the relationship feel precious. The letters the characters exchanged were enjoyable and an integral part of the story’s success. In particular, they allow you to see Elizabeth and Robert’s relationship forming. At the end, you know why these characters love each other. In any genre, I think that’s a critical component of a well written romance.

Descriptions of the war were also very well done. It was clear how horrible the war was. It was clear what a devastating  effect it was having on the mental health of everyone involved. And both these things were accomplished without rubbing your face in gory details.  This backdrop made the romance all the more moving. I think that makes this a spectacular example of a historical fiction romance. The romance personalized the time period and the romance couldn’t have happened at any other time. It was beautiful, poignant, and fit the time period perfectly.

For some other perspectives, check out the other stops on the tour, Amazon, or Goodreads.

The post Somewhere In France appeared first on Doing Dewey.

I’ve Got Your Number is light romantic comedy in which Poppy’s loss of her phone leads her to pick one up from a trashcan. Sam Roxton, whose personal assistant owned the phone wants it back but Poppy is desperate to hang on to it because she’s also lost her engagement ring and can only get news about it through the phone. As you can probably guess, the story sometimes surpassed the bounds of believability, but it was a fun adventure throughout. Overall, I thought it was a pretty standard romantic comedy and would make an excellent movie because someone funny is always happening. However… Poppy, while really witty and a ton of fun can also be an interfering, cowardly, stupid woman. There were times I loved her for her good points, but other times I found her so frustrating I almost hoped things didn’t work out! Overall, quite average. I thought the narration was very well done, especially the emotion with with the narrator told the story. Also, bonus points for singing. I did, however, sometimes find the whiny edge to her voice almost as annoying as Poppy.

The post Soundbites About I’ve Got Your Number appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

Single mother Shandi is deeply, lovingly devoted to her brilliant three year old son, so when the handsome William steps between her son and an armed robber, she immediately loves him too. Unfortunately for Shandi, William is still barely recovering from a devastating tragedy in his life and he has some secrets of his own. Their interaction will help both of them find out what they want and what they need as their lives shift around them.

This the third book I’ve read for the SheReads book club and the third one of those books I’ve given five stars, so if you’re looking for some good women’s fiction, I would consider these ladies an expert source of recommendations. Like many books I’ve fallen completely in love with, I have very few notes on why I liked it, because I was so deeply absorbed in reading. However, one thing clearly stands out to me as the most amazing part of this book: the characters. The characters were so believable, so unique, so real. Every character had their own history and their own quirks. The author somehow managed to write dialogue and narration that sounded completely natural but which were also examples of extremely beautiful writing.

The plot for me was almost indistinguishable from the characters because it followed directly from how these characters would act. At times I felt as though the author had simply created these characters and set them going, with the plot coming organically from the actions each character would naturally take. William was one of my favorite male characters ever. People with a truly scientific mindset are so infrequently featured as the heros of a book and that paired with his empathy for others made me fall just as in love with him as Shandi. The ending was a complete surprise but not in an unbelievable way and I loved it too. This whole book was a beautiful, hopeful, emotional ride and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Amazon|Goodreads

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Title: 

Hollow’s End is inspired by both the legend of Sleepy Hollow and the history of the town where the legend is set. Events from the Revolutionary War  pitted the town’s inhabitants against each other, leaving lingering animosity that leads to paranormal activities as Halloween approaches. Although Rowen is from a family of witches, she’s never wanted to do anything with such things. Unfortunately, her relationships and her powers leave her little choice but to deal with visions sparked by ancestors of the towns current inhabitants…

The potential this book had was overwhelming, to the point that at the middle of the book, I was imagining a five star review. Rowen is a perfect YA heroine. She feels guilty and concerned about her weight when she’s splurged on junk food, but is generally confident and happy with her appearance. She’s nervous around her crush and even once wonders why he likes her (dear lord, please spare me from heroines wondering why guys like them). However, the butterflies in her stomach mostly don’t make it out of her mouth and she manages to hold her own in every conversation. I adored her. She reminded me of what it was like to be a teenager without becoming the overdone, insecure, teenage stereotype found in so many YA novels. She also has a great relationship with her mother, who helps her deal with events both paranormal and romantic. Obviously, not every teen has great family relationships, but I suspect it’s far more common than having parents who are bizarrely absent or too stupid to notice paranormal activity when they see it. All around, many points for avoiding annoying YA tropes.

The plot was a little less amazing. There wasn’t too much to the mystery the book centers around and “new” information was being revealed long after it was clear what it had happened. The final confrontation, although written well enough to be pretty suspenseful, didn’t require much of our heroine. After all the bravery she showed early on, I found that a bit anticlimactic. The idea for the plot was good though and the characters were so wonderfully realistic that I found this a very enjoyable read. As the authors first foray into young adult, this was quite impressive and I look forward to seeing what she does next. If you like character driven stories and are getting sick of YA tropes, I would highly recommend her work already.

Edit: After I wrote this review, the author was kind enough to contact me and ask for more specific critiques. Then, she actually and sent me a new ending scene! It fixed everything that made the original anticlimactic. Instead I was on the edge of my seat, cheering as the protagonist figured out a brilliant solution. With this brilliant debut, I’m super excited to read more by Marianne Morea.

The post Hollow’s End appeared first on Doing Dewey.

Title: 

Lake Benson never imagined himself selling lingerie, but after loaning his less-than-business-savvy little sister money to buy the shop, he has to step in if he wants his money back. Sadly for Lake’s plans to get out fast, another lingerie shop run by gorgeous ex-model Kirsty Campbell is providing some stiff competition. Kirsty’s self-confidence is still low after abandonment by a thieving ex-fiance, but the competition and budding romance with Lake help her learn how to hold her own again.

I picked this up looking for a fun romantic comedy and I definitely got that. The characters are nearly all stereotypes, but I liked them anyway. In fact, I may have liked them because they were stereotypes. They’re interesting and endearing characters that show up over and over for a reason. I also thought that these particular characters had a lot of personality. The only problem I had with the book is that based on the back-of-the-book description, I didn’t expect Kirsty’s lack of confidence. I expected something of a modern day Taming of the Shrew, with a cocky male lead yes, but with an equally confident and flirtatious female lead to balance him out. Instead, Kirsty was just melty and hopeless whenever Lake was around. I found this entirely unrelatable which made it hard for me to vicariously enjoy the romance.

Despite it’s lack of Taming of the Shrew-like banter, this book did share the comedy of that play. The plot was just as zany and over-the-top as you’d expect from the description. The characters are involved in all sorts of crazy hijinks that made for entertaining reading. I also thought the sex scenes were done quite well, sticking to seriously suggestive without being too explicit for the light tone of the story. In a lot of ways, this book was the perfect summer read. I just prefer a more balanced power dynamic to a boy-rescues-girl scenario.

Amazon|Goodreads

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