Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge, from St Martin's Press via Netgalley, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it
Looking for a great Valentine's gift for the book lover?
Here's a book that romantic, magical and offers all the excitement of Valentine's Day!
Synopsis:
From the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells comes the second story of the Waverley family, in a novel as sparkling as the first dusting of frost on new-fallen leaves...
It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree ...and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store.
Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies. Though her handcrafted confections—rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds—are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.
Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby— a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has.
Sydney’s daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to…if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke?
When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.
Review
This is the follow up to Garden Spells, with the return of the Waverly family. I didn't realize how much I missed them, until I started reading this book and felt like I was back nestled in a perfect place and time. Isn't it funny how some books can do that? Send us to a different place, and make us not want to leave? The Waverly house and garden are as much their own quirky characters, as the Waverly women are. Readers may think they know where the story line is going, but as always Sarah pulls some magical surprises out of her hat. In many ways, it is a tale of sisterly love, almost like 'Frozen' for grown ups! Made you smile there didn't it? But it is-Claire and Sydney have always had each other and now with new issues and problems, they are there for each other. I can't wait to read the next chapter in the Waverly series, and you won't be able to wait either once you read these books! I highly recommend both books as a super Valentine's present for the romantic book lover on your list!
About the Author:
Born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Allen grew up with a love of books and an appreciation of good food (she credits her journalist father for the former and her mother, a fabulous cook, for the latter). In college, she majored in literature -- because, as she puts it, "I thought it was amazing that I could get a diploma just for reading fiction. It was like being able to major in eating chocolate."
After graduation, Allen began writing seriously. Her big break occurred in 2007 with the publication of her first mainstream novel, Garden Spells, a modern-day fairy tale about an enchanted apple tree and the family of North Carolina women who tend it. Booklist called Allen's accomplished debut "spellbindingly charming." The novel became a Barnes & Noble Recommends selection, and then a New York Times Bestseller.
Allen continues to serve heaping helpings of the fantastic and the familiar in fiction she describes as "Southern-fried magic realism." Clearly, it's a recipe readers are happy to eat up as fast as she can dish it out.
Her published books to date are: Garden Spells (2007), The Sugar Queen (2008), The Girl Who Chased the Moon (2010), The Peach Keeper (2011) and Lost Lake (2014)
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