Carolyn S. reviewed on 8/10/2015

Summer reading is a different kind of reading for me. I crave books that are entertaining and don't require too much deep thinking. I read outside a lot in summer and having some serious tome as my reading experience when the sky is so blue and the breeze is soft and flowers smell so sweet, I don't want to go to dark places or be depressed crying in my pink lemonade. My favorite summer book this year has been THE BEEKEEPER'S BALL by Susan Wiggs. I really love her writing style and I can tell she has done some real research on whatever topic she is focusing on in her novels. I don't always love her main characters because I find them flat or wishy-washy compared to other characters in the book.

WARNING: There are spoilers ahead so skip this paragraph if you don't want to know anything about the story going in. I really LOVED THE BEEKEEPER;S BALL despite Isabel's cold and rather silly personality. . Maybe it was because in the first chapter when she is trying to work on the bees with no practical experience and when Cormac O'Neill, a famous writer,
comes on the scene she mistakes him for the beekeeper and he is allergic and nearly stung to death all she can think about is how "Oh he is going to die...I don't have much luck with men anyway." pretty much set me against her the entire book. She also kept saying how she shouldn't get involved with the guy because he was leaving when he finished working on the book about her grandfather so she didn't want to get involved with him. So why the heck did she sleep with him???? Then she acts like a Victorian woman waiting for her man to come back from the sea with her "He is gone and i will never see him again" rubbish. Hey Isabel, it's the 21st century now.. haven't you heard of Skype or texting or even emails? And those things that go up in the air called airplanes that take you places far away so you can be with your guy...I have used all of these methods to great advantage myself. :)

It is not common for me to absolutely love a book if I didn't like the main character but there was enough good writing and supporting characters and a dog and two cats that helped me get past rolling my eyes at isabel. Wiggs is a lot like Barbara Delinksky in her descriptive writing of a place. i felt like I was there in NoCal enjoying the lovely summer at Bella Vista and learning about Magnus' past as a Resistance fighter in Denmark in WWII. It really gave a depth to the novel I wasn't expecting. I learned something about bees and honey which didn't exactly dispel my fear of them but at least i can appreciate them more. There are a lot of wonderful recipes too, all made with honey, and I especially loved seeing the Hummingbird Cake recipe and will have to try it sometime!

This was the perfect book for me to read on a sunny summer morning under a cypress tree or in the garden or deck and my summer experience was enriched by Ms Wiggs' story. I can't wait to visit Bella Vista again, and yeh, maybe i can get used to Isabel now that she has suddenly realized that Mac is the one for her.

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