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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Very, very slow start. The best part was about 4 chapters in the end.
This book was OK... the author tries to mask your typical chick flick with some WWII background that makes it a little more interesting. It´s OK as a "beach" romance, but it definitely lacks depth.
Review originally published at The Bookwyrm's Hoard.
I loved The Beekeeper's Ball. From its unique first encounter between the hero and heroine in the first pages, to its lovely and satisfying ending (which nonetheless manages to leave some threads unresolved), it's a wonderful and often moving book.
Like The Apple Orchard, the first book in the series, The Beekeeper's Ball moves between present-day events at and around Bella Vista, the Johansen estate and apple orchard, and the adolescent experiences of Magnus Johansen, his deceased wife Eva, and their Resistance friend Annelise in Nazi-occupied Denmark. The older segments, told both in dialog and in flashback, enrich the novel in several ways. They give depth and background to help the main character Isabel and her half-sister Tess understand their grandparents and the complex relationships in their own family. They also explore themes of courage and fear, suffering and emotional strength which find echos in several of the present-day characters.
Wiggs's writing is rich and sensual in the best meaning of the term. Her vivid descriptions of food, of scents and flavors, of sunshine and breezes and the hum of bees, make Bella Vista a living, vibrant place, and one I would dearly love to visit. But it's in her deep understanding of the human spirit that Wiggs really soars. From Magnus and Annelise to Isabel and Cormac, Wiggs's characters are completely authentic in their strengths, their flaws, their myriad emotions. Through her writing we get to know them as well as we might anyone in our own family... though one of the book's themes is that even our nearest and dearest may have secrets. We rarely know anyone well as we think we do - even ourselves.
The Beekeeper's Ball is a romance, yes -- or rather, there is a romance in it, between the home-loving Isabel and Cormac the wanderer. And it's a delightful romance, sometimes humorous, sometimes reluctant, often unpredictable, and totally irresistible. But like The Apple Orchard before it, The Beekeeper's Ball is so much more: it's a family saga, an exploration of the human spirit, even a hint of a mystery. (The story arc which stretches over the whole series involves three generations and events with their roots in Magnus, Eva, and Annalise's pasts. And the death of Isabel and Tess's father is murkier than it appears on the surface; it will probably be explored in a future book.)
I think you could probably read The Beekeeper's Ball without reading The Apple Orchard first, but why on earth would you? The war-time sections in particular will be easier to understand and follow if you've read the first book, and both books are definitely worth your time!
FTC disclosure: I received a review copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are entirely my own.
I loved The Beekeeper's Ball. From its unique first encounter between the hero and heroine in the first pages, to its lovely and satisfying ending (which nonetheless manages to leave some threads unresolved), it's a wonderful and often moving book.
Like The Apple Orchard, the first book in the series, The Beekeeper's Ball moves between present-day events at and around Bella Vista, the Johansen estate and apple orchard, and the adolescent experiences of Magnus Johansen, his deceased wife Eva, and their Resistance friend Annelise in Nazi-occupied Denmark. The older segments, told both in dialog and in flashback, enrich the novel in several ways. They give depth and background to help the main character Isabel and her half-sister Tess understand their grandparents and the complex relationships in their own family. They also explore themes of courage and fear, suffering and emotional strength which find echos in several of the present-day characters.
Wiggs's writing is rich and sensual in the best meaning of the term. Her vivid descriptions of food, of scents and flavors, of sunshine and breezes and the hum of bees, make Bella Vista a living, vibrant place, and one I would dearly love to visit. But it's in her deep understanding of the human spirit that Wiggs really soars. From Magnus and Annelise to Isabel and Cormac, Wiggs's characters are completely authentic in their strengths, their flaws, their myriad emotions. Through her writing we get to know them as well as we might anyone in our own family... though one of the book's themes is that even our nearest and dearest may have secrets. We rarely know anyone well as we think we do - even ourselves.
The Beekeeper's Ball is a romance, yes -- or rather, there is a romance in it, between the home-loving Isabel and Cormac the wanderer. And it's a delightful romance, sometimes humorous, sometimes reluctant, often unpredictable, and totally irresistible. But like The Apple Orchard before it, The Beekeeper's Ball is so much more: it's a family saga, an exploration of the human spirit, even a hint of a mystery. (The story arc which stretches over the whole series involves three generations and events with their roots in Magnus, Eva, and Annalise's pasts. And the death of Isabel and Tess's father is murkier than it appears on the surface; it will probably be explored in a future book.)
I think you could probably read The Beekeeper's Ball without reading The Apple Orchard first, but why on earth would you? The war-time sections in particular will be easier to understand and follow if you've read the first book, and both books are definitely worth your time!
FTC disclosure: I received a review copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are entirely my own.
I wasn’t aware this was the second book in the series when I bought it. I feel I did need to read the first to understand things here. The ending was also left unfinished, but it doesn’t seem the next book in the series continues with it. I didn’t really find the relationship between Isabel and Jamie believable, and there was no wrap-up to that either. This was just okay. I probably won’t remember it.
The second in the Bella Vista Chronicles, The Beekeeper's Ball focuses on Isabel Johansen in stunning Sonoma Co, CA, as she converts her family home to a destination cooking school, and flashbacks telling her grandfather Mangus's story as part of the Danish resistance during WW2 Nazi occupation. Family truths long untold unfold, and we watch as observers things people do in times of extreme duress that are later judged by history, family members, in the context of peacetime and safety. Susan Wiggs does a very good job threading this needle. I am however very anxious for her to return to this series to see where it goes next. She never disappoints.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Well, I thought this was pretty terrible. I have read Susan Wiggs before, and was mildly entertained, but this one kind of read like she wrote it in her sleep. I don't read a lot of romance novels, but when I do, I pick them not for the rugged handsomeness of their heroes, but usually for the professions of the heroines (examples: antique dealers, home renovators, cooks, farmers, booksellers - you get the idea), so when I read the blurb on this one I thought, "Jackpot! She's starting a cooking school and raises bees!". Sadly, these details were not enough to make up for the way the story kind of only lightly touched down on any of the plot-lines. There was promise there: WW11 Danish Resistance adventures in flashback, a smarmy and abusive ex (who shows up threateningly at the beginning and just kind of lurks around on the edges until he gets his comeuppance off-stage), a hero whose career hints of war-torn journalistic excitement (which is barely gone into). None of these things ever really got beyond the kernel-of-an-idea stage. And the romantic interludes just annoyed me. Any kiss that is described as "sexy" just makes me roll my eyes.
Archangel sounds like the most perfectly quaint hamlet in all of Sonoma County. The Beekeeper's Ball is encouraging me to book a trip to Northern California ASAP, and I bet that the Sonoma Tourist Office is thrilled that Susan Wiggs is writing books that highlight the beauty of the area. This is the second book in the series; the first one is The Apple Orchard, and I'll write a post about it soon. I didn't read them in order, but I didn't feel lost at all from not having read The Apple Orchard. I didn't find out until later that The Beekeeper's Ball is part of a series.
Isabel is living a dream life on her family's apple orchard by keeping bees and opening a cooking school in the main house she's lovingly restoring. At around thirty years old, it has been a long journey for Isabel: Ten years earlier she was in culinary school but left before finishing her coursework due to a disastrous affair with one of her instructors. This lapse in judgment has shaped her life and made her very guarded....until Cormac O'Neill shows up to write a book about her grandfather's heroism during World War II.
Cormac is very talented at getting people to open-up about their own lives, and I enjoyed the story of Isabel's Grandfather Max and the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Norway. Cormac is also an amazing detective: He uncovers many secrets in Isabel's family. He has a good eye for detail, and he can deduce facts from observations that most would overlook. I really like how his character is developed in the book. He, like Isabel, is jaded, but he is more than willing to take a chance on Isabel almost from the beginning of the book. Their story is so sweet! If you like romance, intrigue, action, family drama, historical fiction, and a gorgeous setting, you'll love The Beekeeper's Ball!
Isabel is living a dream life on her family's apple orchard by keeping bees and opening a cooking school in the main house she's lovingly restoring. At around thirty years old, it has been a long journey for Isabel: Ten years earlier she was in culinary school but left before finishing her coursework due to a disastrous affair with one of her instructors. This lapse in judgment has shaped her life and made her very guarded....until Cormac O'Neill shows up to write a book about her grandfather's heroism during World War II.
Cormac is very talented at getting people to open-up about their own lives, and I enjoyed the story of Isabel's Grandfather Max and the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Norway. Cormac is also an amazing detective: He uncovers many secrets in Isabel's family. He has a good eye for detail, and he can deduce facts from observations that most would overlook. I really like how his character is developed in the book. He, like Isabel, is jaded, but he is more than willing to take a chance on Isabel almost from the beginning of the book. Their story is so sweet! If you like romance, intrigue, action, family drama, historical fiction, and a gorgeous setting, you'll love The Beekeeper's Ball!
Oops, I didn't realize until I started this book that I had bought book #2 in a series rather than book #1.
This book fairly well stands on its own. The only reason I wasn't a bigger fan of this book though was the story about Isabel's grandfather.
The book jacket's description sounded much lighter than the book itself. Atleast a third of the book focused on the grandfather's story about his involvement in a Danish resistance against the nazis.
There's nothing wrong with that storyline, but I thought this book would be mostly about Isabel, with her cooking school and her beehives. It gets a lot heavier when you add the story about her grandfather.
That's why I wonder about book #1. Had I read that, I don't think I would have been surprised by the grandfather's story, but not knowing about his past made the story a bit more serious than I was planning for a lazy weekend read.
This book fairly well stands on its own. The only reason I wasn't a bigger fan of this book though was the story about Isabel's grandfather.
The book jacket's description sounded much lighter than the book itself. Atleast a third of the book focused on the grandfather's story about his involvement in a Danish resistance against the nazis.
There's nothing wrong with that storyline, but I thought this book would be mostly about Isabel, with her cooking school and her beehives. It gets a lot heavier when you add the story about her grandfather.
That's why I wonder about book #1. Had I read that, I don't think I would have been surprised by the grandfather's story, but not knowing about his past made the story a bit more serious than I was planning for a lazy weekend read.
Chick Lite at its lightest. There are snippets of the Danish war resistance seen in The Apple Orchard but mostly we follow Isabella's story. She is opening a culinary school at Bella Vista, hiring a new beekeeper to manage her growing honey industry, planning the food for her sister Tess's upcoming wedding and doing her best to avoid Cormac O'Neil, a feature writing journalist hired to write her grandfather's life story.
If you love all things honey related and recipes in your novels this is the book for you. If you are all about heroines hiding deep dark secrets but unwilling to face them even when true love is staring her in the face , unable to move forward then this will be a fun.
The story came off as lightweight when it could have been so much more.
A pleasant read which could have been so much more.
If you love all things honey related and recipes in your novels this is the book for you. If you are all about heroines hiding deep dark secrets but unwilling to face them even when true love is staring her in the face , unable to move forward then this will be a fun.
The story came off as lightweight when it could have been so much more.
Spoiler
A ready made villain in Calvin Sharp, the culinary school prof who reels in then assaults a young impressionable Isabella is left off page for the majority of the novel. He could have added some much needed tension to a very bland plot. Another missed opportunity to add depth to the story lies with the young pregnant and bruised new beekeeper Jamie Westfall. This girl could have had all kinds of backstory and could have been a much better foil to Isabella's inability to face her past. Opportunities lost.A pleasant read which could have been so much more.