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flowerchildreads's review against another edition
5.0
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.
auntiecookie's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
4.0
mrs_merdle's review against another edition
1.0
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.
rickijill's review against another edition
5.0
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!
mishale1's review against another edition
3.0
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.
elvang's review against another edition
2.0
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.
jeanenej's review against another edition
2.0
This book was entirely predictable except for one thing that didn't appear until the last 20 pages. That one thing could be interesting if it's the subject of another book.
yetanothersusan's review
4.0
A quick breezy romance set in nearby Sonoma.....what isn't there to like about this reasonably predictable book? I love how it managed to move the characters' stories ahead while really remaining focused on filling in gaps of the past. But it ended leaving me wonder who the next book in the series will focus on....and when it will come out!