Thursday, June 13, 2019

Book Review: Queen Bee

You guys.... it's only Thursday. It feels like it needs to be Friday and I need to be excited about sleeping in tomorrow. But no. It's only Thursday and I have one more hellish day of this incredibly long week. Ugh.

So I say this every June I think, but it isn't summer until I have the latest from Dorothea Benton Frank. It's always one of my go-to reads to kick off summer and her books always make me happy. 

Queen Bee - Dorothea Benton Frank 
A woman wounded by her past comes to Sullivan's Island, South Carolina to find new meaning in life and to find herself. As she takes up a new hobby of beekeeping, she begins to come into her own and rebuild her life. When a new friend comes in and she finally allows for something more than just "friendship", everyone will realize that life could use a little taste of sweetness.


In what is sure to be another classic, Dorothea Benton Frank weaves a fun tale of self-discovery, love, and friendship with her signature charming wit, indelible poignancy, and hallmark themes.
The thing about Dorothea Benton Frank is her books are always fun. You can always relate to them, you love the characters, as flawed as they sometimes are, because they are always like people you know. This could be your family and she always expertly nails what a personality is, what that personality would say or do in any given situation, and she can have you laughing and crying throughout the same book, and this one wasn't any different. 

So this one is a book around two sisters and a mother who really is demanding and Holly is the one left to care for her after her sister Leslie left the island. Well Leslie is back because she's had a pretty big shakeup in her life, but coming into the routine and life that Holly and their mom has isn't easy. They butt heads but ultimately they reconnect to each other and that's the main piece of this book. We also have a little romance thrown it, but don't call this a romance novel, we have bees (and Holly- who talks to her bees all of the time), the cute little boys next door, and tons of times where I laughed out loud. All of the characters are so completely set in their ways and aren't necessarily open minded (looking at you, Leslie) and throughout the book things change and happen and you can see them (slowly) turn more laid back and willing to roll with the punches versus "my way or the highway" and that's what makes you feel like this could be your family.

It really was the best, light, summery read to basically kick off my summer reading list. I also want to mention how much I love these books because every time I read them I want to go to this place. I feel like I've read enough of them that I would fit completely in with these fictional people and it would be totally normal. 

It should be noted that while this is Lowcountry Tales #12, you don't have to read anything before this, these really are stand alone novels, and I suggest you read any/all of the ones you can get your hands on! I really, really enjoyed this one and if you're looking for the perfect summer read for vacation, the beach, your backyard, wherever? This is the one you need. 
   
Thank you to TLC Book Tours and William Morrow for my review copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Let me know what you think of this one! This post contains affiliate links and that helps this blog keep going. What is on YOUR summer reading list? 

4 comments:

Deanna Reads Books said...

This seems like a fun beach read!

Anthea said...

I enjoy a summery book and this one sounds like a fun read. I find books that have a complex mother-daughter relationship grab my attention - I cannot relate to books where the adult daughter is best friends with her mother and they never argue. It is like reading Sci fi meets fantasy. Maybe that is just me.
Also love that this is a stand alone even though it is no.12 in a series.

mypixieblog said...

Oooh oooh oooh!!! 1) I’ve never read any of her books (I don’t think??) but 2) I have a private beach (okay technically it’s a lake, not it has a beach area!) and I would love a fun summer read to kick off the season! Thanks for sharing this; adding to goodreads now!

Shooting Stars Mag said...

I've never read anything by this author, but I really do need to start reading some nice, summery reads! Glad you loved this!!

-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net