First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

Genre: Southern Fiction 
Series: Yes, Waverly Family #2 
Pages: 296 
Copyright: 2014 
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Buy: Amazon

Review of the first book in the series: Garden Spells
Reviews of other books by Sarah Addison Allan: Sugar Queen, Lost, Lake, The Peach Keeper, and The Girl Who Chased the Moon

Summary: from Good Reads

From the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells comes a 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.

Lose yourself in Sarah Addison Allen's enchanting world and fall for her charmed characters in this captivating story that proves that a happily-ever-after is never the real ending to a story. It’s where the real story begins.

Feelings:
First Frost contained more of the magical elements that past books by Sarah Addison Allen. I liked it because they were simple and you can see how in a small town families would get the reputation that might over time come to be magical.


It has been a long time since I read Garden Spells so I wasn't sure when I started reading this if I was going to need a refresher or not. Turns out this book stood on its own pretty well. It does help to know the history of the characters.

The story switches point of view between characters. I liked that aspect even though I wasn't sure I was going to like it when I started reading the story.

I highly recommend this book. The magical realism is perfect for this story.

The Big Wave by Pearl S. Buck

Title: The Big Wave 
Author: Pearl S. Buck 
Type: Novella  
Genre: Fiction 
Series: No 
Pages: 64 
Copyright: 1986 
Publisher: HarperCollins 
Rating: 3.5 out of5

Summary: from Goodreads
Kino lives on a farm on the side of a mountain in Japan. His friend, Jiya, lives in a fishing village below. Everyone, including Kino and Jiya, has heard of the big wave. No one suspects it will wipe out the whole village and Jiya's family, too. As Jiya struggles to overcome his sorrow, he understands it is in the presence of danger that one learns to be brave, and to appreciate how wonderful life can be.

The famous story of a Japanese boy who must face life after escaping the tidal wave destruction of his family and village.

Feelings: 
I remembered reading The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck and thinking it was a really good novel. This was good but it wasn't as strong of a story. This is a story of life and the ability of people to go on living even when everything is taken from them.

I would recommend this story. It is quick read and it shows the strength of humans to give and to forgive nature.

Everdark by Elle Jasper

Title: Everdark
Author: Elle Jasper
Type:Novel
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Yes, Dark Ink Chronicles #2
Pages: 336
Copyright: 2011
Publisher: Signet
Rating: 3 out of 5


Summary: from good reads
When Savannah tattoo artists Riley Poe is ambushed by an undead enemy, she inherits some of the traits of her attackers-and a telepathic link with a rampaging vampire. Now, she's experiencing murder after murder through the victims' eyes. And her new powers will not be enough to stop the horror-or the unending slaughter...



Feelings:
Everdark is the second in the series and there were times when I want a little more intelligence from the main character. However, since this is brain candy, yum yum, I am willing to let the silly things that don't quite add up go.

This really was brain candy. Sex, kicking ass, and a little bit of danger. Then there is the mind control and awesome powers. I want to jump roof tops that just sounds fun. This all adds up to a fun read that shut off the brain for a while. 

This book doesn't have as much of a conclusion as the first in the series did but I felt less ravenous for the third book than I had after I finished reading the first book. 

While I sometimes wanted to hit Riley for her stupidity and lack of trust. "With trust there is no love" yet she claims to love so many people and then just blatantly ignore them. That gets old. I do like how spunky she is and how she wants to maintain her independence even when it probably isn't in her best interest. It can be hard to admit we need others. Riley still hasn't realized she might need a little help or might want to share the burdens with someone else sometimes and that is what I'm waiting for her to realize. I hope the author doesn't let me down but that is one change I really want to see in Riley before the series ends. 

Here's to a great brain candy novel. I shall not be shy about the joy I have gotten from this series. It isn't for everyone but when I'm reading it I'm absorbed and loving it. 

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

Genre: Southern Fiction 
Series: No 
Pages: 296 
Copyright:  2014 
Publisher: St. Martin's Press 
Buy: Amazon

Reviews of other books by Sarah Addison Allen: Garden Spells, First Frost, The Sugar Queen, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, and The Peach Keeper

Summary: From Good Reads.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells comes a novel about heartbroken people finding hope at a magical place in Georgia called Lost Lake.

Suley, Georgia, is home to Lost Lake Cottages and not much else. Which is why it's the perfect place for newly-widowed Kate and her eccentric eight-year-old daughter Devin to heal. Kate spent one memorable childhood summer at Lost Lake, had her first almost-kiss at Lost Lake, and met a boy named Wes at Lost Lake. It was a place for dreaming. But Kate doesn't believe in dreams anymore, and her Aunt Eby, Lost Lake's owner, wants to sell the place and move on. Lost Lake's magic is gone. As Kate discovers that time has a way of standing still at Lost Lake can she bring the cottages—and her heart—back to life? Because sometimes the things you love have a funny way of turning up again. And sometimes you never even know they were lost . . . until they are found.

Feelings: 
I enjoyed reading Lost Lake the newest book from Sarah Addison Allen; however, I liked some of her older books more than this one. The magical parts of her other books that I really enjoyed, seemed to be something that the adults didn't really believe in but that only really Devin did in this novel.

The setting for the story a lake with summer cottages that are becoming run down and don't have the same beauty they did fifteen years ago when Kate visited with her parents for the first time. Now Lost Lake is very different from her memories but it is still a place where she finds peace. As the story unfolds the relationship between characters begins to change. It is clear that the changes taking place started happening long before the opening of the novel.

This is enjoyable light reading with a little magic. I would recommend this book to readers that have enjoyed Sarah Addison Allen's other novels.  

Review: The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

Genre: Southern Fiction
Series: No
Copyright: 2011
Publisher:  Bantam Books
Buy: Amazon
Reviews of other books by Sarah Addison Allen: Garden Spells, First Frost, The Sugar Queen, Lost, Lake, and The Girl Who Chased the Moon

Summary:
Willa Jackson, Colin Osgood, Paxton Osgood, and Sebastian Rogers all went to high school together, in Walls of Water North Carolina and yet they can't seem to live down their past which is exactly what they would like to do. " The Joker, the Stick Man, the Princess, and the Freak" (p. 209). 

The Madam had been built in the 1800s by Willa's great-great-grandfather, the founder of the now defunct Jackson Logging Company. ... The irony was that the Jacksons, once the finest family in town, the reason for the town's existence in the first place, lost all their money when the logging stopped. ... [Willa] got out of her Wrangler and climbed onto the hood, leaning back against the windshield. ... The only thing left to the renovation was the landscaping, which apparently had gotten under way just that day. That excited Willa. ... Most of the activity, however, seemed centered on the area around the only tree on the flat top of the hill, where the house sat. (p. 11-12)

Willa's family has a history at the Madam but she is the only one who had not been inside the run down house as a teenager. She only views it from a distance. Thus when she is caught looking that it by Colin she is embarrassed and hurries off in the hope that he didn't recognize her. Colin is left with the invitation to the gala event being held at the Madam. He goes to return it to her and in a jet-legged state ends up falling asleep on her couch. In high school Willa was the school Joker and she had pinned her pranks on Colin not on purpose to start with but because everyone thought he had done them. Colin is drawn to Willa because of her wild side, but she is not the person she was in high school.

Paxton is having the Madam remolded for the big 75th anniversary gala for the Women's Society Club. Paxton is the president, and she feels that she must be in control. Colin is doing the landscaping for the Madam and when he finds a skeleton under a peach tree his sister feels as though everything is out of her control and she worries that she will not be able to have the gala there. The skeleton belongs to Tucker Devlin a traveling sales man who was in Walls of Water 75 years before. The mystery surrounding his death brings Paxton and Willa closer.

Paxton and Sebastian are very good friends and Paxton is under the impression from being in high school together that he is gay, yet she finds herself sexually attracted to him. She wants more from her relationship with him than just the friendship they have.

"He opened the car door for her and helped her out. 'It's too hot to be sitting in your car. Your hair is wet.' He put his cool hand to the base of her bare neck, which made her want to shiver. It was a base reaction from a place deep within her, a well full of sharp longings and pipe dreams." (p. 67) 

Even the way they interact shows how close they are physically even if it isn't sexual.

Colin and Paxton both need to come to terms with who they are now and what it means for them to be part of their family and an individual. All have to learn to be who they were in the past as well as who they are now to be comfortable, in coming to terms with this they are able to find happiness.

Feelings:
I really enjoyed the mountain setting for The Peach Keeper. The idea of a town of waterfalls seems magical, and the way the mist was described makes the setting magical. The idea of selling jars of fog, because of how think and magical it was seems an odd idea to me, but living in the mountains I understand the kind of fog that is being described. Unlike some of Sarah Addison Allen's other books this one combines a fictional location, Walls of Water, with a real location, Asheville, where the author is from. I liked that touch. Walls of Water is both a small town but also has the feel of a larger town. Through the setting and nature we learn about the characters which is important to the story.

Contrary to the title there were not many peaches in the story. I expected them to play a bigger part in the story but they didn't really. Personally, I had hoped that they would as they are my favorite fruit. Tucker Devlin has peach tree that is growing over were he was buried and there is the smell of peaches sometimes when people think of Tucker and what he did to the town. Mostly though peaches are part of the magical or unknown in this story.

I really enjoy reading Sarah Addison Allen's books but I have to admit that I am beginning to see a similar structure in them. This has not stopped me from enjoying the writing and the story. Almost all of her stories have a strong focus on the past and healing wounds. This story was no exception to this pattern. What makes her books really enjoyable to me are that the characters are strong and easy to like. The romance between characters helps, but I think I would like the story even if there wasn't romance and the characters were just friends.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good read over a weekend. It is easy to get into and the characters give in to the superstitions of the town. The town and the characters all have their own personalities that make this a book worth reading.

Review: The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

Genre: Southern Fiction
Series: No
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: Bantam Books
Buy: Amazon

Reviews of other books by Sarah Addison Allen: Garden Spells, First Frost, The Sugar Queen, Lost, Lake, and The Peach Keeper

Summary:
This is the story of Emily Benedict and Julia Winterson. Emily Benedict comes to Mullaby, North Carolina, when her mother dies, to live with a grandfather she didn't even know she had. Julia Winterson who grew up in Mullaby, she saw no reason to return until her father dies. Julia is living in Mullaby until she has paid off the mortgage on her father's BBQ restaurant at which point she will return to her life that has nothing to do with her past in Mullaby. When Emily first arrives she finds the difference between her life with her mother and life in Mullaby hard to adjust too.

Emily hesitated, then paid him and got out. The air outside was tomato-sweet and hickory-smoked, all at once delicious and strange. It automatically made her touch her tongue to her lips. It was dusk, but the streetlights weren't on yet. She was taken aback by how quiet everything was. It suddenly made her feel light. No street sounds. No kids playing. No music or television. There was this sensation of otherworldliness, like she'd traveled some impossible distance. (p. 3-4)

At night Emily sees a light in the woods and finds it odd and interesting. Once she ventures into town she finds that her mother's past in Mullaby is not what she thought and many of the things she thought of her mother are not as they seem.

"I'm Julia Winterson. I live over there." She turned her head slightly, indicating the yellow and white house next door. That's when Emily noticed the pink streak in Julia's hair, tucked behind her ear. It wasn't something she expected from someone so fresh-faced, in flour-stained jeans and a white peasant blouse. ... [Of an apple stack cake Julie says,] "It means..." she struggled with the world, then finally said, "welcome. I know Mullaby has its faults, as I'm sure your mother told you, but it's also a town of great food. Your going to eat very well while you're here. At least there's that.".... "My mother didn't tell me anything about Mullaby," Emily said, staring at the cake. "Nothing?" "No." Julia seemed shocked into silence. (p.23-24)

Emily's lack of understanding of the town and everyone else's understanding of what her mother "did" leave her an outcast. Win Coffey is the only one that seems to be interested in her yet he is the only person who everyone wants to keep her away from.

Julia has been back in Mullaby for a year and a half, and she has done everything she can to avoid Sawyer. Until one small slip while she is talking with Stella, her best friend who she lives with, leaves Sawyer wanting to get close to her.

"Don't you want to know what Stella told me last night?" [Sawyer] asked. ... "Stella was drunk last night." "She said you told her that you bake cakes because of me." (p.17)

Julia and Sawyer have a past, and not one that Julia is likely to forget.

She couldn't blame him for being a scared teenager when he'd found out she'd gotten pregnant from their one night together on the football field all those years ago. ... But she resented how easily he'd gotten on with his life. It had been just one night to him. One regretful night with the freaky, unpopular girl he'd barely even talked to at school. A girl who'd been madly in love with him. (p. 20)

Getting over the past is something both Julia and Emily must overcome to find a place where they can fit.

Feelings:
Like with many of Allen's books food plays a big roll in the story. Expect to be hungry when you read this. BBQ and Cakes play a big part in the story and how the characters interact. I really enjoy reading a book were food is an important part of the story. Sometimes when you read a book and you never see the characters eat it makes you wonder if they are real. This makes food seem magical which I really liked.

This is an easy read. I enjoyed the story, a hint of magic and a little bit of tension make it a good read. I enjoyed the characters and how they seemed so real. Yes there were times when you must suspend disbelief but I don't have an issue with this and really enjoyed the magical elements of the story.

As with all of her stories Sarah Addison Allen takes a setting in rural North Carolina and makes it come to life. I like that her setting is real. I'm from North Carolina and while it feels much like some of the places I have traveled in North Carolina it is a setting that is friendly and it is clear that Allen knows what she is writing.

Review: The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Genre: Southern Fiction
Series: No
Pages: 276
Copyright: 2008
Publisher: Bantam
Buy: Amazon

Reviews of other books by Sarah Addison Allan: Garden Spells, First Frost, Lost, Lake, The Peach Keeper, and The Girl Who Chased the Moon

Summary:
Josey Cirrini is the only daughter of Marco Cirrini. Marco transformed the town of Bald Slope into a ski resort town. Josey has always been seen as the daughter of Marco, and as  a child she was ornery and temperamental. However, when Della Lee shows up in Josey's closet she starts to change and move in a different circle than her mother, who she has been cowing to for years. Margaret, Josey's mother, takes advantage of the fact that Josey has never seen the world and keeps her locked up like you would a little child, even though Josey is twenty-seven. Josey goes behind her mother and has a stash of sweets she keeps in her closet. When Della Lee appears Josey is forced out of her normalcy. She meets Chloe who becomes her friend. Josey also takes action where she would have stood still before. This is an enticing story with a little magic: books that follow the main character.

Feelings:
I enjoyed reading The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. There were times when it seemed a little over the top. I enjoyed the characters and the surprise of Della Lee. Chloe and Josey are both interesting in their own way. They are both trying to avoid love. Josey doesn't want others to know she likes the mailman, Adam, and Chloe has kicked out her boyfriend, Jack, but she can't forget him and move on. The story takes place during the winter. It is also a good winter read as it takes advantage of winter clothing and romanticizes it.

Review: Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Genre: Southern Fiction
Series: Waverley Family #1
Pages: 290
Copyright: 2008
Publisher: Bantam Discovery
Buy: Amazon

Review of the second book in the series: First Frost
Reviews of other books by Sarah Addison Allan: Sugar Queen, Lost, Lake, The Peach Keeper, and The Girl Who Chased the Moon

Summary:This is a well crafted story set in Bascom, North Carolina. The main character has a magic garden that she tends. The garden has a large fence around it because there is an apple tree that has fruit which will tell you the biggest event in your life. This has caused the owners of the tree, the Waverleys, to become outcasts of society. Claire is a caterer, and she makes her living from the flowers in her garden. The apples from the tree are not used in any cooking. Claire's sister Sydney and her young daughter Bay return to live with Claire. They are running from their past. Tyler is the new art teacher at the local college who has moved in next door to Claire. He is interested in her sexually, but Claire resists. On Sydney's return she meets Henry, an old friend from elementary school. The story is strongly influenced by food and the apple tree.

Feelings:
I really enjoyed reading Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. It was a pleasant surprise to find a good Southern novel. The story is rooted in the South and Southern traditions. I really liked the characters. Claire and Tyler were an interesting pair as they were so different. Not only that but there was a tension between them that seemed to by heightened by the apple tree and by Claire, who seems to posses some magic of her own. Sydney is harder to follow as she doesn't have as many pleasant memories. As the book unfolds it was nice to watch Sydney and Claire develop a friendship built on being sisters. The relationship among the characters and their past friends makes the story move at a fast pass. Henry and Tyler are both interesting men. They are manly with a feminine side that reaches for romance which Claire rejects and Sydney doesn't believe she can have. I would recommend this book. I enjoyed the magic and tension the writing created.