Wednesday 23 March 2016

First frost - Sarah Addison Allen

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.

My thoughts:
To be honest I have a dreadful memory (not that it matters, this works perfectly as a standalone). But I did read the first book 4 years ago, so that does explains it. I can not remember Clare's man, but I did remember after a while Sydney's Henry, well sort of, I had heard of him. I more remembered the general feeling of thing. The apple tree, the magic, them being on the outside of everyone else.

10 years have passed. Bay is a teenager, she has the magic to know where things belong.
Clare makes candy now, but is unhappy cos all she does is candy, and her heart is not in it. Even if the magic is.
Sydney is still cutting hair and making everyone's day with that magic, but she wants a baby, and is unhappy too.

First frost is coming and that is dangerous for the Waverly's. There is a stranger in town. Clare has a decision to make. Bay is in love. And Sydney must come to terms with her wish.

But it all works out perfectly. Magic is in the air, just, with this book I know the magic is there, totally, they totally have magic and that apple tree is totally magical.

Conclusion:
A sweet book.

Cover
nice

Paperback, 320 pages
Published January 5th 2016 by St. Martin's Griffin (first published January 20th 2015)
Waverley Family #2
Magical realism
Own

42 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Well series and series, she wrote another book years afterwards cos she wanted to

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  2. I want a magical apple tree:) That cover is so sweet and pretty!

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  3. I love magical realism, and I've been meaning to try this series for a while now.

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  4. A sweet book nails the description. Her books just make me happy.

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  5. I didn't realize this was the fourth book. I've been wanting to read a book by hers for a while now! But I'm glad this would work as a stand alone.

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  6. I liked this one, but I wasn't a fan of the man, and I didn't like who un confident Clare was.....

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  7. I enjoyed this one too, like you my memory leaves me so couldn't remember too many details from previous book but as you say it does stand alone.

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    1. I am glad it did cos oh these memories of ours

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  8. *waves* happy wednesday. :)

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  9. I'm like you... I didn't remember everything but enough. I enjoyed it as well, but it doesn't surpass her earlier work.

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    Replies
    1. No, her earlier ones were more magical so I liked those more too

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  10. This sounds good, but I would want to read the first one first :)

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  11. I can't imagine reading a sequel after four years, my memory is too poor for that. Kudos on tackling it anyway and even better to hear you enjoyed it!

    ~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

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    1. I do not think she planned it either so she did work on making us feel welcome again

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  12. This one looks and sounds familiar to me. I wonder if I've read it lol!

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  13. I just got this one. Finally. Then realized it was the second book. Ugh. I might end up reading out of order, but I'll try to get the first one.
    Oh the trouble with memories. LOL. It's why I started writing reviews.

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    Replies
    1. Or read this one and the first one later, it works

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  14. I've just read one of her books, and loved it. Must read more.

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  15. It's funny how we can remember how we feel about a book even if we don't remember much about it.

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  16. I love how she does magical realism. I read the first book several years ago and had to go back and read my review before I read this. I liked it.

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  17. I still like the first one more, but I love the treats Claire made here.

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  18. I enjoyed this one too, though like you it had been a while since I had read Garden Spells so I didn't quite remember the husbands as much as the main female characters. It was still a charming read.

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