Review - - The Secret Recipe of Ella Dove

The Secret Recipe of Ella Dove

by Karen Hawkins

Dove Pond Series - Book 3

Publisher: Gallery Books

Release Date: August 15, 2023

Reviewed by PJ

Three lives converge as a wildly talented baker returns to Dove Pond to face her past in this entry in the charming series that proves that sometimes miracles really do happen...

Ella Dove is an acclaimed baker whose desserts spark vivid, cherished memories in those who taste them. A restless soul, Ella goes wherever the wind takes her—but driven by a haunting dream, she’s coming home to Dove Pond. Years ago, her mentor, Angela Stewart Harrington, falsely accused Ella of stealing her beloved family recipe book, known as the Book of Cakes. Now, Ella believes it’s time for them to reconcile.

Angela has her own share of amends to make. Her daughter Jules has never forgiven her for divorcing her father, and they’ve been estranged ever since. But just as Angela begins to hope that she and Jules might mend their tattered relationship, a miscommunication turns into a lie that could destroy everything.

Meanwhile, Jules’s son Gray is shocked that Ella, his first love and his first heartbreak, has returned to Dove Pond. But even though he knows Ella is a wanderer and will soon leave, he’s unable to stop himself from falling for her once again. Can Gray find a way to convince Ella to give him, and their town, a serious chance? Or is he once again on the road to a broken heart?

With so much at stake, Ella, Angela, and Gray must learn to accept each other—flaws and all—forgive the many mistakes of their pasts, and trust that love can, and will, always find a way. For fans of Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen, The Secret Recipe of Ella Dove is a delicious and magical read that will warm your heart and charm your senses.

PJ's Thoughts:

Once again, Karen Hawkins quickly swept me into all the ups and downs of life in Dove Pond, and within the Dove family, holding me there, happily flipping pages to discover what would happen next, until the very end.

These books are character driven and oh, what flawed, complex, delightfully complicated characters they are. Do I like them? Do I despise them? Do they make me laugh? Cry? Cheer for them or want to toss them off a cliff? Yes, to all of the above. Hawkins' characters are realistic. They're relatable. They embody emotions - and issues - many of us face in our daily lives. They're also quirky, sometimes devious, beautifully developed by the author, and always entertaining. 

I love Hawkins' sense of humor which is on full display in this book, especially in the scenes featuring Angela. Her interactions with both Ella and with Gray had me frequently chuckling and often laughing out loud while those with her daughter brought a depth of emotion that gave substance, tension, and hope to a fraught relationship. 

There are so many layers to Ella and Gray. I enjoyed their second chance at romance. While not the primary focus of this book, it holds a fair amount of weight in the overall story, especially as it relates to Ella's personal evolution, and comes with a happy ending. I appreciate that Hawkins devoted time to each character's issues and their individual growth as well as the slow progression into becoming a romantic couple. By the end of the book, I was firmly in their corner. And, bonus! Who knew Gray would come with a Highland Coo calf who is most definitely "Adorbs." I can't wait to see more of these three in future books (hopefully).

I've been reading Karen Hawkins for a long time. Her Scottish historical romances are among my favorites but this new contemporary fiction series with romantic elements, family dynamics, and a touch of magical realism is hitting all of my happy spots. Hawkins' Dove Pond stories touch my heart, tickle my funny bone, and leave me eager for more. I highly recommend this book and this series.

Review - - A Cup of Silver Linings

A Cup of Silver Linings

by Karen Hawkins

Dove Pond - Book 2

Publisher: Gallery Books

Release Date: July 6, 2021

Reviewed by PJ

Ava Dove—the sixth of the seven famed Dove sisters and owner of Ava Dove’s Landscaping and Specialty Teas—is frantic.

Just as her fabulous new tearoom is about to open, her herbal teas have gone wonky. Suddenly, her sleep-inducing tea is startling her clients awake with vivid dreams, her romance-kindling tea is causing people to blurt out their darkest secrets, and her anti-anxiety tea is making them spend hours staring into mirrors. Ava is desperate for a remedy, but her search leads her into dangerous territory, as she is forced to face a dark secret she’s been hiding for over a decade.

Meanwhile, successful architect Ellen Foster has arrived in Dove Pond to attend the funeral of her estranged daughter, Julie. Grieving deeply, Ellen is determined to fix up her daughter’s ramshackle house, sell it, and then sweep her sixteen-year-old granddaughter, Kristen, off to a saner, calmer life in Raleigh. But Kristen has other plans. Desperate to stay with her friends in Dove Pond, Kristen sets off on a quest she’s avoided her whole life—to find her never-been-there father in the hopes of winning her freedom from the grandmother she barely knows.

PJ's Thoughts:

I fell in love with Dove Pond and her citizens while reading The Book Charmer and couldn't wait to return for book two, A Cup of Silver Linings. This time around, Ava Dove takes center stage but she's not the only one with a story to be told. I love how Hawkins takes the threads of various people in town, some related, some not, some old, some new, and weaves them together into a heart-tugging tapestry that completely immersed me into their lives and kept me eagerly turning pages while also wanting to slow down and savor each scene. There are some heart-wrenching situations, including grief and betrayal. I appreciate the fact that the author doesn't veer from the deep anger and pain that often accompanies those situations but that she also allows her characters to gradually, and realistically, work through those emotions and emerge on the other side with hope and the first steps towards healing. But balancing those deeper emotions are the charm, humor, and heart that are always evident in a story of Hawkins' creation.  

There are subtle hints of romance in the book but the primary focus of this series is on the women, their trials, triumphs, and relationships. I'm invested in them now and have a stake in their happiness, and in the case of the Dove sisters, their magic. I'll be in line to buy every book Hawkins decides to write in this series. 

This book could stand on its own but I strongly recommend reading the books in order. As there are many characters and inter-woven stories that continue to evolve through the books, I think you'll have a much better understanding of the characters and less confusion if you begin with The Book Charmer before moving on to A Cup of Silver Linings. 

~~~~~~~~~~

 Ava Dove's magical gift is the ability to communicate with plants while her sister Sarah communicates with books. If you were able to choose a magical gift, what would it be? 

Review and Q&A - - The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins

The Book Charmer
by Karen Hawkins
Dove Pond - Book 1
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: July 30, 2019
Reviewed by PJ
 

Sarah Dove is no ordinary bookworm. To her, books have always been more than just objects: they live, they breathe, and sometimes they even speak. When Sarah grows up to become the librarian in her quaint Southern town of Dove Pond, her gift helps place every book in the hands of the perfect reader. Recently, however, the books have been whispering about something out of the ordinary: the arrival of a displaced city girl named Grace Wheeler.

If the books are right, Grace could be the savior that Dove Pond desperately needs. The problem is, Grace wants little to do with the town or its quirky residents—Sarah chief among them. It takes a bit of urging, and the help of an especially wise book, but Grace ultimately embraces the challenge to rescue her charmed new community. In her quest, she discovers the tantalizing promise of new love, the deep strength that comes from having a true friend, and the power of finding just the right book.

My thoughts:

I have fallen in love with Dove Pond and her citizens, both old and new. Karen Hawkins brings this small North Carolina town and her inhabitants to vibrant life in this charming novel filled with humor, heart, a touch of magic (who among us wouldn't want the ability to converse with the books we love), and satisfying emotional depth. This story, and these characters, really spoke to my heart. This is the first of a series so expect some stage setting as well as introductions to several characters. Also, keep in mind that while the author's previous books were full-on romances, The Book Charmer is more contemporary fiction with a romantic thread. Expect the signature humor and heart that are intrinsic to Hawkins' other books but not as much focus on romance. There are the first tentative threads of a blossoming romantic relationship for Grace but the primary focus of this story is not on that romance. It's more about the inter-twining relationships among several characters, with Grace's family relationships and her new friendship with Sarah taking center stage. That friendship is the bedrock of this book and one that I enjoyed immensely. I'm looking forward to the continuation of their friendship, as well as the evolution of Sarah's romantic journey, as the series continues. And I'm excited for the stories to come for the other Dove sisters as well. 

  

Q&A with Karen Hawkins

Hi Karen! Welcome back to The Romance Dish. Thanks for visiting with us today.

Thank you. It’s always a delight to be here!

Your newest novel was released yesterday and, I have to say, it’s one of my favorites of your entire collection. Please tell our readers what they can expect from The Book Charmer and the Dove Pond series that it launches.

I’m excited to share THE BOOK CHARMER with readers. It really is the book of my heart and it took me almost a year and a half to write it.

It seems to me that the world is a little dark right now, and I wanted to write a hopeful book, one that inspired readers to smile. So I wrote about a family of seven sisters who had special abilities and their quirky, fun town in the mountains near Asheville, NC.

I’ve been writing magic realism into my historical romances since The Talisman Ring series first came out back in 2002, so when I decided to write a contemporary magic realism book, it was a natural step to take.

I’ve fallen in love with the Dove Pond community. How many books do you plan to set there? Are you able to share anything about the next book in the series?

There will be seven books in this series, one for each sister. Every one of the Dove sisters has their own special abilities, so it’ll be fun to explore them all.

Right now I’m writing about Ava Dove, who makes specialty teas that help people. Everyone thinks Ava is the sweet, simple, happy-go-lucky Dove sister, but they don’t know that Ava has a secret trapped in a shoe box wrapped in duct tape under her bed, and it’s fighting to get out . . . A CUP OF SILVER LININGS will be out next spring.

I think all of us who love books have tried our hand at book matchmaking from time to time though certainly not with Sarah’s unique ability. You’ve given each of the Dove women a magical gift. If you could choose one such gift for yourself, what would your magical ability be?

Hmmm. That’s a tough one. I’d guess I’d like the ability to make the people around me happier. It’s what I strive to do in my writing and is probably what I’d want to do in real life. But I wouldn’t mind having Sarah’s ability to know who should read what book. That would be a way to make people happy, too.

I was in Grace’s corner from the get-go and thoroughly invested in her journey. Her romantic thread is enjoyable, and her family relationships tugged at my heart, but it’s the friendship she and Sarah form that, for me, is the bedrock of this book. Will we continue to see Grace, and her relationships within Dove Pond, evolve throughout the series?

Oh yes! And as you must have noticed as you read The Book Charmer, Sarah’s story isn’t finished, either. That’s the beauty of a small town series – a number of character arcs can travel through book after book. I LOVE that!

Without giving away spoilers, what was your most difficult scene to write in this book? Which was the most fun?

The scenes with Mama G and Grace were the hardest to write because I loved Mama G SO much and yet I also knew what was happening to her. I’d write and weep, write and weep, even as I wrote happier scenes. She meant a lot to me.

The most fun scenes to write were the ones with Mama G and Trav, because they connected so well. They shared a similar fear – their world was changing and they were struggling to handle it, but in opposite ways. Mama G was fighting to keep her memories while Trav was trying to forget his, and yet they had such a positive impact on each other.

I’m recommending everyone add The Book Charmer to their summer reading list. What books are on your reading list this summer?

Thank you! Here are some books I’ve recently read:
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman (fabulous and fun)
Project Duchess by Sabrina Jeffries (such a fresh and entertaining read)

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (I’ve devoured every book he’s written and still want more)

It’s Getting Scot in Here by Suzanne Enoch (this hero – OH MY GOSH, so GOOD) 

Will you be attending any book signings or events this year where readers will have an opportunity to meet you?

On August 3^rd I’m having a book launch party complete with hors d’oeurves and beverages at Blantyre, a Gilded Age manor and now a luxury hotel in Lenox, MA right off the Massachusetts Turnpike. There will be a huge book giveaway, too!

Where can readers find you online?

facebook.com/KarenHawkinsWriter
www.twitter.com/TheKarenHawkins

www.Instagram.com/karenhawkinsauthor

www.karenhawkins.com

Thanks again for visiting with us, Karen.  Do you have anything else to add? Would you like to ask our readers a question?

First, if you enjoyed THE BOOK CHARMER, there’s also a fun enovella set in Dove Pond called LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON. It’s about a man who has a ghost living in his bathtub handing out life advice. It’s a fun introduction to Dove Pond.

And second, yes, I’d love to ask a question! PJ asked me what special magical ability I’d like to have. The sisters in my book can do everything from speaking to books, to making tea that can help you find your car keys. If the sky was the limit, what one magical ability would you like to have?