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.
Goodreads Summary
Sarah Addison Allen's books lend a bit of magic, hope, and happiness to my life when I read them. I loved reading this book and imagining I was Bay. I love how each of the Waverly sisters has a magical quality to them and their past relatives, also mentioned in the book, also have special gifts. Claire makes candies, but her business is taking up all of her time and becoming too commercialized. Sydney desperately wants a baby with her husband and worries about it constantly. Bay knows that she belongs to a certain man, but he isn't reciprocating her affections. The reader will get to know and love all three of these characters as well as seeing the world through the lenses of their perspectives.
Family can make for great characters and the Waverleys are no exception. I liked how the author incorporated familiar interactions and relationships that many books do not focus on or bother with. I thought it was hilarious that the men the Waverlys married either ignore and/or respect their wives' gifts without question. I thought the changing seasons theme was perfect for this book and loved the antics and problems the sisters encountered and were challenged by before the First Frost rolled around. This book is highly recommended to young adult/adult readers.
5 Stars
This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews. COPYRIGHT © 2014 LIVE TO READ
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I have never read one of this authors books, but I know she gets so much love. And this one sounds like it would be a good one to start with. I could use some hope. We all could!