Series:
Honey Acres (Book 2)
Astrid Hill can calm a hive full of restless bees, but
she has no idea how to make her gruff new neighbor smile. Charlie Driver
intends to hightail it out of Honey, Texas, as soon as he’s sold his aunt’s
property, and Astrid worries her family’s adjoining honey business may be
affected. But however aloof—and annoyingly attractive—Charlie may be, his
daughters are too adorable to ignore.
Charlie would rather untangle a line of computer code
than deal with people, and the stress of single parenthood isn’t helping. Yet
Astrid has a knack for overcoming his resistance to this quirky small town and
her beloved bees. What if his girls become attached, only to once again lose
someone precious? Then again, in love, the more you risk your heart, the
sweeter the reward…
Sweet story. Astrid and her family have a bee farm in
Honey, Texas, where they produce honey and other honey and bee-related items. Astrid
is a master beekeeper with a reputation as a bee whisperer - she is the one
people call when they have a problem. She also leads the Junior Beekeepers
group, passing her love of bees to the next generation. She is worried about an
upcoming group event on a neighboring property. Rebecca had promised the group
the use of her hives and land before she passed away. Now, she has to depend on
the heir to keep his aunt's promise, and she isn't too confident he will.
Charlie is a tech guy who works from home, enabling him
to avoid most contact with people. A recent widower, he has brought his two
stepdaughters with him to Honey for the summer, hoping to escape their grief. Though
he's only been in Honey for a short time, Charlie already has a reputation as
an aloof grump, mainly because he's never developed the ability to interact
with people. He is determined to sell the property as soon as possible and return
to his comfort zone in the city. He doesn't count on his girls getting involved
with the family next door.
I enjoyed the first meeting between Astrid and the girls,
Halley and Nova. They are friendly, curious, and quite put out with their dad,
who has kept them close to home while he works on his computer. I loved how
quickly they connected with Astrid. You can't say the same for Charlie. He
wasn't sure how to handle Astrid, whose cheerful personality and refusal to be chased
off confused him. I liked her determination to bring him out of his shell
without causing any trauma. It was fun to see how quickly Astrid came to
understand him. I laughed out loud often as Charlie found himself doing things
he never expected to do.
Neither Astrid nor Charlie expected the sparks of
attraction that grew between them. I enjoyed the slow build of their
relationship from neighbors to friends and more. But the question is whether
anything can come of it since Charlie plans to return to the city at the end of
the summer. I liked seeing how Charlie and the girls came to love their lives
in Honey.
There is a fly in their ointment in the person of
Charlie's sister. She and her husband are developers, and when she looks at the
property and the potential gold mine of Honey, she does her best to convince
Charlie to sell the property. The sister is obnoxious, selfish, and not very
nice to Charlie. I loved her shock at the will reading and cheered for Charlie
and Astrid. I loved the ending and seeing the difference Honey and Astrid have
made in Charlie. His big moment at the end was sweet and funny.
I liked the assorted secondary characters. Halley and
Nova were adorable. I felt their grief over their mother's death and their worry
over their relationship with Charlie. I enjoyed seeing them interact with
Astrid's family and the difference it made in their lives. The closeness of
Astrid's family was terrific. I liked how they could support each other and call
each other out when needed. Aunt Camellia and her boyfriend were sweet, and I
laughed at Aunt Mags' crustiness that covered a soft heart. I look forward to
seeing more of them in future books.
I loved all the information about bees, beekeeping,
and the importance of bees that was woven into the story.
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