Genres: Adult Fiction
Pages: 368
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
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The residents of Dove Pond, North Carolina, know three things: they have the finest bar-b-que this side of Atlanta, their Apple Festival is the best that ever was, and the town has phenomenal good luck whenever the Dove family has seven daughters. Fortunately, that time is now, because Dove Pond desperately needs a miracle.
The seventh daughter, Sarah Dove, believes in all things magical. Books have whispered their secrets to her since she was a child. Now the town librarian, she makes sure every book finds the reader who most needs it. But recently the books have been whispering something different—that change is about to come to Dove Pond. Sarah is soon convinced that the legendary Dove Pond good luck has arrived in the form of new resident, Grace Wheeler.
After the tragic death of her sister, Grace has moved to Dove Pond with her grieving young niece and ailing foster mother hoping to retrench financially and emotionally before returning to her fast-paced city life. But she soon learns that life in a not-so-sleepy town isn’t as quiet as she’d hoped. Despite her best efforts to focus on her family, she can’t avoid the townspeople, especially her next-door neighbors, the quirky and talkative Sarah Dove and cynical veteran Travis Parker. Grace’s situation grows more complicated when she assumes her duties as town clerk and discovers that Dove Pond is on the verge of financial ruin.
Already overburdened by her own cares, Grace tries to stay aloof from the town’s issues, but she’s never been good at resisting a challenge. With Sarah’s encouragement, and inspired by the wise words of a special book, Grace decides to save her new town. And in her quest, she discovers the rich comfort of being a part of a loving community, the tantalizing promise of new love, the deep strength that comes from having a true friend, and the heartfelt power of finding just the right book.
There is so much charming magical realism, it’s hard for me to write this review. There are some things that I really loved about this book and other things that fell a little flat for me.
I love prickly Grace whose armor is wrapped tightly around her. She is such a stranger in Dove Pond, I immediate felt for her once she moved into this foreign town with her plans. She is mourning the loss of her sister Hannah who has died and left her a niece and aging foster mother to take care of. I wish there was more storyline between her and the departed Hannah, I think this would have added more depth to her character.
Travis is the bad boy and wounded solider. He’s handsome and haunted and closed off and of course, super attracted to Grace, whether he wants to be or not. While I like him on paper (no pun intended) he felt a little flat for me and I didn’t really feel so much chemistry between him and Grace.
My favorite though is Sarah who speaks to books and they speak to her. I love her unrequited love for the town sheriff, their romance teetering on the edges of the book, teasing us. I am sure this romance will be front and center in the next book. This is the romance I can’t wait to read. I felt closer to these two characters and their romance.
Overall, I think The Book Charmer will be a big hit for some readers. There’s a lot of small town charm and brightly colored characters. The saving of the town is a great plot and Grace shows off her intelligence and skill through the book, swaying an entire community to her side. I wish there was a little more chemistry between Grace and Travis and I felt like the romance was a little off, but overall I want to read the next book in the series.
Kimberly majored in Songwriting and currently works full time in the music industry. When she's not listening to music, knitting or writing, you can find her outside reading her favorite genres: Young Adult, Adult Fiction, Mystery, and Romance.
