Mary Ellen Taylor's "Honeysuckle Season": A Delightful Tale of Love and Family Bonds

SuzanneM: Good family history story with a few stretches of the imagination. Would have liked more of Sadie’s story to have been included.

United Kingdom on Nov 02, 2023

Beverly B Sloan: Exciting, suspenseful and romantic! Loved this story that started out one way and began to turn and twist you into mysterious and romantic tales of multi families. Kept you interested and happy at the end.

United States on Oct 12, 2023

mom of three: The book had a good plot. Just a little to predictable for me. But, other then that seldom got off to say for my taste.

United States on Oct 07, 2023

Book reader: Libby McKenzie is asked to do photograph shot of a wedding at the historic Woodmont estate. Libby meets the owner, Elaine Grant. Woodmont has always been well known to her and she hope to convince Elaine to open the estate as a advent venue.
Colton Reese is helping to restore the grounds. Libby decides to photograph the process.
Libby is also still dealing with lost of her well known father who was a Dr in the community. She final after putting it off, sort through her father’s office. There she discovers a letter that changes everything she knows about her parents, herself, and the estate.
I felt the ending was rushed .

United States on Sep 14, 2023

Beth Neibert: While some of the story is predictable, Ms. Taylor sweeps the reader into vivid imaginations through her descriptions so delightful you can see the greenhouse, shrubs, and people as though they lived in close proximity to oneself. This made up for portions that felt less than original. I highly recommend this book be added to anyone's list who is looking for a feel-good bedtime story.

United States on Sep 12, 2023

K. Lawrence: I am so ambivalent about this book. It kept me reading because I was curious how it was going to turn out. That said, I pretty much guessed the broad arc of the story because the writing was not subtle. My curiosity about how the characters were going to make all the mess work out was what earned it three stars.

Now for the parts that had me grumbling throughout:

1. The setting. I am somewhat familiar with that part of Virginia, so I was curious as to where the town of "Bluestone" was supposed to be. In the book, the Woodmont Estate is said to have a view of the James River, and Bluestone is close enough to Waynesboro for someone to work there. It is also close enough to Lynchburg for a commute, and twenty-five miles from Charlottesville. However, she also says Charlottesville is due south of Bluestone. The James River is south of Charlottesville, not north, so I felt that the author was sloppy with these details.

2. In Chapter Six, Libby thinks, "Sierra's curse theory was not far off the mark." Curse theory? I searched the prior chapters to see what I missed, but nothing. Turns out, the conversation introducing Sierra's "curse theory" is in Chapter Seven. An...

United States on Aug 02, 2023

Val Robson: Honeysuckle Season had all the elements I normally like with a spectacular grand house with lots of history and secrets involving several generations who lived there. However, it didn't fully hit the mark for me and it was more of a romance than the mystery element I was hoping for.

There are a lot of characters and a little way in I wrote down names and any dates of birth and death I knew of each character to help me keep track of the plot. The storyline is written in two main timelines - one current in 2020 and the other at the start of World War II in the early 1940s. The book is set in Virginia, USA so the war is happening in the background in that Pearl Harbour is attacked in 1941 which causes the USA to enter the war but this is not a book primarily about the war at all.

I found the historical timeline confusing as it started in 1943 and then went backwards to 1942. I hadn't remembered that and had to reread some sections. It would have been helpful if the chapter titles reflected the date and not just the unimaginative Chapter One, Chapter Two, etc.

There are some triggers in the books which some potential readers might want to be aware of. One was a...

United Kingdom on Apr 10, 2023

Kindle-Kunde: Trigger Warning: Unfortunately contains a rape scene as well, don’t know why the author feels the need to write them out as they are very triggering to some, BUT it was a very good read. I adore all the female characters. Sadie, Olivia, Libby, Sierra and so on. I truthfully enjoy Mary’s writing. The end was also so wholesome.

Germany on Apr 07, 2023

Bertrude: Overall I loved this book.

It was a perfect quick read (even though it took me months to read for multiple reasons), and although the story was predictable I enjoyed it.

The only minor issue I had with it was a slight continuity error (no not the covid thing like another review complained about!) but the scene where Olivia takes lunch to her husband towards the end. On one page it is roast beef, yet a few pages later it’s chicken. Seems a weird error to be left in the book.

United Kingdom on Apr 17, 2022

KRoss: I dont often read this type of novel, preferring paranormal romances and fantasy fiction, but it caught my eye on amazon first reads and the description sucked me in so much that I had hit the buy now bitton before I had even realised.
I got the book 5 hours ago. Its currently quarter to 5 in the morning and having just finished the book, I still have tears tracking to my pillow.
Libby and Sadie both have hard journeys, difficult decisions and lots to grieve. The one positive they both have though, is a good friend. As the stories weave together its hard not to become enraptured by Sadie's wild forthcoming style of the 1940's or Libby's artist love in 2020. The author does a really good job of weaving all the threads together and tying up all the loose ends.
Although there is plenty of loss, grief and mourning, the story does finish on a happily ever after for the characters in 2020. A fantastic read and I would really recommend it.

United Kingdom on Aug 12, 2020