The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins

Reviewed by Jeanne

Grace Wheeler was a foster child, dragged from home to home with her younger sister, Hannah, until they found a home with Mama G. Eighteen years later, Grace leaves her high powered, good paying job to take Mama G. to the tiny town of Dove Pond, North Carolina in hopes that being in a familiar place will help the elderly woman battle dementia.  Also in tow is Daisy, Hannah’s daughter, an unhappy child who seems bent on making Grace’s life even more difficult than it is already.  The only job available is underpaid clerk’s position but Grace grits her teeth and takes it because it’s only for a year.  One year, and she’ll be back in the city and away from this little backwater community.

Not only is Dove Pond lacking amenities, it has some definite peculiarities, mostly in terms of its inhabitants.  The Mayor is too busy fishing to bother with running the town; the long-haired, tattooed, motorcycle riding neighbor is up at all hours of the night and is a source of fascination for Daisy; the local librarian claims books talk to her; and they all are emotionally invested in a town festival that has lost money for well over a decade.  Somehow they think Grace is going to fix it all, and they think that because one of the Dove sisters says so.

I picked this book up because the cover blurb said it was perfect for fans of Garden Spells, which is a book I adore.  (I love all of Sarah Addison Allen’s books, to be honest.)  The first chapter was a delight, but then the scene switched to new characters, and then it jumped ahead in time 18 years.  Of course, it took me nearly a week to get that far, due to interruptions and broken concentration.  I was beginning to think I’d just give up but I was only about 30 pages in and I knew I had to give it more of a chance than that.  It wasn’t the book’s fault we were in a pandemic, after all.  

And boy, am I glad I did.  Just a few pages later, I found the book picked up considerably and was soon deeply involved in the lives of all these Dove Pondians.  The book is sweet, sincere, and romantic, with wisps of fantasy curling around and strong friendships abounding.  I was enchanted.  

In retrospect, I see the “problem” was that this is a first in series book and the author was spending time setting us up for all that will follow.  (The next book is due out March 2021.) The premise is that the town, founded by the Dove family, hosts inhabitants who usually have some little extra gift, some bit of magic, that sets them apart.  Sarah Dove has books whispering to her, telling her who needs them; Ava Dove can use her herbs to make a personalized tea that is good for whatever ails a specific person.

This is a warm and delightful book which does indeed remind me very strongly of Sarah Addison Allen, and that is a Good Thing.  I’ll be recommending it to others as I wait for A Cup of Silver Linings.

By the way, the author bio say that she “grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee, where storytelling is a way of life.” She now lives in New England.

The Prince and I by Karen Hawkins

Reviewed by Ambrea

Murian MacDonald loved Rowallen Castle, and she loved the immeasurably happy life she lived.  But when the earl killed her husband and stole Rowallen from beneath her, Murian vowed revenge.  Now, she waylays the earl’s wealthy guests with a loyal band of misfits, trying to lure him and his guards into pursuit so she may sneak back into the castle and find evidence of his misdeeds.

Her plan is working well, until she stops the coach of Gregori Maksim Romanovin, a prince of Oxenburg, and the Grand Duchess Natasha Nikolaevna.  Although she bests him in a duel and makes off with her prize, Murian hasn’t heard the last of Prince Max—and, whether she likes it or not, she may very well need his help if she hopes to reclaim Rowallen and defeat despicable earl who ruined her life.

I rather liked Karen Hawkin’s novel, The Prince and I.  It’s a curious blending of romance and Robin Hood, and I enjoyed it.  Max is the quintessential hero:  dark, brooding, capable and confident—not to mention, he’s a literal prince.  Murian, on the other hand, is anything but a damsel in distress:  she’s calm, competent, hard-working and surprisingly agile with a blade.  She’s been dealt a terrible hand, having lost her husband and her home, but she’s making the best of her situation and managing to survive.

When a sweet romance develops between them, I couldn’t help gush over the tenderness of their relationship.  Murian is driven by her desire for revenge and, while it does mark her growing affection for Max, it also makes her a more conflicted, complicated character.  Their relationship isn’t cut and dry, rather they’re faced with a number of hurdles to jump, not least of which a conniving earl that will see Murian dead and Max brought to heel.

It’s rather exciting.

However, I think my favorite character was Max’s grandmother, the Grand Duchess.  Natasha was, by far, the most comical character and, I think, the most knowledgeable.  She doesn’t care how others perceive her; rather, she likes the idea that others consider her a witch.  (It’s why she most often threatens to turn others into goats and frogs.  She much prefers infamy to anonymity.)  Moreover, she’s often caught in the thick of trouble, one way or another, and yet she still manages to turn circumstances exactly how she wants them.

This last quality makes me think that she’s not the doddering old witch she likes her grandson to think she is.  Natasha is wily, not necessarily senile; in fact, she strikes me as being preternaturally intelligent.  For instance, if she hadn’t lost in a card game to the earl, they never would have traveled to Scotland.  Max would never have met Murian; Max would never have gotten involved in the earl’s business and discovered what the man did.

Natasha is the force that propels the story forward.  She helps shape it the most and, while she may seem laughably naïve or even foolish, I have this feeling that she’s not what she seems.  Throughout the story as I learned more about her, I had this odd suspicion that she knew exactly what she was doing, that she calculated every move to her—and, by proxy, her grandson’s—benefit.

Personally, she’s part of what made The Prince and I so enjoyable.  I may have to read more of the series if it means I can reacquaint myself with the Grand Duchess.