TBR Day. The Beekeeper's Ball / Susan Wiggs. 2014

This is my first TBR post since November. I am totally cheating.

This month's theme is RITA. Susan Wiggs has won 3 RITAs. This book was published June 24, so it's been on no one's TBR for more than 3 weeks. But it was due back at the library yesterday, so I had to read it and return it lest I start wracking up fines. My library TBR pile is often a delicate dance between books I have to read right away and books I can renew. And that doesn't take into account the books I own and would like to read.

Anyhow, my library has started this interesting program called "Quick Picks." In an effort to attract people back into the library, high-interest books are made available only to walk-in patrons. If you get lucky you can by-pass the reserve lists, but there is no renewal. The program has only been in place a month and I go over a couple of times a week to check what's on the Quick Pick shelf (the library is only 200 yards from the back door of the law library where I work). So far this one has been the only romance, but I remain hopeful.

This book was not even on my radar and after I started it I realized it was Book 2 in Wiggs' Bella Vista Chronicles. Fortunately this book was very readable even though I hadn't read Book 1, The Apple Orchard (2013). The blurb:

Isabel Johansen, a celebrated chef who grew up in the sleepy Sonoma town of Archangel, is transforming her childhood home into a destination cooking school—a unique place for other dreamers to come and learn the culinary arts. Bella Vista's rambling mission-style hacienda, with its working apple orchards, bountiful gardens and beehives, is the idyllic venue for Isabel's project…and the perfect place for her to forget the past. 

But Isabel's carefully ordered plans begin to go awry when swaggering, war-torn journalist Cormac O'Neill arrives to dig up old history. He's always been better at exposing the lives of others than showing his own closely guarded heart, but the pleasures of small-town life and the searing sensuality of Isabel's kitchen coax him into revealing a few truths of his own. 

The dreamy sweetness of summer is the perfect time of year for a grand family wedding and the enchanting Beekeeper's Ball, bringing emotions to a head in a story where the past and present collide to create an unexpected new future. 

It turns out that there is quite a bit more to this book than the blurb indicates. Cormac O'Neill (Mac) has come to Bella Vista to interview Isabel's grandfather, Magnus, and write a book about him. Isabel's grandfather had been a part of the Danish Resistance during WWII; Isabel's (deceased) grandmother was Jewish and survived the concentration camps. A surprising amount of the book takes place during the war as we learn about Isabel's grandparents and how they survived the war. Isabel hears stories she never knew about as Mac talks with Magnus.

Isabel has lived a sheltered isolated life. Mac is a war-weary globe-trotting journalist. For Mac, Isabel represents a home and a sense of permanence. For Isabel, Mac offers adventure and an opportunity to try new things. I enjoyed their story.

There's a lot happening in the book, and I do mean a lot; the romance does not take center stage. There's a character from Isabel's past--back when she went to cooking school--who stirs up bad memories. Old family secrets are revealed as Magnus tells his story to Mac. There's also some carryover from Book One. Tess, the heroine of that book, is Isabel's half-sister and Isabel is busy helping plan Tess's wedding. Beekeeping and honey are woven throughout the book. Each section begins with an interesting tidbit about bees and then a recipe using honey. Too bad I don't like to cook. The various dishes sounded wonderful. And finally I thought that the ending was rather abrupt. It's clearly a set-up to Book 3, although Wiggs' website gives no indication one way or another that a Book 3 is on the way.

All-in-all I thoroughly enjoyed the book even though so much was going on. Magnus and Eva's story in Denmark was really interesting. I was a little disgruntled at the abruptness of the ending and the fact that the next book is probably pretty far out on the horizon. On the other hand, when I went over to the library yesterday to return it, I went upstairs and found The Apple Orchard. I'm looking forward to reading that.

Oh, and no new romance on the Quick Pick shelf. Bummer.