Every now and then it's a good thing to jump out of your comfort zone and try something new. So, to that end, I asked for and received a copy of Mad Honey from Netgalley.com. The only thing that they request is after reading the book that I leave a review! It is my pleasure to do just that!
Mad Honey, the title of this book, got me right from the start, because my Son-In-Law is a beekeeper and honey extractor extraordinaire! Every time we are together he tries to "teach" me something else about bees that the average person would not know. He is a wealth of information in that regard and takes his beekeeping very seriously.
But let me tell you, this book has so much more going for it than learning about bees and honey! It is a story about family, family dynamics, coming of age and our acceptance of who is in our lives. It's a love story on so many different levels too!
The story surrounds the lives of Olivia McAfee and her son Asher! She is the wife of a renown Cardiac Surgeon and when Asher is born, life as Olivia knew it would be a joy and blessing for sure. Like most things in life, nothing is "for sure" and Olivia's husband starts to show a distinct dark side to his personality. When Asher is in the midst of a violent outburst, Olivia knows that she can no longer stay in this marriage.
Lily Campanella is also starting new life in the tiny town of Adams in New Hampshire. The last year of high school and it's a new beginning for Lily, who knows what it's like to have to start all over again. She and her mom are paving a new road for both of them and hopefully this time the road will be smooth and without complications.
We all know that life is always full of complications and while we are rooting for these two moms and their children to have a great life, trouble seems to find them.
Asher and Lily are boyfriend/girlfriend, inseparable! It's young love with all the hormones and angst that tends to rage during those years. We can all remember going through some of those tough times, but in the case of Lily and Asher things are just a little more complicated.
I don't want to give too much of the book away in this review, but suffice it to say you will learn a lot after reading this book. It's not all about the honey bees either!
This book is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good love story with a dark twist in it. It will make you re-evaluate how you might handle different situations too.
Unconditional love is great when life is easy, but when things become difficult, sometimes that unconditional love has some conditions attached. You will have to read in order to find out why.
Image by Sheryl Maiorano from Pixabay
This book from start to finish is 432 pages long and it could have been longer and still held me captive.
After the story there is a lovely addition that I'm sure everyone will enjoy and that is about 10 pages of recipes where the key ingredient is, you guessed it, HONEY!
After learning all you did about bees and honey, you will be doubly delighted at the recipes included with this book.
Things like Beekeeper's Granola, Queen Bee Cocktail or a Bee's Knees cocktail! How about Pork with a Honey-Lime Marinade?
The two that really have me wanting to bake are the Honey Loaf and Hope Cakes. Both of these recipes are found in the book too!
So with Mad Honey, you get a great story and a wonderful adventure into the world of bees, but you also get some sobering thoughts about relationships and surviving the ups and downs of real life too!
This book gets 5 Stars (*****) from me and I would recommend it to everyone! I'm sure you will learn more than you bargained for once you crack open the cover. You will have a hard time putting it down again.
Oh an added bonus is that if you have an Audible subscription you can get this book for free! What can be better than that?