First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen Book Review

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen Book Review

The lowdown from Goodreads

Published January 20, 2015

From the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells comes a story of the Waverley family, in a novel as sparkling as the first dusting of frost on new-fallen leaves..

It’s October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree… and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store.

Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies. Though her handcrafted confections — rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds — are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.

Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby — a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has.

Sydney’s daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to.. if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke?

When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen Book Review

This is the link to the first book in the Waverley Family series, Garden Spells. You will definitely get more out of First Frost if you read Garden Spells beforehand.

Another dose of the Waverley family did not disappoint. I really enjoy Sarah’s writing style. She weaves these elements of magic throughout the story that makes the reader smile. I loved how First Frost picked up on all the same characters years later. They each still carry their own special Waverley gifts & these gifts become useful new ways in preparation for the frost.

The sweetest part of the story was learning more about Sydney’s daughter, Bay. She is just wonderful. Her gift is that she knows where everything should be, so when she senses she is supposed to be with a certain young man she does the craziest thing a young girl can do- she tells him! I thought this was so brave & so endearing, especially since the boy is the son of her mother’s first love. Cue the turmoil & hurt feelings. I enjoyed catching up with one of my favorites characters, Evanelle & I was happy to learn more about the famous Waverley apple tree. This book felt like coming home in a way. I got to catch up with all my friends in Bascom, North Carolina.

THE VERDICT

I am Really Into This series from Sarah Addison Allen. If there is a third book in this series, I would definitely be into it- these characters are just memorable. I’ve got other Sarah Addison Allen books on my TBR list like, Sugar Queen, has anyone else read her stuff? It’s really up my alley.

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About the Author: Sarah Addison Allen

New York Times Bestselling novelist Sarah Addison Allen brings the full flavor of her southern upbringing to bear on her fiction — a captivating blend of magical realism, heartwarming romance, and small-town sensibility. Born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Sarah grew up with a love of books and an appreciation of good food (she credits her journalist father for the former and her mother, a fabulous cook, for the latter). In college, she majored in literature – because, as she puts it, “I thought it was amazing that I could get a diploma just for reading fiction. It was like being able to major in eating chocolate.”

After graduation, her big break occurred in 2007 with the publication of her first mainstream novel, Garden Spells, a modern-day fairy tale about an enchanted apple tree and the family of North Carolina women who tend it. Booklist called Sarah’s accomplished debut “spellbindingly charming.” The novel became a Barnes & Noble Recommends selection, and a New York Times Bestseller.

After publishing four bestselling books in five years, Sarah took a hiatus when she was diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer at age 39. She returned to writing with her 2014 bestselling Lost Lake. She is now in remission. In 2015, she revisited the popular setting of her first book. First Frost continues the story of the Waverely Sisters from Garden Spells.

With 2 million books now in print and translated into 30 languages, Sarah continues to serve heaping helpings of the fantastic and the familiar in fiction she describes as “Southern-fried magic realism.” Her books to date are: Garden Spells (2007), The Sugar Queen (2008), The Girl Who Chased the Moon (2010), The Peach Keeper (2011), Lost Lake (2014) and First Frost (2015).