Worth Fighting For

A Bee In Her Bonnet by Jennifer Beckstrand is book two in the Honeybee Sisters series and I absolutely adored it. It can be read as a stand-alone but for maximum enjoyment, I recommend reading the books in order.

Jennifer Beckstrand has created an absolutely delightful Amish series that I just cannot get enough of. It is wonderful to continue the story of the three Honeybee Sisters, their unconventional Aunt B and their two cats – Farrah Fawcett and Billy Idol.

This novel focuses on the feisty Poppy. She is a fabulous character – a complex mixture of strong and vulnerable. She faces life as a battle and a challenge. She never has to look far for mishaps as mishaps seem to be attracted to her!

The novel has several themes including that of plans and dreams. We all make them for our lives but sometimes circumstances happen which mean that we need to be flexible and adaptable. “Gotte sent him to you for a reason. Maybe you have to find different dreams.”

Throughout the novel various challenges arise that create problems. Sometimes we try to take on God’s role and try to fix things that are best left to Him. We do what we can and let God do what we can’t. “You have taken burdens on your shoulders that aren’t yours to carry.”

Life is a journey. “The journey was more important than the destination.” Sometimes we are so focused on where we are going and what the future holds, that we forget to enjoy the present.

The novel shows how the past can shape us for good or bad. We need to learn from the lessons of the past and then move on into the future. Characters are moulded by their childhood. They believe words spoken over their lives. Sometimes these words are damaging and influence how they live the rest of their lives. “You never knew how much another person was hurting.” Their past can affect their present actions.

Within the story there are some wonderful scenes where the dialogue just bounces between the characters. The healthy competition between the two leading characters really holds the reader’s attention throughout.

As with book one, Aunt B is a wonderful character. She is not your typical Amish lady with her colourful hair, tattoos and earrings. Her bark seems ferocious but underneath there beats a heart of gold.

The novel revolves around food. “We fed him once and he kept coming back, no matter how hard I prayed.” The one liners from Aunt B are priceless. “Boys are like stray cats. You feed them once and they keep coming around.” There are some very yummy sounding recipes included in the back of  both books in the series so far.

I am really enjoying this Honeybee Sisters series. It is very humorous with wonderful characters who just take up residence in my heart. There is also a mystery to be solved. It began in book one, continued into book two and I am expecting that all will be revealed in book three!

Such a delightful series. I am eagerly devouring it and can highly recommend it. It is on to book three and the climax for me now.
I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.  No monetary compensation was received and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON

 

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