First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen (Book Review)

*Disclosure of material connection-  I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions are 100% my own. 

About the book-

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.

Lose yourself in Sarah Addison Allen's enchanting world and fall for her charmed characters in this captivating story that proves that a happily-ever-after is never the real ending to a story. It’s where the real story begins.

My thoughts-

We all know the saying, don't judge a book by it's cover, but sometimes when a cover is this beautiful that alone will compel me to want to read it. Although you wouldn't be able to tell at first glance, this lovely cover convey a lot about the story within it's pages about several women in the Waverley family. First Frost is full of interesting characters, a touch of magic and lots of mystery, love and drama. I particularly liked following Bay's storyline, but I loved learning about all of the Waverley women and where they are in life and what sort of "Waverley Magic" they possess and what exactly that means to (and for) each of them. I loved the little touch of magic throughout the book surrounding the apple tree and the Waverleys, it added a nice spin to the story.  Sarah Addison Allen's previous book Garden Spells was also about the Waverley women so I definitely need to go back and read that. I am sure it contains even more back story to this very interesting family. I would recommend First Frost to anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction. 

First Frost will be available on January 20. You can pre-order it on Amazon.com. 

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