Prepare to fall under the spell of “this sometimes whimsical, often insightful, always absorbing story” (Shelf Awareness) following two fiercely independent women and their truly magical friendship in a sleepy Southern town, from New York Times bestselling author of Karen Hawkins. Sarah Dove is no ordinary bookworm. To her, books live, breathe, and sometimes even speak. As the librarian in her … sometimes even speak. As the librarian in her quaint Southern town of Dove Pond, her gift helps place every book in the hands of the perfect reader. Recently, however, the books have been whispering about something out of the ordinary: the arrival of a displaced city girl named Grace Wheeler.
If the books are right, Grace could be the savior Dove Pond desperately needs. The problem is, Grace wants little to do with the town or its quirky residents–Sarah chief among them. But with a bit of urging, and the help of an especially wise book, will Grace ultimately embrace the challenge to rescue her charmed new community?
“A mesmerizing fusion of the mystical and the everyday” (Susan Andersen, New York Times bestselling author), The Book Charmer is a heartwarming story about the magic of books that feels more than a little magical itself.
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This was one of the best feel good books I have read in a very long time. It is set in the town of Dove Pond and after reading this original, sweet, charming story, I want to move there. At the heart this is a story about the power of friendship. It hit me in the feels! I loved everything about this book and hope it is the start of a new series. It was simply charming.
With a touch of Southern magic and a main character who would be the envy of any bookworm, The Book Charmer is an engaging, happily ever after read. Sarah Dove, librarian extraordinaire, can hear the whispers of books, and lately they’ve been telling her of a new arrival – someone who could have a positive and powerful impact on the dying town of Dove Pond. But Grace Wheeler, a.k.a. the new arrival, has no plans for making an impact or even staying any longer than necessary. She’s there to help her foster mom, then head back to the city. But the books have something more to say about Grace and her plans.
The Book Charmer is full of interesting and multi-faceted, likable characters, fun plot twists, and a great blend of friendship, romance, struggles and trials. All in all, its a great start to author Karen Hawkins new series.
Dove Pond, a small town where books talk, flowers change color and the tea is off the charts. That’s the Dove family magic.
Grace moved to Dove Pond with Mama G to see if it would help with her illness. Mama G reminded me of Stephanie Plums grandma, quick witted, funny and loving. Daisy she was to smart for her own good, I think that’s why we saw her and Grace butt heads, they are just alike.
It was great to see how everything fell into place once Grace took over. The book was right and so was Sarah, when she said Grace was needed to save Dove Pond.
You have humor, family,love, and magic all in one place, this book. Small town togetherness was also in the mix. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There were a few sad parts, however that brought attention to an illnesses that very few talk about. If there really is another book after this, I can’t wait.
THE BOOK CHARMER is a warm, interesting, entertaining story with wonderful characters.
The “dedication” page in this book is one of the most romantic dedications I’ve ever read. That in itself would make a great story!!
I love the beginning of the book when we learn a bit of the childhoods of Sarah and Grace. Sarah’s secret reading place sounds like one I would enjoy for myself! Then, Grace’s story of a childhood that was lonely for her. Overshadowed by her cute, sweet younger sister, Grace had a battle inside of her to “fit” into the world.
As the story progresses to the present time, Grace seems to still be struggling with life. Many things happen that change her life totally and are beyond her control.
I like Sarah’s empathy for others. She is a loving, caring person. I love her librarian character.
I really would like to see more of Grace and Trav in the next books.
I think the struggles and joys of the characters are very real….just like we have in today’s world.
This is a great book. I’m looking forward to the next books in the story and to see Dove Pond grow.
I was a bit surprised that the main character was not the book charmer, but overall a great read.
I don’t usually read outside historical romance, but since this was written by Karen Hawkins, whose writing I truly enjoy, I decided to try it. I’m glad I did! Dove Pond is an enchanting little town and the people that live there have marvelous stories to tell. The Book Charmer is a genre in and of itself! Highly recommended!
This was such a touching book. Was not at all what I expected. So much more. A little humor , magic , and romance. Just a real feel good book.
I loved this book
Lovely!
I love books that little touch on the magical and unexplained. This book does just that and makes you a believer.
Sarah Dove is the 7th daughter, and when a 7th daughter is born to the Dove family they say good things will happen. All the Dove’s are special in their own way and Sarah’s specialty is books.
Grace Wheeler is at a loss and doesn’t know how to ask for help, Grace is left to take care of her ailing foster mom (who has Alzheimer’s) and her niece, Daisy, after Grace’s sisters death. She moves all three of them to Dove Pond.
Grace crosses Trav, her equal in surliness neighbor, and Sarah, the over eagerly neighbor on the other side of Trav. Grace is determined to keep to herself and that she will be out within a year. What she doesn’t realize is that the people of Dove Pond need Grace as much as she needs them.
this story spans the gamut of anger, hurt, rejection, friendship, love and even a little bit of magic.
Definitely pick this book up, you won’t be able to put it down. I wasn’t.
A mesmerizing fusion of the mystical and the everyday. Knocked. My. Socks. Off!
I was so lucky to win this book in a Goodreads contest. It was wonderful. It has magic, romance, tragedy, family loyalty and lots of love. Sarah Dove is the book charmer and her books are telling her that something is terribly wrong with the town of Dove Pond and that only a new arrival, Grace, can save the town. Grace arrives in Dove Pond after leaving a job she loves in the city to raise her recently deceased sister’s daughter Daisy and to care for her foster mother Mama G. who is suffering from alzheimers. When asked to help with the annual apple festival, she refuses and then is pressured into chairing the event. That is when she discovers the financial disaster that could destroy the town. working together with the other team members draws Grace into the heart of the town and brings her closer with Daisy and Mama G. This is a terrific, heart-warming story.
Grace has moved her family to Dove Pond to heal. Grace’s sister has passed away and Grace is now a mother of her sister’s little girl. Plus, she is trying hard to take care of her foster mother, Mama G. Mama G’s memory is failing and Grace hopes the move to Mama G’s hometown will help her recover.
Sarah, the librarian of Dove Pond, is determined that Grace is going to be the savior of their small town The books have told her so! Yes! Books speak to her. They tell her exactly who needs them most. But, Grace is overwhelmed. She is just about at the end of her rope. Between Mama G, her sassy niece, Daisy, and her new job, the savior of Dove Pond is not on her list.
I needed a good, sweet read and this one hit the spot. I loved every character in this book! This is a story about love, healing, friendship, and most of all, about books that hit you at the right time in your life. As readers we all have that one book (or two, or three!) that meant more than all the others. The Book Charmer is all about that and more!
I received this novel from Gallery Books for a honest review.
The Book Charmer is Dove Pond NC Series, Book I, by author Karen Hawkins. In the prologue, the reader learns about the two main characters, Sarah Dove and Grace Wheeler, as little girls. This sets up their story for the future while introducing some of the other characters.
Sarah Dove is a seventh daughter, which legend has carries special powers and a destiny to save the small town. One of her special powers is hearing books talk to her. She always seems to know just which book a person needs and delivers it to the person in most unusual ways. Luckily, Sarah is the town librarian.
Grace Wheeler is a very disciplined person as well as a financial whiz. After the tragedy that has befallen her family with her younger sister’s overdose death, becoming an instant mom to an 8 year old girl, and taking on the caregiver role for her failing foster mother, Grace has resigned from her high power, long hour job and has taken on the job of City clerk in Mama G’s hometown of Dove Pond.
Grace has told herself, and others, that she and her unorthodox family will only be inhabiting the ramshackle rental for a year, just long enough to get her finances back in order and be able to move her family back to Charlotte. Sarah is determined to win Grace’s love for Dove Pond, so that together they might save the town from financial ruin.
Although from the early descriptions you might think Sarah and Grace were at least middle age, in fact, they are both in their twenties. And, although, they are not immediate friends, they do evolve to wanting the same things and form a deep friendship over family, friends, and fall festivals.
This is a very good story written with humor and charm, mystery and heart. It addresses so many social issues including ptsd, dementia, drug abuse, poor politicians. But always done with love and in a manner that leaves the reader light hearted. I did enjoy this book and I do recommend it!
From page one, I was gone…as in my heart was sold to the highest bidder and that bidder lived in Dove Pond with these AMAZING characters, living lives full of COLOR and RICHNESS, sharing time with their loved ones which was pretty much the WHOLE TOWN because everyone knew everyone in the way that small towns do, and their only desire was to be happy and spread that happiness to others. The story has heart in abundance, a profusion of friendship, and love springing eternal even when the intended parties aren’t truly seeking. We meet the two sisters as kiddos, catch up with one in adulthood, watch Mama G’s transformation, meet a rather articulate Daisy, despair as changes happen beyond our control, and celebrate the moments of closeness never imagined. As truly moving as the overall story is though, its the characters that make everything THAT much more special.
In the end, it was heart warming, friendship welcoming, moving, and all the beautiful things it promised to be. The idea of books actually talking to someone, even if only in their mind, was simply magical, as were the bonds of friendship, family, and love forged with every turn of the page. My only wish…it was longer! Needless to say, I’ll be keeping a spot on my reading list for book two when it makes its presence known.
**ARC received for review; opinions are my own
This is such an engaging book drawing upon the difficulties that life can present to create a picture of how one can not only survive but create a better life. A sort of magic weaves its way into the relationship between Grace and Sarah. On is determined to leave her new home within a year; the other is determined to find a way that Grace will stay forever.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins
Starts out with Dove family and how things work in the town.
Others have moved on and some strange things occur and new neighbors move in years later.
Sarah runs the library and she knows her books will help others as she doles them out…
Grace is raising her deceased daughters child along with Mama G a woman who had fostered the two girls when she was younger-she now has Alzheimer’s disease.
Grace left her big paying job to take town clerks position without knowing what all was involved-she’s learning along the way about all the committees she’s in charge of.
Like how we learn more about PTSD also as Travis suffers from it and is trying to overcome it…
Love all the tips about running the apple festival-such great ideas and with the whole town helping….
Amazing how things come together, magical even.
This book grabbed me early. I looked down and discovered that at about 6% of the book I was already falling in love with it. And the more I read the deeper I fell! Loved, Loved, Loved it! It was quirky, fun, unusual and so different than other books. It was also emotional, had quite the challenges not only for the town but also personal challenges for the main characters.
I love the people in the book. The main people being Sarah, Grace (Mama G and Daisy) and Trav. Sarah some people called her a book charmer and doesn’t the title now make sense? I also like to think of her as a book whisperer. She was also charming too. Not only that but loving, caring, helpful and being the 7th daughter, she also had a magical gift. Each one of the sisters had a “gift” each one of those gifts being in entirely different areas.
The whole town had so many interesting people in it that. That also added a rich flavor to it for me too. The people in the town were quirky and so real feeling.
I wanted to sit down and read this book all the way through without stopping. But life intervened so I couldn’t do it that way. But I savored every moment that I was able to read each day and savor it each time.
I really enjoyed how the book ended even though there were also a few bittersweet moments. I do hope there are more books about this town and it’s people. Mainly because, come on I need more of Sarah’s story. Her sister Ava also has some things that need to be completed. Both of those women have a romance story hidden that needs to be worked on and reveled.
I also can’t leave out the humor and the fact that there was more than one time that I laughed out loud.
“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”
Ever since Sarah was seven years old, she’s been able to hear books talk, so it’s fitting that she works as a librarian in the small town of Dover Pond, North Carolina where she grew up.
“Sarah Dove is a book charmer… she knows what book everyone should have.”
Lately, however, the books have been talking about newcomer Grace. Why are the books so interested in Grace, you ask, and what else do they have to say? Read this charming novel to find out!
This magical story cast a spell on me from the very first pages and didn’t let go. I couldn’t wait to find out more about the residents of the small town, many of whom have magical abilities, and it makes my heart so happy that this is the first in an all new series. In fact, I loved it so much that I read Love in the Afternoon (4 stars), #1.5 in the series, immediately following this one. And, hello, there are also Game of Throne references!
If you loved this one as much as I did, then I would highly recommend Midnight at the Blackbird Café (5 stars) by Heather Webber!
Lastly, here are some more quotes I loved:
“It’s sad, but life is not fair. I sometimes think it was never supposed to be. Life is made up of moments, good and bad. But while you don’t get to pick all the moments, you do get to pick which ones you cling to.”
“That’s the beauty of a book. It can take you places you can’t visit on your own, lets you meet people and see things you can’t in real life.”
“Love can’t cure a broken heart, but it can hold the two sides together while they heal.”
Location: Dove Pond, North Carolina
I received an advance copy from BookishFirst. All opinions are my own.
Honesty time…I would have been interested in this book just judging by its cover and title alone. No matter what the description says, I saw that title and wanted to get my hands on this story. This is a new-to-me author, but I was willing to take the risk on that cover art. It was like getting a bonus when I read the blurb and realized this book is right up my alley.
I don’t think I’ll be the only reader to fall in love with Sarah Dove from the very beginning. She’s precocious, funny, caring, kind, and loyal. While always thought of as a bit odd while she was growing up, she didn’t take fact that she wasn’t a “popular” kid to heart. She had her sisters, her neighbor and best friend Trav, and books. All grown up now, Sarah is still thought of as odd. But now it’s said with affection and love. This quirky town knows that Sarah has everyone’s best interest at heart and will do anything for anyone without even being asked.
Where Sarah stole my heart from the first, Grace broke my heart in the beginning. And kept breaking it over and over. So much pent-up sorrow and pain! I even wanted to get mad at her quite a few times and just couldn’t. The things that woman kept inside her whole life, the things she did for her sister their whole lives, the walls she put up to feel secure, all those things kept me from tipping over into anger.
The front end of this story moves quite slowly. I enjoyed getting to know Sarah, Grace, and Trav on their own before they interacted on too deep of a level. Yet it seemed to go on too long. There were brief interactions here and there, but nothing too meaningful for a good half of the book. On top of that, once everything finally started coming together in a bigger way it seemed to barrel toward the end. So, I felt a little cheated out of the upside to these relationships. Not only the Grace/Trav romance that was brewing, but also the Sarah/Grace friendship that developed. Since this is the first book in a series, I’m hoping to see more interaction with these characters in future stories.
Overall, I enjoyed this story quite a bit and will definitely be looking into reading some of this author’s earlier stories. In addition, I’m now invested in the small town of Dove Pond and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series. Hopefully we’ll see a Grace/Blake romance!
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
This review can also be found at https://allingoodtimeblog.wordpress.com/2019/07/25/the-book-charmer-arc-review/