This was such a heart warming novel about love and friendship. It was a definite page turner! I've recommended it to all my fellow readers. Dorothea Benton Frank will be so missed in the literary world. This was a wonderful final novel by a favorite author.

Dottie does it again!

Anyone looking for a great Southern story, beach read, or book to lose yourself in for a time will not want to miss this book.

Quintessential DBF- add it to your beach bag now!!

Holly McNee Kensen is a thirty-year-old beekeeper. She works at the local Publix, tends to her bees, and still lives at home with her demanding, hypochondriac of a mother, who she calls the Queen Bee. Holly has had a crush on their neighbor, Archie, ever since his wife was killed in a tragic accident. Archie barely knows that Holly is alive, but he welcomes her relationship with his three young sons. Because that means that he doesn't have to pay as much attention to them. Holly loves Archie's three sons and is eager to spend time with them. Until Archie marries her complete opposite, Sharon. The boys hate Sharon and Holly is convinced that Archie's marriage is doing them serious harm. Her life becomes even more complicated when her older sister, Leslie leaves her husband and returns home to Sullivan's Island. Holly and Leslie have always had a contentious relationship, but is feeling vulnerable because of her husband's big revelation. When tragedy strikes the neighborhood, it becomes clear that the three women have to stick together. Will they survive the struggles or will it be the final thing that tears them apart for good?

Queen Bee is your typical Beach Read. It has your young, single woman. A handsome man. Some serious struggles. And a happy ending - for at least one of the characters. What Queen Bee has that most Beach Reads does not, is a cross-dressing husband. I had mixed emotions about all of the characters. All of them were flawed in their own way, some more deeply than others, but the author calls out their flaws. Like when Leslie admits that one of her frustrations is Holly's "martyr complex." And she is right, I couldn't place my finger on what I didn't like about Holly, but that was it. And I am not sure that the author handled the whole cross-dressing husband in a way that was completely politically correct. I felt myself cringe a few times at expressions or demeanors. Nothing was blatant and I am just going to trust that the author's editor has been through inclusivity training. I was glad about the way things ended. Just proof that sometimes unanswered prayers are the greatest gifts. -- CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS --
Bottom Line - I usually love Dorothea Bento Frank and I appreciate her effort at bringing light to a topic that is probably relatively unknown among her core readers, but I was unsure if the situation with Leslie and Char was handled in an inclusive manner. I would love to hear what others thought.



Details:

Queen Bee by Dorothea Benton Frank
On Facebook
Pages: 384
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: 5/28/19
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the free book in exchange for a review!

Dorothea Benton Frank loves the Carolina Lowcountry. The setting is as much a part of her novels as any of the characters. She encourages readers, wherever they live, to fetch a glass of sweet tea, put their feet up and enjoy a summer read.

This novel is about Holly, her sister Leslie, their mother QB (Queen Bee) and all those with whom they interact. The people in their lives include two adorable boys who live next door and their widowed father, Archie; Leslie's husband Charles who likes to dress in women's clothes, the new love of QB's life and... as you read, you will also find out who is Holly's true love.

Holly is a beekeeper. As a result there are loads of fascinating facts about honeybees in the novel. They add to the quality of the story. Readers will enjoy watching Holly find her strengths and her voice even as she chats to her bees.

This novel is a most pleasant read and I recommend it.

A couple of my favorite quotes:

If I haven't learned anything else this whole year, I learned that love comes in every color, shape and size.

That's what it is to live in the Lowcountry. The colors are a little brighter. The air is a little sweeter.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book, filled with quirky characters, hives of bees and Lowcountey humor. Holly lives with her mother, a demanding grouch, while her sister Leslie is married and the favorite daughter. Laughs abound as Leslie’s husband makes a shocking admission, Las Vegas becomes the site for Holly’s mom to renew love, and Holly gets embroiled in her neighbor’s life. Get ready to laugh and enjoy a great fun read.

I have loved Ms. Frank's Lowcountry series and was so excited to read her newest one. Her stories are always filled with wonderful, fun, and interesting characters. And always full of that great southern charm that she does so well.

Queen Bee is a heartfelt—while at the same time—hilarious look at the dynamics of a family full of strong women. Strong women who find themselves being taken advantage of and having their worlds turned upside down. If Momma, Holly, and Leslie can iron out their differences and come together, there will be no stopping these women!

And as an added bonus we, the readers, get to learn so much about bees in this book. Holly's bees become characters in their own right in the book as well. Characters that one should not take lightly because they are as loyal as the other family members. Do not mess with the bees!

I thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining, beautiful story that deals with love, acceptance, and strength. Queen Bee is the perfect summer read that should be savored by all.

It's hard to believe this is book 12 in the Low Country tales series. Dorothea Benton Frank keeps the series fresh and new with each addition. Holly is a bee keeper and lives at home caring for her mother. She dreams of becoming a teacher with the Sullivan Island schools. The story starts a little slow but gets better with each chapter. It's easy to follow Holly, her sister Leslie and their mom, Katherine. Set in the beautiful lush Low Country around Charleston, South Carolina you gain insight and understanding of the bee world and how they thrive and survive. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I received a copy of this arc from NetGalley for an honest review. I love Dorothea Benton Frank and look forward to her books every spring. I was really disappointed with this book and could not get into it at all. I'm hoping when it comes out in audio I will have better luck.

Holly returns home to try to get her life together, but she ends up just staying static. She starts bee keeping, crushes on the widow next door, takes care of her overbearing mother, and awaits her dream job of teaching at the island elementary school. The fun doesn't start until Holly's sister, Leslie, returns home running away from her marriage. There is so much going on in this book with many characters. It would have been more interesting had the author fleshed out the characters more giving them more depth. The story was ok. I much prefer Sullivan's Island or Porch Lights.

Favorite Quotes:

My mother sighed so hard then that the National Weather Service issued small craft warnings.

Cleopatra could not have put any more intention and effort into the seduction of Mark Antony. The only things I didn’t have were a CD of Barry White’s and a scented candle.

There are no more big choices at our age. You’ve made them. Now you have to wait for a promotion to do just what you’re doing, except more of it, for some stupid incremental raise. It’s a big fat snore.

Leslie stayed home the night before Archie and Sharon were to be married, probably to give her liver a rest. I was pretty sure the Gentlemen of the Tap were holding a candlelight vigil at Dunleavy’s Pub, praying for her swift return.

The gates of hell opened wide when she croaked… I smell sulfur.

In the Lowcountry, we believed bad things happened in threes. Becoming the third wife of a man twice widowed was a terrifying prospect.


My Review:

I smirked and wore a near constant grin as I gleefully perused this delightfully engaging book. It was a treasure chest overflowing with wry wit and slyly deployed levity. I adore Dorothea Benton Frank’s amusing and captivating Lowcountry stories, this is the sixth one I’ve read and I have cherished each and every one of them. Her writing style is comfortable and engaging, yet deceptively insightful and cleverly observant. But it is her unforgettable, uniquely drawn, and deliciously peculiar characters that seal the deal for me. I will eagerly await her next offering.

Dorothy Benton Frank is one of my favorite Southern beach writers. Her characters are real and there is enough complexity to keep the reader engaged. This book is another sweet Southern story. I enjoyed learning about the behavior of bees and how the information about bees entwined with the story. A nice plot, beautiful descriptions, and interesting characters make his a great beach read.

I had such high hopes for this book by Dorothea Benton Frank! The cover is absolutely gooooorgeous. It sucked me in right away. But honestly. the cover is so misleading! You have a woman on the cover, so I assumed she would be a force of nature. A powerful female lead. But Holly, the main character, was anything BUT strong and powerful She let everyone walk all over her and she was never her own advocate. Until, the very last few chapters, but it just wasn't enough to turn around how I felt about the book.

I love the story of a family going through struggles together. But the family struggles were so out of the box weird for me as a fairly conservative reader. The sideline story of Leslie and her cross-dressing husband, and then for their mother to marry a cross-dressing man! I just didn't quite understand that part of the story. I'm all about love for everyone, but I guess I thought the story was about Holly and her path for love. I needed more story of Holly and Ted. They were so cute! And another strange part was Archie and his new wife Sharron who died of a heart attack! It was just such a strange part to the story.

I don't know. I'm bummed I wasted my time on this one. I think this was a total miss by DBF.

Enchanting us with the taste of life in South Carolina’s lowcountry, Queen Bee has us falling in love with the magic of bees, dreaming of sweet tea and discovering that true love comes from unimaginable places. If you open your heart, it will find you..

Queen Bee is about three women. A mother and her two daughters and they all return to this island town in South Carolina and each are dealing with something on their own and maybe if they help each other they can solve all the issues.

Holly is more of the main sister in this book. She is trying to find her path and with a very cute neighbor and his two boys could that be where she is supposed to be? Leslie is her sister and she is dealing with quite the relationship upheaval and returns home to center herself and figure out whats next.

Bees! The intro into chapters with the facts on bees and everything I learned about how bees create such a community and what they give to the world around them. To learn about bees and their interactions and then to have just the smallest hint of magical realism to have the bees become a part of the story was so entertaining. And then the sisters calling their mother Queen Bee has such an impact when you learn all about the Queen Bee in real beehives through Holly. I loved all the beeness in this book!

I haven't read all of Dorothea Benton Frank's backlist, so I am comparing this one to just the handful that I have read, but this book felt so much younger than the rest that I have read and I am glad for this feeling. I enjoyed that she had two main characters that were a bit younger and maybe it was the writing too, but this book felt so current and fresh!

I’ve read a previous novel by this author and loved that one. Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Did I love this book? No. I felt like at times there was too much going on. I didn’t really need to know all about the creation of Char. I did love seeing the main woman in this book develop from someone weak to a confident woman. I would suggest this book though to friends & family.

This was not my favorite of Ms Frank's books. I love Low Country tales, but this seemed over the top. The descriptions were well done and somehow made the characters relatable. However, the story line and ending seemed formulaic. A good beach read.

I was a little hesitant about the book at first - Holly seemed a little....simple and a push over but by the end of the book - I loved them all. Watching Holly transform from a little mouse into a little queen bee with grace, style and virtue was a treat that I think many could take lessons from for their own lives. While the ending was a little predictable and rushed, I couldn't imagine it ending any other way.

You know what would have made this even better? Recipes.

What do you do when situations appear all wrong to you and you can, maybe, do something about it? You meddle, intervene and step on toes but all with good intentions! So is the case with Holly and the neighbor, Archie, and his sons next door. Plus, Holly’s created a fantasy about herself starring herself as his wife. Her own lack of a life contributes to her meddling tendencies. She is a busybody with good intentions.
Running concurrent with the Holly/Archie story is the craziness of her sister, Leslie’s, life and Holly’s mother’s lack of any joy for life. This part of the story is a hoot!
Queen Bea is moving at times, aggravating at others and it all folds into a fantastic story of life in the Low County and Sullivan’s Island.
I voluntarily read an advanced copy of this book and all opinions are my own.

Dorothea Benton Frank returns to Sullivan Island with a new family of a mother (the Queen Bee of the title) and her two adult daughters Holly, who thinks of herself as a 30-year-old spinster, and Leslie, the seemingly vibrant, outgoing older sister. All three face questions of identity, love and facing the future, and learn both what it is they really want, what they need, and what it is they must cut out of their lives. Oh, and Holly is a gardener and beekeeper, so there is lots of fascinating honeybee lore, and the bees themselves play both comic and dramatic roles of their own, so be prepared.
An extremely enjoyable story, full of well-developed characters. The three women definitely have their flaws, but grow with adversity and opportunity. And sometimes loving someone isn't enough to make a relationship. Lots of humor and pathos, entertaining and fast-moving, well-plotted. Recommended.
My copy was an ARC from NetGalley

I loved this book! This is my first book by this author and now I can't wait to go back and read some of her others! I definitely didn't know what to expect when I started reading this but I'm so glad that I tried it. Most of it, I read in one sitting. I didn't mean to but I just couldn't stop reading it! It was so engrossing and entertaining, I just kept reading and reading.