This book left a good taste in my mouth. The tone was a bit like Sarah Addison Allen's magical/fantasy realism, and this genre captivates me.

Sarah Dove, the town librarian, has a special bond with the books in her care; they speak to her, and have since she was a child. Sarah and her sisters were born with special gifts, and although five of her sisters have left town to live elsewhere, Sarah and her sister Ava have stayed. This is the story of a small, sleepy southern town on the verge of losing it's solvency. Along comes Grace Wheeler, her young niece and elderly adopted mother, Mama G, in tow. Grace is willing to settle temporarily in Mama G's hometown to give her special mother a secure setting for advancing Alzheimer health problems, but she has no intention of staying. The books speak to Sarah that Grace is the answer to the town's problems, so Sarah is determined to befriend Grace and entice her to stay.

The Book Charmer is a book about what family and friendships are, and how things are not always as they appear on the surface. It is also about living in a tight knit community and how sometimes it is a curse, but more often, it is a blessing. I am pleased to have been given an opportunity to read this book in advance, this book did not disappoint. Sometimes what we need in life to help us is the exact opposite of what we imagined it would be.

The more I read, the more I thought the title should be *Books That Charm* or something on that order. For, though this is a book about a librarian named Sarah who really, REALLY loves books, she doesn't charm the books -- the books charm her. It is a book about books which talk to Sarah and tell her who might need to read which title. The selections might not make sense at first, but just give them a little time. Magic happens.
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I read this EARC courtesy of Gallery Books and Edelweiss/Net Galley; pub date 07/30/19

The Book Charmer
My thanks to #NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review. Saccharine-sweet, the Book Charmer, by Karen Hawkins brings small-town charm and big-city hustle together in a delightful story of love and redemption. The town of Dove Pond is full of believers—they believe in one church or the other, they believe in the magic of the Dove sisters, and they believe in each other. This is a Hallmark movie waiting to happen. It’s a recommended pool-side, beach blanket read, for sure.

How could I resist The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins? The title alone drew me to it and the synopsis..my oh my! Fans of Sarah Addison Allen this one is for you. If you loved, Garden Spells, and the Waverley's you will fall in love with the Dove's and the southern town of Dove Pond.

The tale that unfolds was wonderful, and I lost myself in this small southern town. I laughed, cried and wanted to stay. I thought at first the book would focus mostly on Sarah, but it was truly Grace's story and those within her circle. We get romance, address dementia, PTSD, acceptance, and see a family being built and taking root. Throughout the story Hawkins weaves magical realism and books..... wonderful books!

My full review will post at Caffeinated Reviewer on July 22nd and shared on all social media. A review will cross-post to Goodreads and Amazon. Link to review provided below. (7/22/19)

I am a fool for Hallmark movies, and that is just what this book reminded me of.
The story was not too dramatic or far fetched and had just the right amount of funny moments. It is a very warm and endearing story about a woman who was once an orphan, having to make a huge change in her life for her family.
I connected with this story a lot because I have an older mother that I am very close to, and a daughter. As my mother ages I sometimes become afraid that she may become ill and the thought of losing her crushes my soul. In this story, it shows how it is ok to lean on your village of friends and family and it also subtly addresses our fears of taking risks.
Any book that can make me both laugh and cry is a good book to me!
I can totally see a made for TV movie coming from this.

A charming story about life in a small town that has big financial problems but also a lot of special relationships blooming. The title gets its name from one of the main characters that is the town librarian and the books "speak" to her. The story delves into the issues of dementia with an a woman and the mother that adopted her, as well as the woman's niece.

This was a charming booking but one that simply was not my cup of tea. Intended to be in the vein of magical realism a la Alice Hoffman but ended up being a bit too saccharine for what I typically read. I do think that the characters were enjoyable and since this is the first in an anticipated series so I recognize that first outings in series are typically shaky.

If you are a fan of Jan Karon and the like, then you will enjoy this series.

I absolutely loved this absolutely charming novel, and hope to see more from the characters of Dove Pond. SO thankful to have gotten to read an advance copy of The Book Charmer thanks to Netgalley and it was nothing but pleasant.

Well thought out characters and personalities with relatable issues & a bit of magic, any book lover will instantly fall for this one!

This is one of those books that make you smile each time you pick it up to read.

Centered in a small town with a hint of magical charm. Sarah Dove can speak to books. which allows her to know what people need to read before they do. though Sarah is an important character along with Trav they are not the main character.

Our main character is Grace A tough woman who has been through a lot. Growing up in foster care Grace finally finds a home with Mama G. Fast forward years later and grace has become the caregiver not only to the woman who took her and her sister in years before but she is now the mother to her sister's child.

grace is a hard case but as time goes by in Dove Pond Grace soon learns what it means to truly love and to have friends. She also learns what it means to belong.

this book was such a lovely read and I cannot wait to read it again and to continue with the series.

Would have been 5 stars if it had-had an actual ending. I loved the story but hated the quick wrap up.

I absolutely loved and adored The Book Charmer. When I read the synopsis, I was incredibly intrigued. When I began to read the story, I was quickly and instantly hooked. The characters were so easy to relate to and the way they were written made me feel as though I was right there getting to know each one dearly. While reading, I felt as though i was riding a rollercoaster of emotions. There was laughter, heartwarming and touching moments, as well as moments that brought tears to my eyes. The main character, Grace, has to cope with the devastating results of Alzheimers, as she watches her foster mom go through it. These scenes were so vivid and made my heart ache. I was truly captivated by The Book Charmer and was sad to see it end.

// 😒 my face when I got about 1/3 into the book. It started out pretty good, and I was thinking I was going to love it. It quickly turned into a Hallmark movie in book form. If you know me, you know I steer clear of Hallmark movies. I picked it up because the word “book” was in the title, and although it does mention books, I just wasn’t crazy about the storyline.
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Grace moves to Dove Pond to care for her niece Daisy and adoptive mother Mama G. Sarah, the librarian in town and known as the book charmer, believes Grace moved there to save the town. Grace, Sarah, and others plan a huge festival to draw a crowd to Dove Pond to bring in some money because the town is drowning in debt. And then Grace and Trav fall in love. Hallmark all day long!!
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Pick this one up if you’re looking for a good vacay read! And thank you, @netgalley, for my copy! This one releases July 30th!
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Sometimes you find yourself drawn somewhere and can’t for the life of you, know why you need to be there.

When tragedy strikes for Grace, Mama G and Daisy then end up in Dove Pond, meeting a slew of truly eccentric townspeople. One of those being “the Book Charmer”, Sarah. You’ll never believe how she knows a book is “meant” for someone but, somehow she always gets it right. Grace was sent here to help Dove Pond and everyone knows it except her.

I truly loved this book and the characters in it. They were people I’d want to know and have in my circle. And if this town was in a beachside community then it’d be the perfect place to live, well for me. 🙂

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

And a HUGE thanks to NetGalley, Gallery Books and the lovely Karen Hawkins for the Advanced Readers Copy!

The perfect beach read, you’ll love it so grab it on July 30!!

This is one of those books that you mourn the end of a good story. It takes you a while to get into it but then it completely sucks you in and you find it impossible to put the book down. The storyline and character development were absolutely outstanding. I loved the twists and turns. This is a book that you don't try to figure out what's coming next; you just sit back and enjoy the story for what it is. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get wrapped up in a well-written book.

What a charming book this is! A very easy read (I breezed through it in two days). It has great, well-rounded female characters (particularly the older characters). Love the cozy, small-town setting. I'm a sucker for these kinds of places. Definitely a great spring/summer read.

Delightful book about a town in need, people in need and a touch of magic. Good things happen with community. Opening up yourself to others and letting help in. Listening to them even when things seem impossible. It seems impossible that the Dove family all has something very special about them. Sarah hears books who tell her who needs them, usually the recipient thinks she is nuts, and the book seems to have nothing to do with them or nothing that they want. However, they are always needed, and you would be remiss to dismiss a book that knows you need it. The town is in a financial crisis, and a woman in a personal crisis can help them- if she allows herself to be a part of the community. An uplifting read, although there are some dark parts.

The Book Charmer is the first in a new series by Karen Hawkins about a girl named Sarah Dove who has special powers to hear the books that speak to her. She grows up to be the librarian in her small town of Dove Pond, where she meets a city transplant named Grace Wheeler, who wants nothing to do with the small town she’s found herself in. However, Grace could be just what Dove Pond needs to save the town. This book has beauty and magic that bibliophiles are sure to love!

Sweet, charming, easy read of a book. Fun well developed characters and a sweet storyline that keeps you reading.

Thank you to Net Galley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

The first chapter of this book leads one to believe the story will be about magical books that speak, but that chapter is told from the perspective of Sarah Dove when she was only seven. Thereafter, the story moves to the present day, when it becomes not so much about “magic” books but a charming story of family, friendship, and hope.

Sarah Dove, 25, is now the town librarian, and she does indeed have a knack for making sure every book finds the reader who most needs it. Some in the town do think Sarah is capable of magic, but a close friend opines:

“A lot of people in Dove Pond believed that Sarah and her sisters had special abilities, but that was just gossip and nonsense. The Dove sisters just had hearts bigger than their heads. They cared more, perhaps, than they should, so their intuition was stronger than most.”

Sarah becomes convinced that the legendary Dove Pond good luck has arrived in the form of a new resident, Grace Wheeler. Grace and Hannah Wheeler had been repeatedly kicked out of foster homes until they got taken in by Mrs. Giano, or “Mama G” as they called her. Mama G became the rock upon which Grace grew and built her life. It didn’t work out so well for Hannah, however, who died two months earlier from an overdose. She had already dumped her illegitimate daughter Daisy, now 8, with Mama G.

Tragically for all concerned, Mama G was showing signs of Alzheimer’s: “Grace’s heart, already broken by Hannah’s death, had shattered. . . . now, quite suddenly, it was Grace’s turn to make things work and to take care of not just Mama G, but the recalcitrant Daisy as well.”

Grace quit her dream job, cashed in her retirement plan, paid off her lease, and took Mama G and Daisy back to Mama G’s home town of Dove Pond. A cousin of Mama G’s had offered them a rental house and even a job for Grace. It was only for “Town Clerk Level 1,” but had flexible hours so Grace could take care of her family. She even found a local woman, Linda Robinson, to look after Mama G when Grace was at work.

But Grace struggles with how to cope with Daisy: “Hannah’s death had left Grace aching, angry, and empty. But it was even harder for Daisy.” Daisy had sudden flares of anger and stubbornly refused to accept Grace as a parent.

As if Grace didn’t have enough on her plate, she quickly discovered the town was on the verge of financial ruin.

It appears Grace and her family could use some magic in their lives, and there is plenty of it in Dove Pond, in the form of caring people with plenty of heart, and a handsome neighbor, Travis, with hurts of his own to overcome.

Mama G in one of her lucid moments says to Trav, whose nightmares from PTSD keep him up at night: “You don’t sleep, so you get angry. 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.”

She adds to him as well as Grace: “‘You’ve both let your anger take over your lives, but it’s time for that to stop.’ She locked eyes with Trav and then put her hand on Grace’s shoulder. ‘One day, you’ll need to be there for her.’ . . ‘You and Sarah both. And Daisy too. You will need to be there together. Do you understand?’”

When trouble comes, Grace, Daisy, and Travis benefit from Mama G’s advise, and find a new understanding of love, community, and family.

Evaluation: While this story didn’t seem to match the publisher’s blurb, in my opinion, I actually liked it much better than I thought I would based on that initial impression. The story may be gooey with an improbably lovely outcome, but isn’t that what we need these days?

So it probably didn't hurt that I too am a book crazy librarian!! Totally loved this book! The characters were fun and thoughtful. The twists were great to read...kept me going late into the night. She did such wonderful characters, I hope she does a follow up so we can see where some of them go!!