Thanks NstGalley for the preview!

This book was sweet and adorable! I loved the idea of learning about bees throughout the story. I’m all about a forbidden romance. Such a good book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

This book was so good. Amelia is going to be a guest in the podcast in 2022. i really liked her writing.

I absolutely loved this young adult romance. The relationship between the two main characters is refreshing and also relatable. I loved the small hometown feel that you can find anywhere through the country.

Between You Me and the Honeybees focuses on Josie, a recent high school graduate who aspires to take over the family beekeeping business. She has turned down her college acceptances but puts off telling her mom and her best friend. When her grandmother's Parkinson's disease worsens, Mom heads off to Florida to check on her, leaving Josie to her own devices. She meets Ezra, the grandson of her family's beekeeping rivals and forms an immediate bond. Mom returns with Gran and Josie begins sneaking out to see Ezra. Plagued by anxiety, Josie is faced with complicated choices as she tries to prove herself as a beekeeper and navigate her romance with the son of her mom's sworn enemies. The authentic details about beekeeping taken from the author's personal experiences, as well as the sensitive depiction of Josie's anxiety issues, take this a step above many Romeo and Juliet reimaginings.

Between You, Me, and the Honeybees is the perfect summery YA romance read exploring the stress that teens feel about choices regarding the future. High school senior Josie Hazeldine is keeping a big secret from her friends and her mother: she declined her admissions to college. Josie has no interest in going to college. She prefers to help her mother run their family's beekeeping business. Amelia Diane Coombs pens Josie's character with heart, making her stand out throughout the story. All of her emotions are strong and palpable elements of this story. We feel for Josie as she stresses over the future while also rooting for her to find the courage to be honest with herself and her friends and family. At the same time, she's also dealing with her grandmother in Florida's deteriorating health. Respite comes to Josie in the form of a cute boy from a rival beekeeping family. Ezra is just the sweet, patient, and loving cinnamon roll that Josie deserves. The romance here is an adorable addition that only improves the story. There are plenty of delightfully swoon-worthy moments that will have any romance reader sighing in happiness. Of course, complications show up but none of them are unrealistic or overly dramatic. The heroine's passion for beekeeping is another stellar part of Between You, Me, and the Honeybees. It's obvious that it stems from the author's own experiences and I was entirely fascinated by the details. All in all, this was a feel-good story that I'll recommend to fans of YA contemporary.

Content notes: Parkinson's disease, anxiety, teenagers having sex, toxic friendships

Josie just graduated from high school and is ready for her last summer back home and also lying to her mom?

I read Between You, Me, and the Honeybees over the span of just a few days. This is an adorable rom-com following Josie Hazeldine, a newly graduated high school student as she's trying to enjoy her summer and get ready to go to college with her best friend. One problem, she's not actually going to college with her best friend. Secretly, Josie doesn't actually want to go to college in LA instead to help run the family business with her mom. A heart warming story full of twists and turns and forbidden love behind bee hives.
As a bee keeper myself, it was really cool to see that as a main element in a story and seeing something I loved being displayed. And using that small business-family rivalry as a driving story element was a lovely detail. Like a country-side California Romeo and Juliet. And don't even get me started on the most perfect meet cute moment between our two main love interests. Amelia Coombs created a beautifully crafted small town with characters you can't help but fall in love with. I gave it a 4.5/5 stars and will probably be due for a re-read next spring!

BETWEEN YOU, ME, AND THE HONEYBEES is an adorable story that is equal parts fluff and equal parts hard truths. Josie knows what her future holds for her - taking over the family beekeeping business and store. However, her mother has a different future in mind, one involving leaving the small town of Volona and heading off to college. But when Josie meets the rival beekeeping family's youngest son, Ezra, and begins falling for him, she slowly finds the strength and the courage to face the truth of what she wants as opposed to what everyone else thinks is best for her.
This story is super cute, with Coombs making you instantly root for both Josie and Ezra. The only thing I have a mild complaint about is the predictability of the plot, but even that is a point for how good this book is. A part of the fluff is that you know what is going to happen, and that helps with the anxiety.

In theory, this book sounded right up my alley. Bees, flirty teens from rival families, and the summer after high school. Unfortunately, by the time I finished this, I found my interest in the story and characters drastically waning.

In Between You, Me, and the Honeybees, Josie comes from the Hazeldine Honey side of the bee business and Ezra comes from the rival Blumstein side. The feud is basically between Josie’s mom and Ezra’s grandparents. Ezra certainly doesn’t care and pursues a relationship with Josie from the start.

The amount of lying that Josie does in this is rough, even by messy high schooler standards. Like, a big lies that affects a lot of people and not only her life, but the lives of her mother and best friend. Josie has decided against going to college in order to stay in her town to help run the family honey business. She’s supposed to go to the same college as her (toxic) best friend and just… doesn’t tell her that she’s not going. Josie also doesn’t tell her mom because she wants to prove that she can be a player in the business. That’s a HUGE lie to tell and expect people to be okay with at the end of the day. I felt like as a reader, I was supposed to empathize with Josie and instead, I found myself frustrated that such a big lie was not really handled that well within the context of the book.

There’s a lot going on in Between You, Me, and the Honeybees and I wish I had enjoyed more of it than I did.

2.5 Stars

I didn’t like it, but I also didn’t not-like it… just when I would start to like this book, I would start to not like it. It was so frustrating!

The issue: for every good thing about this book, there was something bad that would kind of ruin it.

First of all, Josie is annoying. She’s like a bad character disguised as a good character. She really doesn’t have much of a personality besides that she likes bees. And she literally lies to everyone.

A major issue I had is Josie’s friendship with Nan. Josie also lies to Nan about the two moving off to Los Angeles and going to college together, and justifies it because Nan pushes her to go and “just doesn’t understand her”. Josie also doesn’t like 90% of what Nan says or does, but instead of saying something, she just smiles and internalizes it. She also constantly complains about Nan. Because Nan “just doesn’t understand her.” Probably because Josie acts like none of it bothers her! Yes, Nan is awful, but I was frustrated that Josie didn’t just talk to her friend (or better yet find a new friend).

Josie also constantly, bluntly tells the reader she would rather be hanging out with her boyfriend then her friend, even when they are getting along. It’s just a toxic friendship, and I don’t like that Josie is painted as a victim when she also contributes to the problem. Sure, what Nan does is much worse, but Josie doesn’t help. It’s all sort of resolved in the end, but Josie still acts like she did nothing wrong which bothers me.

I also found the romance pretty bland which was an issue as it was the main focus of this book. Josie and Ezra have a cute first meeting and I loved that chapter, but it’s pretty insta-lovey after that. Their romance isn’t swoony or exciting, so it was pretty boring. You would think that a secret romance would be interesting, but nothing about the feud seems urgent. The feud is only talked about and rarely seen so at times I couldn’t even remember why Josie and Ezra were sneaking around.

The ending was much better than the rest of the book since it was more focused, but it also seemed rushed, clumsy, and too convenient how everything wrapped up.

Things I did like:

Josie had anxiety—it seemed like a good representation. The author also said she has struggled with anxiety, so I like that that is own-voices.

Josie’s grandmother has Parkinson’s in the book so that was interesting to explore and see, although I think it could have been a little more in-depth to be more realistic.

The beekeeping was cool! That’s the main reason I picked up this book. I like when there’s something unique added to a book so I enjoyed that part.

Overall, it’s not awful, but not great. Maybe it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC!

Love this cute, easy to read story about Josie. The beekeeping element was new to me, and I felt like I learned a lot along the way. The Hazeldine and Blumstein feud was very reminiscent of the Montagues and Capulets, without the horrible tragedy.

I don’t know, I just wasn’t crazy about this. I dnf’d it after 120 pages because it felt like nothing had happened by then. I was tired of josie keeping her college decision a secret. the characters and plot felt underdeveloped. ezra is a beautiful fella though

hopefully the rest of the book would be good — the story of a summer spent beekeeping with the cutie next door who happens to be the son of your family rival sounds like my dream read. it was cute for sure, just a little too slow paced for me 🐝

Josie Hazeldine has just graduated from high school and is ready for a summer working at her family’s apiary, Hazeldine Honey. There’s only one problem: her mom and best friend think she’s headed to college in Southern California in the fall when in reality she turned down her spot. Her life becomes infinitely more complicated when she meets Ezra. The two immediately hit things off, but unfortunately, Ezra is the grandson of her family’s enemy, rival beekeepers, The Blumsteins. Faced with juggling multiple secrets, Josie must figure out how to come clean before it’s too late.

Set in fictional Volana County (based on Sonoma, California), Between You, Me, and the Honeybees is told from eighteen-year-old Josie’s perspective. Josie is a tenacious and passionate beekeeper. She has secretly turned down college to stay in Volana and work in her family’s apiary, Hazeldine Honey. I love that she’s so passionate about beekeeping. I also love how her anxiety issues were portrayed so realistically.

I loved Josie’s love interest, Ezra! It’s clear he really cares about her and wants her to be happy. They initially bond over their mutual love of graphic novels and beekeeping. The ins and outs of beekeeping are some of the best parts of this book! Beekeeping is a huge part of the story, and it was explained so clearly by someone passionate about bees and beekeeping.

I definitely got major Gilmore Girls vibes from this book. It follows a mother-daughter duo who are relatively close in age. They eat lots of take out and watch lots of movies, and they are best friends. It’s even complete with a more toxic Paris Geller, Josie’s close friend, Nan.

Speaking of Nan, their toxic friendship is handled brilliantly in this story. Nan has been taking so much more from Josie than she’s been giving for far too long. Over the course of the book, Josie comes to realize this and addresses it healthily.

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a classic YA summer romance! It’s perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Morgan Matson, and Jenny Han!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for the gifted copy! All opinions are my own.

This was an overall really cute YA, I liked that it represents mental health issues and I learned a ton about honeybees. I think that forbidden romance theme is always cute! I thought this one is really cute for summer :)

Between You, Me, and the Honeybees follows Josie as she spends the summer after high school graduation attempting to prove to her mother that she has what it takes to work in her family's beekeeping business. While doing so, Josie also starts to balance family secrets, friendships, and young love.

I loved every bit of this story, As a huge YA fan, I knew I was going to really enjoy it the minute I requested it. The one thing I liked was the beekeeping angle. I'm not a fan of bees but it's so rare to find unique angles and this one actually made learning about beekeeping fun. On the romance side of things, I adored Ezra and Josie's romance. It happened quick, but I think that's typical of high schoolers and Coombs portrayed that well. Besides, it's also kind of fun to have a secret romance with the grandson of your family's rivals.

Josie's definitely my favorite character. Her growth throughout the story from the secrets, working through her anxiety, to finally standing up for what she wants was great.

First, thank you NetGalley and Simon Teen for the ARC!

Between You, Me and the Honeybees was a very light-hearted and sweet book! ❤️ The story will uplift your mood and make you feel so happy. 💞

The book is marketed towards fans of Sarah Dessen, and that's what basically made me pick it up in the first place! I am pleased to say that the blurb didn't mislead. Ezra and Josie's book was just what I needed this week. I've never read a book about Beekeeping before, so that was one of the most interesting factors of the book too! 😍 The author included a lot of facts about beekeeping too, so kudos to her for her research on the topic! It has been a while since I've read a lovely YA contemporary romance, so this book was such a treat!

I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of Amelia Coombs' books! 4/5 💫 to You, Me and the Honeybees. Many thanks to the publisher for the free review copy ❤️

What an endearing book. I really enjoyed Josie's journey. The connection between Ezra and Josie is so sweet, I just wanted to keep reading. I also enjoyed that the book centered around an uncommon hobby like beekeeping. Highly recommended read!

This reminded me of books by Sarah Dessen. It was a clean simple read that kept me entertained. Just what I was hoping for.

First, what I liked: the whole beekeeping angle was fun, I cared about Josie and wanted to see her succeed, and the pacing kept the story moving forward. Overall, it's a sweet story about a girl who wants to take over her family's small business, and it has a that nice small town charm.

Now for the parts that were slightly iffy for me: I thought the romance happened way too quickly. It felt kind of insta-loveish, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just not something I usually go for. I also thought that some of the conflicts were solved a little too easily. There was quite a lot of build up to certain problems but then fixed within a chapter or single conversation.

This is still a decently strong story with important themes such as anxiety, consent, broken friendships, and so on. My stance on three star ratings is that I liked/appreciated certain aspects, but it didn't draw me in completely, and that's how I felt about this read.

Here's how I rated certain elements:
Characters: 6/10
Emotion: 7/10
Writing Style: 6/10
Pacing: 6/10
Immersion: 7/10
Overall Enjoyment: 6/10