Acute book surrounded by mystery and history. I really love when there is a thrilling, mystery element to solve, while also being surrounded by so much history. The setting of Paris, you can’t get better than that. The reader for this audiobook can sometimes make and break, a book. This reader though did a really great job of using voices, but they weren’t too far out there, but they made it interesting at least. Overall, a really cute novel with gray characters and an overarching great story.

3.5 stars

Alice Ahmadi, intern at a struggling Parisian expat magazine, is shocked when she finds a room full of old clothes, including a stunning diamond necklace featuring a honeybee with 4 green emeralds. Realizing it could be their chance to save the magazine, Alice, Luc (magazine owner), Lily (magazine editor), Daphne (Lily’s friend), Alexander (who was there when the necklace was discovered), and Jacob (Lily’s friend and the man who will write the article about the necklace) form the Fellowship of the necklace and race to uncover its history, from a mistress of Louis Napoleon to Josephine Baker to basement of their magazine. As they are searching, the women in the Fellowship deal with the relationships in their personal lives.

I enjoyed the book, but it did not captivate me. I would like to have known more about the characters in this book; I think reducing the number of characters would have allowed more focus. Lameece Issaq had a good voice for the audiobook, but I think it would have worked better with a cast of narrators, one for each character. I liked the author’s note at the end telling us which parts were true and what she invented for the story. If you are interested in this book, I recommend checking out a physical copy or ebook.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book.

This was an interesting read! This was my 1st book at Amy Tectors but will not be my last, I am adding their books to my TBR!

#TheHoneybeeEmeralds
#NetGalley

What is the history of the mysterious diamond and emerald necklace found in the basement? This book follows the provenance of a piece of jewelry, woven through time and life. I love this concept and enjoyed the weaving of people's wants and needs with the object. That being said, the number of viewpoints was a serious struggle. The characters weren't unique enough for the switch to be obvious and the switches were far too frequent. The jumps through time and viewpoint stood in the way of my enjoyment of the story, and I found myself listening to a chunk, thinking it was one character, only to realize in a bit that I was thinking of the wrong one. It made the listen a bit confusing. I think I would have enjoyed this more as a physical read. The story is fine, if a bit predictable. Maybe, if we had multiple voice actors, it may have helped lessen the confusion. Some books just work better as physical reads.

While fascinated by the story, this audio book just wasn't for me. I couldn't get into the narrator's style. I'll try this book again at a later date in print format .Thank you!

I wanted to love this book, but there were just too many timelines and characters to keep track off. I could not connect with any of them, and just stopped caring about the necklace, even though I theoretically should love this story. Multiple timelines is a very popular device right now though, so I do think many readers will enjoy this.

The narrator was good, but also did not capture my attention. She did utilise several different accents well, though, without distraction!

The Honeybee Emeralds
by Amy Tector
Narrated by Lameece Issaq

Rated: 3/75/5 stars

So, this book was a lot. There were a lot of characters and a lot of information to keep straight in my head. Nonetheless, it was enjoyable. This is the story of a struggling Parisian magazine, the discovery, and mystery of a lifetime, and the race to publish the story. There are historical tidbits thrown in here and there, such as the Josephine Baker tidbits, and overall it was an enjoyable historical type fiction/mystery. I'm happy to have listened, though I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this title.

The narration was good and I thought that Lameece Issaq did a really great job tackling all of the various characters, with their different accents and such.

This historic/ thriller was a pretty interesting read that kept me guessing what would happen next. This story follows the fellowship ( a group of friends/ colleagues) who are searching for the origins of a mysterious diamond an emerald necklace that was found in the basement of a magazines office. When Lily and Alice find the necklace they immediately want to know more about this unique piece of jewelry. Daphne one of Lily’s friends who happens to work for the government in the department for stolen art tells them that this necklace is authentic and probably dates to the 1800’s. We follow the three lady’s along with three men as they uncover the interesting history behind this unique necklace all while trying to beat another Paris magazine to the scoop on this story.
This book was a quick fun read but is not something that will stick with me for long. It was very entertaining and kept me wondering what would happen next or who else they were going to pull into the story.On that note I will say I was not a huge fan of the characters it felt like we didn’t learn enough about them and I kept getting them mixed up. I felt like it would have been better with just the three women and we could have learned more about them. I did listen to the audiobook and I really enjoyed the narrator she was engaging and easy to understand. I would like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest opinion.

This book was fantastic. I love the historical aspect and storyline. The puzzle of finding the old gems and having to work towards not only the owner, but what happened throughout the years and the people, I couldn’t stop listening. The more investigative storyline, with less violence than typical thriller/mystery books was a nice change.

Pub date: 3/29/22
Genre: historical fiction, mystery
In one sentence: Parisian expat magazine Bonjour Paris is struggling - can a mysterious necklace turn everything around?

I love historical fiction mysteries, so this book was right up my alley! I enjoyed the stories of the three women in the "fellowship of the necklace" - Tector did a great job incorporating their personal lives into the plot. The history of the necklace moved across countries and time periods, and it was interesting from beginning to end. The one flaw I found with this book was the sheer number of side characters - it was difficult to keep track of everyone, especially on audio. I ended up switching to the text version, and I would recommend that for most readers. The audio was well-done, but I had trouble following all the intricacies of the plot.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for providing an ALC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book I clicked on by accident when I first joined and I didn’t know what it was about. It is not my preferred genre and I don’t think my review would be fair. Sorry for the confusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an audio copy of The Honeybee Emeralds in exchange for an honest review.

Lily is living in Paris and has taken over running a struggling ex-pat magazine on the verge of shutting after the magazine's creator passes away, she is on the hunt for a magical story that will inspire new readers and save the acclaimed publication. Working in an old Parisian building has its perx but the electrical and air systems is not one of them. Lily ask Alice, her intern, to seek the help of the shop owner next door and see if they can fix the most recent problems. In the tunnels below the building Alice discovers an old forgotten storage room filled with elaborate costumes. When she helps herself to a forgotten jacket, inside a pocket, she discovers a priceless treasure; an exquisite diamond and emerald necklace featuring honeybees. When she shows her boss, Lily begins to think the necklaces story could be the tale to save her folding magazine. Along with some friends Alice and Lily set off to discover the origins and rightful owner of the gems, leading them to some of Paris most famous and historic women including Mata Hari and Josephine Baker.

The novel is a light mystery with a historical fiction feel given the backstory the necklace evokes. There are a lot of characters with a lot of back story, it became a bit too much and predictable. Everything just happens to fall neatly in places for this band of thrill seekers which by the way includes writers, businessmen, husbands and a perfumer. Of the bat, there is no reason to suspect some great origin story for a long forgotten piece of jewelry and to dedicate so much energy to chasing leads when the hold magazine is about to fail is odd. While the history of the women who "owned" the necklace is very interesting the rest of the story is very flat and farfetched for my liking.

I had the audio book read by Narrated by Lameece Issaq who mostly did a good job... I do question some of the accent choices, i.e. Alice from Tehran sound Irish. Overall she does a nice job and is easy to listen to.

I must give out a salute to a Canadian author on her debut novel 🇨🇦

Off the bat I was intrigued by the premise. Alice works for a magazine in Paris (loved the setting and descriptions!) "Bonjour Paris" is a magazine that is in trouble of folding. One day Alice finds herself in the basement of the building looking through old trunks while a neighbour in the building, Alexander is also down there with her trying to find a fuse to turn on the heat in the building. They stumble upon a stunning emerald necklace with a honeybee motif in one of the trunks. An idea is formed to find out more about the necklace and feature it in a cover story to save the magazine.

Alice forms a team for this and affectionately names them, "The Fellowship of the Necklace."

We are introduced to the other characters. Lily, the editor, Luc, the owner and Lily's friends Daphne and Jacob. While on the hunt for information about the necklace we are also introduced to the many things going on in the characters personal lives.

It's a well researched and written book but I feel it got bogged down with too many characters and I was too distracted with the on-goings of their personal lives to focus on the necklace. Perhaps this is because I listened to the book. I think I would have enjoyed reading this one more.

The story does have some short chapters that delve into the past owners of the necklace and I really enjoyed those tidbits. I only wish there was more of that backstory. They were some interesting people!

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for granting me access to this Advance Listeners Copy.

An absolutely stunning debut novel!!!! Readers find themselves immersed in the mysterious history of the Honeybee emerald. Tector utilizes the now and then format to beautifully travel between centuries helping readers uncovering the Emeralds. Deep relatable characters make this an engaging outside of the box book from lovers of all generals. The narration and authors notes are both a fantastic addition to the story itself.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 fascinating stars for this unique historical fiction with a PG rating.

I was intrigued by the description of this book and the beginning but it did not hold my interest. It moved too slow and had too many POV that were too similar and so it was hard to keep up with.

This was not my typical book, but I truly enjoyed it! The narrator was incredible!! I will be looking for other audiobooks she has done!
Good storyline, fun characters, great listen.

The Honeybee Emeralds was for me a mystery trip that went around and round. Lots of characters and lots of back stories. I’m going to be honest here and say that I didn’t think this was a great one for audio listening.
I had trouble keeping things straight and I felt like the story was only on the surface of each character.
And at one point I felt like everything might come together and just fell flat.
The narrator was Lameece Issaq and she did a great job.
Will I read another by this author? Probably.
Thanks Dreamscape Media via NetGalley.

The Honeybee Emeralds

Contemporary Fiction. Historical Fiction. Mystery. Love story.

The Honeybee Emeralds is all of the above.

When Alice finds a treasure trove, including a beautiful emerald and diamond artifact, in the basement of her office’s building, she knows she’s stumbled on something big. Lily, Alice’s boss and the editor of a expat newspaper in Paris, agrees; this is the story to save their newspaper. Together with a team of associates, they form what they lovingly call “The Fellowship” (yes, it is a nod to the Lord of the Rings) to dig into the history and secrets of the Honeybee Emeralds.

What I liked:
*the story and history created around the Honeybee emerald itself. It felt rich and crossed centuries. The uncovering of it’s secrets felt a bit like a treasure hunt in itself.
*the characters. There was depth and story to each one of the that I found enjoyable.
*hints of romance, beautiful friendships and a richness of self exploration

What missed:
*while mostly told in present day Paris from multiple points of view, there were a few chapters that went back into history and felt random and unnecessary.

Overall, this was an entertaining story.

Ok, this is not what, I typically read. However I liked it. It’s enjoyable and was a nice change of base from everything I’ve been reading lately. It does get a little heavy times but in a good way. And the audiobook is incredible

Alice is the intern at bonjour Paris in X patriot magazine that is a boat to collapse one year after the fashionable inventors death. They really need something big and after Allison goes to the basement with their neighboring tenant to fix the heat, she thinks she has found it. A beautiful and obviously antique necklace with gorgeous honeybee emeralds. The new editor decides to bring her closest friends together and form a sisterhood of the necklace. This includes her best friend an international journalist and her closest friends and antiques appraiser, not to mention Alice in those yes they’re angry Swedish neighboring tenant. This story goes from medieval France and a mistress to espionage all the way to The mid 1900s and Josephine Baker. The author read the story together like an expert. There is no way I could have this story with all that subplots and have that makes sense but she does and seemingly with how much effort. Between the narrator in the story this makes for an absolutely great book. It’s also a very long book and I had to force myself to stop listening, but I did read it in two days and loved it. If you love intrigue, espionage and a bunch of LOL moments you will love this book. It isn’t in your face humor but funny things the character say that really made me laugh out loud . They have a break up, I love reunion and so much more going on in the honeybee emeralds and I highly recommend it, it was so freaking good! I was given this book by not Galli and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Please forgive any grammatical or punctuation errors as I am blind and dictate my review, but all opinions are my own