The Honeybee Emeralds
by Amy Tector
Pub Date: March 29, 2022
Keylight Books
Thanks to the author, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for this audio book. The narrator was great!
This story was so much fun. I am a big fan of Historical Fiction. It kept me interested ~ loved the ending!
Personal Note: True I could have done without the unnecessary nasty language but that’s me!
I did enjoy the story ~ So many pluses ~
• Amy Tector’s chapter titles are great!!
• Audio narrator Lameece Issaq did a great job performing the characters and, of course, did a
beautiful job with their accents.

I always enjoyed reading the ‘Author’s Notes’. In this case, Ms. Tector tells us what parts of the story are true and what is her imagination!
Looking forward to the next Amy Tector adventure!
5 stars

This hunt for the story behind an accidentally-uncovered valuable necklace was a lot of fun. I was eager to unravel the mystery along with the journalists and historians doing the research to learn more about it, and I enjoyed the infusion of historical moments when we got to see the previous owners of the necklace through time.

I did find, though, that the story went on a bit long for me, and I think many of the issues I had come down to this being a debut novel. I often felt like Tector (like many first-time novelists do) was trying to infuse a few too many elements into one book, so there were too many asides—we don't just have the history (and history of the necklace), but stuff about theatre history, The Monuments Men (the movie, which was weird), baking, and fantasy novels not being considered "real" literature. I think this is the kind of stuff that happens when an author wants to infuse all the stuff they care/know about in their writing, but it just doesn't really all need to be in one book.

On that same note, I also had trouble early on with the large ensemble of characters, maybe more so because I read this on audio. It took me a while to distinguish characters (and continued to struggle throughout). I never really bought the friendship between Daphne and Lily, I didn't get why Alice was so obsessed with visiting the necklace constantly, and eventually became frustrated with some of these (and the other) B-plot conflicts. Again, I think these are problems that come from having a large cast of characters and wanting to provide them all with rich lives, but I don't think they all really needed it, and it starts to feel too full at some point.

Despite my problems with some of these smaller issues, though, I really did enjoy the central mystery, and I would read more by Tector in the future.

I believe I’m in the minority on this one, but I didn’t love this book. The premise is actually great. A young intern at a boutique magazine, Bonjour Paris, accidentally discovers a very ornate necklace in the basement of her office building. It is the Honeybee necklace—gold filigree with diamonds and two large perfect emeralds. It is when the story leaves Alice and adds a cast of other characters fondly known as the “The Fellowship of the Necklace” that it loses me. All the added personalities detract from the story of the necklace. Lily, Daphne, Jacob, Luc, and Alexander were all interesting, but I feel like on the whole their personal baggage wasn’t essential to the story.

The flashbacks to the necklace’s origins were fascinating. Starting with it’s first owner, Napoleon’s mistress, then to Mata Hari, and even later to Josephine Baker, we see a pattern of strong dare I say diva women who have the panache to wear such an ostentatious necklace. I would have loved more of the provenance stories and less of the modern timeline that felt like a slow race to me.

Overall, this was generally an entertaining read, I just didn’t care for the current timeline’s cast of characters and their “perfect happy endings” rang a little false to me. I will say the audiobook narrator did an amazing job with all the different accents and kept me engaged.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Audio and of course Amy Tector for the advanced copy. The Honeybee Emeralds comes out on March 29th. All opinions are my own.

For me this novel started a bit slow but as I continued to read I became more and more invested in the mystery of the Honeybee Emerald. The lengths this Fellowship (their name) team went to unravel this mystery was mesmerizing for me. A look into the French Emperor, Mata Hari and Josephine Baker. How did this beautiful piece end up forgotten in a cote pocket in the basement of a Paris magazine building? 4 stars and would recommend.

The Honeybee Emeralds is a great historical fiction tied in with a modern tether. I loved the dynamic between all the characters and the mystery surrounding the necklace that had been all over the world just to end up in a forgotten wardrobe in a basement.

I wish the chapters were a little more distinguished on who's mind the reader was in, as it made it a little challenging to follow but I loved it nonetheless.

Great characters, lots of adventure and interesting facts wound into this fast paced story. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

When an amazing necklace is found in the basement of a struggling magazine, the staff set out to discover it's story to save their readership.

The necklace's story is full of scandal, intrigue, twists, turns, love and tragedy.

This was a fun read that also had the humanity of those in the past and the staff and friends involved in investigation of the necklace.

LOVE Alice's accent.

Wow wow wow, what a perfectly compelling story! I am such a sucker for an historical/art intrigue book! The story follows a group of contemporary co-workers who come across a beautiful emerald necklace and decide to track its provenance. We get glimpses of 19th century Paris, the origin of the necklace, and the woman whose neck it first graced. If you know the iconography of the bee in reference to France, you can guess where this leads. 👑 The necklace is also connected to beloved 20th century performer, Josephine Baker- but how did it go from a mistress to a songstress? I loved following the clues along with our heroine’s and heroes. It’s a full cast of characters, each with their own unique stories and troubles. We get to learn the complicated feelings and lives of so many characters while also having the mystery to drive the plot. It’s the perfect blend for me. Now if only this could become a Netflix series 🙏🏻

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc audiobook in exchange for my unbiased opinion!

Name of Book: The Honeybee Emeralds
Author: Amy Tector
Genre: Mystery/Historical Fiction
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Pub Date: March 29, 2022
My Rating: 4 +Stars



Story starts with Alice Ahmadi, an intern with the “Bonjour Paris’ magazine and is in the basement as the heat is out and she is trying to locate why. The magazine is financial not doing well~ is the lack of heat a sign of worst things ahead? However when she and neighbor Alexander are busy hunting for the fuse box, they find an old storeroom full of costumes and also find a necklace with what looks like a diamond and emerald with a honeybee pendant. They tell Lily the “Bonjour Paris’, editor; she gets excited that perhaps the necklace is a famous lost necklace. A story about such a find just might be what can save the magazine.
Lily, Alice and Lily’s friend Daphne plus Alexander, Luc the Magazine owner and Jacob the “hot” writer, form the “Fellowship of the Necklace” and are off to investigate. Their research takes them to 1860 France where they discover that the necklace was owned by three Historical characters.

This story was so much fun. I am not a big fan of Historical Fiction especially WWII sad stories and usually am cautious when selecting a Historical Fiction story but this was a GREAT choice as it was sooo enjoyable! It kept me interested ~ loved the ending!
Personal Note: True I could have done without the unnecessary nasty language but that’s me!
I did enjoy the story ~ So many pluses ~
• [author: Amy Tector]’s chapter titles are great!!
• Audio narrator Lameece Issaq did a great job performing the characters and, of course, did a beautiful job
with their accents.
• Awww the life lesson with the medicine ball analogy and
• “People who are hurting ~ usually hurt other people”.
• Plus I need to remember to start an “Appreciation Journal”.

I always enjoyed reading the ‘Author’s Notes’. In this case Ms. Tector tells us what parts of the story are true and what is her imagination!
Looking forward to the next Amy Tector adventure!

Want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audio eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for March 29, 2022.

This book was so cool! It was a little slow to start and took a little bit to get into it, but once I was into it, I was hooked! The way that the story goes between the different POVs of Lily, Alice, and Daphne was wonderful. When Alice stumbles upon an abandoned room in the basement of her building, where a stunning necklace has been tucked away in the pocket of a jacket. As they venture to figure out where the necklace came from, who it belonged to, and why it was left in the abandoned room, they uncover secrets and tidbits about the history of Paris. The growth in the relationships you see between all of the characters was such an interesting addition to the plot. You get an inside view of what goes on in the minds of Alice, Lily, and Daphne. I also quite liked the male characters, Alexander, Jacob, Luke, Philip, and even small Theo, and how they tied into the story. I enjoyed the layers that each perspective added to the story and how they were all trying to save the magazine together as a team. This story would definitely have been something I would have read in a magazine. Overall, this book was clever and I enjoyed the aura of mystery that surrounded the necklace in question! If you’re looking for a read that keeps you interested throughout, this is the book for you!

Thank you NetGalley // Dreamscape Media // Amy Tector for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review! All of the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

The description of this book sounded captivating, but there were so many characters and points of view as well as location and period changes that I just couldn't get into it