First Frost

November 24, 2014
Allen (Lost Lake) takes the reader on a journey to the small town of Bascom, N.C., where the Waverley women are known for their unusual gifts: Claire has recently given up her catering business to market her Waverley candies, a booming business using natural ingredients such as lavender and honey. Sydney is a local hairdresser with a magic touch, luring women from all over town to book appointments. Sydney’s daughter, Bay, is a young teenager comfortable with her status as a social outcast—except as it affects her ability to befriend Josh Matteson, a popular boy at her high school. When a strange, elderly man comes to town and threatens to disrupt the peaceful Waverley existence, the family must pull together and rely on each woman’s unique talents. Allen has written a beautiful, lyrical story, complete with genuine characters whose depth reflects Allen’s skill as a writer. Allen’s fans will be eagerly awaiting her next.

Starred review from November 1, 2014
Allen (Lost Lake, 2014) returns to the Waverley mansion, the setting of her first novel, Garden Spells (2007), to describe the wait for the first frost, a time when the backyard's magical apple tree loses its pale white blossoms in a blizzard-like flurry and puts the world back to rights. Claire and Sydney have gifts for setting things straight, too, through the food Claire cooks that can mend a broken heart and the hairstyles Sydney creates that can spark true love with just the flip of a curl. Sydney's teenage daughter, Bay, has a Waverley gift, too, that of knowing where things belong and who people are meant to be with. But in Bay's case, she belongs with Josh Matteson, a classmate who wants nothing to do with her. Can her aunt's food heal the pain? Can her mother's stylishness force him to notice her? Or can Bay do it all on her own? Thomas Wolfe was wrong. You can go home again, and in returning to the Waverley household, the winsomely wise Allen demonstrates that sometimes it's necessary to embrace the magic to find out what's real in life and in one's own heart.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2014

Continuing the magic she conjured in Garden Spells, New York Times best-selling author Allen opens ten years after the events in that book, when Claire Waverley met Tyler and adjusted to the reappearance of outrageous half-sister Sydney. Now Claire is married to Tyler and adjusting to the return of her father, who comes bearing unwanted news. With a one-day laydown and a reading group guide.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2014

A special "aura" surrounds the Waverley women of Bascom, NC. Some say they have magical powers. Whatever the explanation, as long as she can remember, teenage Bay's keen intuition has never steered her wrong in decisions of the heart. Bay's Aunt Claire knows just the elements to add to a cake or pie to transform the emotions of all those who indulge in the delicacies she serves at her popular catering business. Then, at the first sweep of winter weather, changes occur. The Great Bandit appears in town, causing the women to question their histories, testing the strong family bonds they've forged. Is Claire really who she appears? Can a new romance thrive in spite of the ominous shadow the past casts on it? VERDICT Fans of Allen (The Peach Keeper; The Sugar Queen) will recognize familiar characters from her 2007 Garden Spells. This novel features charming characters, exploration of the family ties that bind and captivate us, and a touch of the supernatural, which will especially please longtime Allen readers. [See Prepub Alert, 7/14/14.]--Julia M. Reffner, Fairport, NY

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.