The Lights of Sugarberry Cove

by Heather Webber

To begin with I did not like the physical book – small font, tight spacing on the pages – and the synopsis on the flap of the cover gave me the impression of contention in a family.  So I put it aside.  Then, when I finished the previous book and didn’t have another in line to read, I went back to this one.  I’m glad I did.  I loved it!

The main characters are 26-year-old Sadie Way Scott; her sister Leala, 4 years older and married with a 2-year-old son; and their mother Susannah.  Sadie hasn’t been back to Sugarberry Cove since she was 18 when she drowned in the lake and was revived.  The girls' mother, Susannah, owns a B & B, the dream of her deceased husband and father of the girls.  Both girls return home when their mother suffers a heart attack, prompting a reunion and some healing.  Excellent.

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Midnight at the Blackbird Café

by Heather Webber

I loved it.  A little magic, a lot of love and family and friends, heartbreak and healing.  It’s a complicated story line with lots of characters.  Anna Kate Callow’s grandmother, Zee, died and left The Blackbird Café to Anna Kate in her will, but with the stipulation that Anna Kate would stay in Wicklow for several months, at which time the café would be hers.  There’s magic in the pies (people who eat them hear messages of love from those who have died).  At first, Anna Kate doesn’t know what creates the magic.  Her grandmother managed to provide all the guidance she needs.  There are blackbirds who sing at night but only if the pies contain a specific ingredient.  Characters include Jena and Bow who help in the kitchen; Summer and her father Aubin; Gideon, Zee’s attorney who lives next door; Natalie and her parents, Doc and Seelie; and plenty of others.  A second read in a few years wouldn’t go amiss.

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South of the Buttonwood Tree

by Heather Webber

Excellent.  A little magic, a mystery, love of family, learning about not judging.... 

Blue Bishop has been judged by the people of Buttonwood her whole life because of the actions and behavior of her parents, but she persists in doing good things for the people of the town.  She’s a children’s book author and illustrator who wants to adopt a child.  One morning, a baby appears south of the buttonwood tree with a button that says “Give her to Blue Bishop.”  The buttonwood tree has been dispensing wisdom for many years.  Thus begins the story.

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