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Honey Acres #2

Must Love Bees

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“A delightful and heartfelt story. I want to go visit the town of Honey and buy things!” —Julia London, New York Times bestselling author, on The Sweetest ThingFor a cheerful beekeeper and her reclusive new neighbor, love is the sweetest surprise…Astrid Hill can calm a hive full of restless bees, but she has no idea how to make her gruff new neighbor smile. Charlie Driver intends to hightail it out of Honey, Texas, as soon as he’s sold his aunt’s property, and Astrid worries her family’s adjoining honey business may be affected. But however aloof—and annoyingly attractive—Charlie may be, his daughters are too adorable to ignore.Charlie would rather untangle a line of computer code than deal with people, and the stress of single parenthood isn’t helping. Yet Astrid has a knack for overcoming his resistance to this quirky small town and her beloved bees. What if his girls become attached, only to once again lose someone precious? Then again, in love, the more you risk your heart, the sweeter the reward…Includes the bonus novella, Honey Ever After!A wedding on Hill Honey Farms means family, honey and laughter. For this special day, all the Bee Girls are home—but that’s not the only surprise... A brand-new baby beekeeper will be joining the family!Discover something sweet in Honey Book 1: The Sweetest Thing Book 2: Must Love Bees Book 3: Honey, Be Mine - Coming June 2024!

384 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 23, 2024

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About the author

Sasha Summers

112 books818 followers
USA Today Bestselling Author Sasha Summers writes stories that celebrate the ups and downs, loves and losses, ordinary and extraordinary occurrences of life. Sasha pens fiction in multiple genres and hopes each and every book will draw readers in and set them on an emotional and rewarding journey. When not writing, she’s reading or spending time with her family somewhere in the Texas Hill Country. With a puppy on her lap and her favorite Thor mug full of coffee, Sasha is currently working on her next novel.
She adores hearing from fans and invites you to visit her online.
Facebook: Sasha Summers Author, Twitter: @sashawrites, or her website: www.sashasummers.com

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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
Profile Image for Madison Warner Fairbanks.
2,825 reviews432 followers
January 28, 2024
Must Love Bees by Sasha Summers
Honey Acres series #2. Contemporary romance. Can be read as a stand-alone. Grumpy sunshine. Family oriented.
Astrid Hill has the patience and love for working her family bee farm. She volunteers with Junior Beekeeping sharing her knowledge and need to keep industry front and center in her hometown. She’s hoping that Charlie Driver will honor the commitment to allow the training to continue on his farm even though he intends to sell his aunt’s farm.
Charlie has a high stress job that has him working on his computer for long hours. He’s in the town of Honey, Texas with his step-daughters just for the summer, while he makes arrangements for the property of his great aunt. His daughters befriend Astrid and soon their families are intertwined with the girls learning the love of small town living. But for Charlie and the girls, Honey is temporary. What comes next?

Charming, sweet and absolutely lovable. This author has a knack for writing adults learning how children and their complexities can become families and how love can make the heart stronger. Adding in bees and their importance in the town of Honey made it feel like a place I could visit. The romance is a slow build and there are both tears and swoons. In the end it’s such a sweet love for the entire family that makes the story endearing.

The paperback and ebook include 15 honey based recipes.

Bonus Novella - Honey Ever After, series book 2.5
Camellia’s wedding. All the family from the books are included, helping and supporting each other. It’s adorable and delightful. It’s family at its best.
Profile Image for Crystal P.
641 reviews8 followers
February 1, 2024
In Must Love Bees, the second book in the Honey Acres series by Sasha Summers, we return to Honey, Texas to spend some quality time with the Hills. The Hills of Honey possess a deep appreciation for bees that will have you dreaming of visiting a honey bee farm and donning a beekeeper’s suit. Their use of honey in the kitchen will have you itching to bake something - thankfully, recipes are provided at the close of the book 😉.

This book is Astrid’s story. Astrid, dubbed the bee whisperer because of her gentle way with the bees, is happy for her sister Tansy and the love and happiness she has found with Dane (aka Thor, much to his chagrin and everyone else’s amusement). Her Aunt Camelia is also very much in love and she has a new cousin via Aunt Mags, who provides her with a baby to dote and fuss over. Life is really good and she isn’t wishing for more… really! Then one afternoon, two adventuring girls burst into her shop to meet their Aunt Rebecca’s friend” and set off a chain reaction that has her dreaming about more.

The two adventuring girls have a dad who, in his short time in Honey, has a reputation for having a less-than-sweet disposition. Gentle Astrid doesn’t back down, and in her Astrid-way charms her way into Charlie Driver’s life much like the way she whispers to those bees. Astrid sees Charlie’s grumpiness for what it is and it doesn’t take long for Charlie to find out what having a true family is like.

Charlie will melt your heart. Charlie’s girls will keep you smiling. All of the Hill’s will have you wanting Honey, Texas to be a real place!!!

This story had me smiling beginning to end!!!

Profile Image for Kaycee Reads.
27 reviews14 followers
September 17, 2024
This book was such a cute read! I ate this book right up. The characters were easy to love, and I loved having little bits of Nova's point of view. Totally a grumpy/sunshine trope going on!
Profile Image for Susan.
4,630 reviews114 followers
February 13, 2024
Sweet story. Astrid and her family have a bee farm in Honey, Texas, where they produce honey and other honey and bee-related items. Astrid is a master beekeeper with a reputation as a bee whisperer - she is the one people call when they have a problem. She also leads the Junior Beekeepers group, passing her love of bees to the next generation. She is worried about an upcoming group event on a neighboring property. Rebecca had promised the group the use of her hives and land before she passed away. Now, she has to depend on the heir to keep his aunt's promise, and she isn't too confident he will.

Charlie is a tech guy who works from home, enabling him to avoid most contact with people. A recent widower, he has brought his two stepdaughters with him to Honey for the summer, hoping to escape their grief. Though he's only been in Honey for a short time, Charlie already has a reputation as an aloof grump, mainly because he's never developed the ability to interact with people. He is determined to sell the property as soon as possible and return to his comfort zone in the city. He doesn't count on his girls getting involved with the family next door.

I enjoyed the first meeting between Astrid and the girls, Halley and Nova. They are friendly, curious, and quite put out with their dad, who has kept them close to home while he works on his computer. I loved how quickly they connected with Astrid. You can't say the same for Charlie. He wasn't sure how to handle Astrid, whose cheerful personality and refusal to be chased off confused him. I liked her determination to bring him out of his shell without causing any trauma. It was fun to see how quickly Astrid came to understand him. I laughed out loud often as Charlie found himself doing things he never expected to do.

Neither Astrid nor Charlie expected the sparks of attraction that grew between them. I enjoyed the slow build of their relationship from neighbors to friends and more. But the question is whether anything can come of it since Charlie plans to return to the city at the end of the summer. I liked seeing how Charlie and the girls came to love their lives in Honey.

There is a fly in their ointment in the person of Charlie's sister. She and her husband are developers, and when she looks at the property and the potential gold mine of Honey, she does her best to convince Charlie to sell the property. The sister is obnoxious, selfish, and not very nice to Charlie. I loved her shock at the will reading and cheered for Charlie and Astrid. I loved the ending and seeing the difference Honey and Astrid have made in Charlie. His big moment at the end was sweet and funny.

I liked the assorted secondary characters. Halley and Nova were adorable. I felt their grief over their mother's death and their worry over their relationship with Charlie. I enjoyed seeing them interact with Astrid's family and the difference it made in their lives. The closeness of Astrid's family was terrific. I liked how they could support each other and call each other out when needed. Aunt Camellia and her boyfriend were sweet, and I laughed at Aunt Mags' crustiness that covered a soft heart. I look forward to seeing more of them in future books.

I loved all the information about bees, beekeeping, and the importance of bees that was woven into the story.

#netgalley
Profile Image for Pj Ausdenmore.
751 reviews32 followers
March 27, 2024
I'm not sure why Sasha Summers didn't land on my reading radar before now but this error has been corrected and will not occur again. I've already downloaded the first book in this series, The Sweetest Thing and preordered the third book, Honey, Be Mine (June 25, 2024).

I was completely charmed by Honey Hill Farms, the Hill family, bee whisperer Astrid, new arrival Charlie, and his adorable daughters. I loved how fully developed these characters were, even Charlie's daughters, young Nova and tween Halley. Both were integral pieces of the plot, helping to move both the story forward as well as the growth of Astrid's and Charlie's characters, and their own in the process.

There was a lot of fun and charm in this story and a sweetly satisfying romance, but a surprising depth of emotion as well. Charlie, in particular, was a fascinating character. I enjoyed the gradual evolution of his character without sacrificing the neurodiversity that made him unique, especially in the growth of his relationship with Nova and Halley as well as his slow-burn romance with Astrid. I wanted to be besties with Astrid. She really is the nicest person in town. I loved how she interacted with Charlie, appreciated him once she got to know him, how the gradual deepening of her feelings for him occurred because of the whole person he was, not in spite of it. Unlike his estranged family who - yes, I cheered - got exactly what they deserved.

The supporting Honey Hill Farms cast brought everything together in a warm, welcoming hug of affection and acceptance. I adored them. I wanted to spend the day baking with them. I even wanted to help tend the bees...and that's something I never expected to say in this lifetime. I was fascinated with the honey bee knowledge I gathered from this book, especially the organic manner in which it was delivered. It left me - someone who has always been afraid of bees - actually feeling affection for them and wanting to know more. As for the delicious recipes (all using honey) in the back of the book? I plan to make them all!

*ARC received from publisher via NetGalley
Fair and unbiased review
Profile Image for Kate Vale.
Author 24 books82 followers
February 2, 2024
Charlie Driver has a problem: he's never felt loved, and is convinced he can never give love, even when surrounded by his stepdaughters, who love him. When he takes them to Honey, TX to sell the property he's inherited from his late aunt, he becomes entangled with a neighbor and her family.

Astrid Hill is a master bee keeper and her responsibilities relate not just to her own hives, but those on his aunt's property, too. When two men show up and knock over one of the hives behind his aunt's house, Astrid learns that the men are there to appraise the property. What does that mean for her own property and that of the other small business owners in town? After all, most have received visits from a property management company--and offers, too. But what will that mean? And, more importantly, what does that mean for Astrid when she realizes she's fallen in love with his daughters and with Charlie, too, in spite of his preference for writing computer code and working remotely so that he doesn't have to confront anyone in real life, face to face? (Even though he discovers that kissing Astrid is a wonderful experience.) Will the bees win out over those property management executives, who just happen to be related to Charlie?

A lovely story about how love can change people...
Profile Image for Ashley Yungbluth.
226 reviews1 follower
June 24, 2024
"Must Love Bees" by Sasha Summers is book two in the "Honey Acres" series. Astrid loves bees and anything to do with bees. Charlie is in town with his stepdaughters, Haley and Nova, to sell his Aunt Rebecca's house that his aunt left for him. He is not a people person, and losing his wife in an accident has him on edge and nervous about everything. Astrid and her family welcome them to Honey Texas with open arms and show them what it's like to have people who love and appreciate you. This book is such a sweet read, and I love the characters so much.

"Honey Ever After" is a short bonus story about Camellia's big day. While she is getting married to the love of her life, her sister Magnolia is fighting her feelings of her sister moving on. Magnolia is happy for her sister, but just sad that it won't be the same. Then Roman shows up and is Magnolias's daughter, Shelby's adoptive father. Roman told Shelby it wasn't a good idea to look for her birth mother, but now that Magnolia has Shelby in her life, she is so afraid of losing her.
1,497 reviews4 followers
January 20, 2024
I loved Astrid with Charlie and his daughters!

Must Love Bees is a sweet romance set in the Texas Hill Country where Astrid Hill and falls and falls in love with Charlie Driver and his daughters Halley and Nova and learn a lot about bees.

Beekeeper Astrid Hill loved working with her bees in the Texas Hill Country after her family won the Best in Honey contest for Wholesome Foods and teaching the next generation about bees. But there was something about her neighbor Charlie Driver who was staying at his great-aunt’s house while her estate was settled.

Widower Charlie Driver was visiting Honey, Texas with his daughters to settle his Great Aunt Rebecca’s estate so they could hopefully deal with the death of his wife. Charlie hated change and dealing with new people because he had a hard time with strangers.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the author and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Profile Image for Jennifer Jacobs.
52 reviews2 followers
January 21, 2024
This book will make you want to start a beehive and bake sweets for your whole family! It was adorable. My favorite part of this book was the Hill family. The Aunts, the sisters, the cousins, all of them.

When Charlie comes to town, Astrid sets her sights on her new neighbor, a handsome, single dad immediately. The only problem was that Charlie has severe social anxiety. He believes that he is actually on the Autism spectrum.

Astrid and Charlie were cute, when they finally got together, but I didn't like the fact that Astrid did most of the work for the relationship. Charlie's anxiety was a big barrier in their communication. Thankfully, Astrid knew how to communicate with him and ease his stress. I especially loved how she was able to help him connect with his daughters on a deeper level.

#beekeeper
#mustlovebees
#cleanromance
#romance
#socialanxiety
#autismspectrum
#smalltownromance
#grumpysunshine
#singledadromance
#bookstagram
#bookreview
Profile Image for Nicola “Shortbookthyme”.
1,899 reviews138 followers
January 27, 2024
Sasha Summers is a new author to me. I really enjoyed reading Must Love Bees. The writing was engaging and beautiful.
The information about bees was intriguing and so informative.
I loved seeing the relationship evolve with the two main characters, Astrid and Charlie and his daughters.
Truly a heartfelt and inspiring story for those that know about how being on the autism spectrum can be very challenging.
Definitely looking forward to reading more by Sasha Summers.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
#shortbookthyme
@Harlequintradepublishing
#harlequintradepublishing
Profile Image for Diane Jewell.
256 reviews14 followers
January 19, 2024
Must Love Bees by Sasha Summers. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

My first novel by Sasha. I really like the way her words flowed throughout the book. She grabbed your attention and held it the end.

A great love story from 2 people who definitely was not looking for it. In fact neither wanted nothing to do with each other. It snuck up on them while they weren't looking. Lol

Pre-order your copy today, it releases on Jan 20th. Its a great story you will enjoy reading as much as I did.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.
Profile Image for Amber Todd.
539 reviews5 followers
April 16, 2024
I adored this book and I think I even like it just a hair more than the first. Sasha has a wonderful way of incorporating side characters into the story that makes the world feel full and lively. Her way of writing children into her stories is also another unmatched talent of Sasha Summers. Seriously, if you think kids in books are annoying, pick any of her stories with a child and you will be charmed! I also loved how much knowledge and information I have on bees after having read this book. The audio version was excellent.
Profile Image for Jacqueline Johnston Cotton.
1,576 reviews26 followers
February 4, 2024
This was such an inspirational story! It’s a sweet tale of family, friendship and love in a charming small town. There is just enough conflict and sweet to keep a reader completely entertained. With intriguing bee knowledge, enchanting romance and inspiring character growth, this feel-good book will definitely leave your heart smiling.
Profile Image for Leanna Hiner.
698 reviews
February 8, 2024
Must Love Bees

Must Love Bees is another great book in the Honey Acres series. I loved the setting of this book, all the interesting facts about bees scattered throughout the book. I loved how Astrid’s family were so happy together and supportive and loving of one another. Read this book.
Profile Image for Kristi Lewis.
536 reviews
February 11, 2024
I feel like I learned so much about bees. If I wasn't allergic to them, I'd like to be a junior beekeeper, sounds so fun!

This was a wonderful and sweet love story with adorable girls, friends and family. I am looking forward to following this author. This was a fun read, and I really want to try out all the recipes that were included.
Profile Image for Angela Carter.
277 reviews12 followers
January 30, 2024
Sweet heartwarming story

Awe Astrid's story is even sweeter than Tansy's nonetheless I have fallen in love with Honey Texas and all the small town charm. The Hill family is growing and that makes my heart happy.
9 reviews
February 2, 2024
good story

I found this book to have a good story line it was positive and uplifting with a few minor ups and downs as is life. It was a very quick read as I couldn’t put it down. Also always love the bees
33 reviews
July 17, 2024
Forgot I had the physical copy of this book at work for a few months but it was a quick/easy read (once I found it again) that I enjoyed. Curious to see where the rest of the series goes; so far the relationships are unrealistic (to me) because they are sweeter than honey!!
August 29, 2024
This was so cute! $10 impulse buy at the grocery store and it was adorable, made me smile. The grumpy male character was so well written and different than the standard broody man. It was an easy, light, happy read.
Profile Image for Belinda.
1,053 reviews1 follower
July 7, 2024
First time reading this author. I had seen the book in ads and saw an author I follow read it and liked so decided to try.

Astrid is a bee whisper. The bees seem to know it is her. That was fascinating to read.

Charlie is living in his aunts house with his daughters til the reading of the will.

Charlie is a peculiar fellow. I think and this is just me is that he is on the autistic scale.

Astrid comes into his life and turns everything upside down.

Can Charlie open himself up and life get better for him and his girls.

A wonderful read!
Profile Image for Aqua Rainha.
16 reviews
June 14, 2024
A really cute and entertaining romance read, perfect for a break in between heavy books!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews

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