LIKE A BEE TO HONEY – Jennifer Beckstrand
The Honeybee Sisters , Book 3
Zebra Books
ISBN: 978-1-4201-4024-8
September 2016
Inspirational Romance

The Present in Northern Wisconsin

The three orphaned girls fondly known to the local Amish community as the Honeybee Schwesters live with their beloved Aunt Bitsy. They all work hard caring for the plants and the beehives and making and selling honey. They are pretty young women now and have caught the eyes of the local men. After nearly making a big mistake, Lily, the eldest, has found her true love. So has Poppy, the fiercely independent one, finally found hers after much drama. Perhaps now it's the turn of the youngest of the three, sweet and tender-hearted Rose. This seems highly unlikely, however. Rose is terribly shy; she's frightened of a boy even talking to her, and she sticks close to her sisters when in groups. All her love goes to her family and animals. No one outside her close family knows the trauma that left Rose with feelings of unworthiness and guilt.

Josiah Yoder is a close neighbor who has loved Rose for all of four years. He's a farmer and also an orphan. He fell in love with her at his mother's funeral; she was so comforting and compassionate. He's a few years older than Rose, but now that she's of marriageable age, he gathers up his courage to think of courting her. He knows he must go slowly and carefully so as not to frighten the girl. Does he have a chance to conquer her fears?

I haven't said much about Aunt Bitsy in the earlier reviews, but with her threats to the boys—she says don't feed them; they'll just keep coming back—her growing collection of cats, and her other quirks, she is an unforgettable character. Other supporting cast members are also well crafted.

LIKE A BEE TO HONEY brings this wonderful trilogy to completion. It may be even more moving than the first two books as it brings several plot lines to culmination, including the acts of vandalism. No one could fail to love this couple any more than they could help smiling at the humorous passages.

It's never been done at Romance Reviews Today, but I think I must give a Perfect 10 to the whole series: July's SWEET AS HONEY, August's BEE IN HER BONNET, and September's LIKE A BEE TO HONEY. Be sure to put them on your to-be-read list.

Jane Bowers