He Should Have Told the Bees

July 1, 2023

Callie Peterson is just realizing her dream of becoming a small-business owner, but the needs of her mother, who is addicted to alcohol, threaten to uproot her newly stable life. Beckett Walsh is a hard-working beekeeper trying to keep the family land solvent after her father dies. She's tied to the land in more ways than one: severe anxiety renders her unable to go farther than the driveway, even to get groceries. A surprise trust names both women as beneficiaries, but a decision that would make Callie's dreams come true could crush Beckett's--and every beekeeper knows there's only room for one queen in the hive. Through good friends, persistent neighbors, and a quirky tween claiming to be from another planet, both women delve into their pasts and seek to overcome their present struggles. VERDICT Cox (The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery) is a brilliant writer, and her characters feel like old friends. With humor and a tenderness for the struggling, the novel explores what happens when people let the light in on their journey to healing.

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