The Lights of Sugarberry Cove

The Lights of Sugarberry Cove by Heather Webber is a story about family, hope, choices, expectations, disappointments, and magic. I thought The Lights of Sugarberry Cove was well-written with vivid descriptions. The authors word depictions transport you to Sugarberry Cove. The characters are realistic and developed. They will remind you of your family members and friends. The story is told from Sadie and Leala’s point-of-view. They are sisters who used to be close but grew apart after Sadie’s fall into the lake. Eight years prior when Sadie was eighteen, she tripped, hit her head, and ended up falling into Lake Laurel. It was ten minutes before Sadie resurfaced forever changed. I like that we see events from each sister’s perspective. Their mother has a heart attack which has both sisters returning to Sugarberry Cove to help her. The weekend turns out to be a revelation for Sadie, Leala, their mother, and their guests. You can feel the emotions coming through the pages. Readers can relate to what the characters are experiencing because who of us has not dealt with heartbreak, concerns about a marriage, the loss of a dream, or feeling hopeless. It is the magic that sets this book apart. Imagine that you live near a lake where a lady will grant wishes on a certain day in August. Her magic weaves into the lives of those who live near the lake. But she does not grant just any wish. It really gets your imagination working. There are good life lessons included with my favorite being that our lives do not always turn out the way we thought they would. Events happen beyond our control. We need to find a way to move forward and find joy. My favorite phrase from the book is, “Everyone bears scars, inside and out. And behind every single one of those healed wounds is a story of strength and resilience and recovery. My scar is simply part of me, part of my story.” The Lights of Sugarberry Cove is a novel that is not be rushed. You will want to sit and cherish this story until the very last page (make sure that you will have uninterrupted reading time with a cool beverage and plenty of chocolate nearby). The Lights of Sugarberry Cove is my favorite book by Heather Webber. I am looking forward to her next spellbinding tale. The Lights of Sugarberry Cove is an enchanting story with a lady in the lake, haunting hair, rampant renovations, a mulish mother, a lost love, a cute canine, and lighted lanterns.

In the vein of Sarah Addison Allen and the Waverly sisters, we meet the Scott family. Mama Susannah and daughters Sadie Way and Leaks Clare grew up in Sugarberry Cove. Their father had a dream of running a B&B, but died soon after the opening. Because of this, Susannah has ran the B&B since his passing. Like mother and daughters for generations, Susannah and her daughter's have mother daughter hurts from the past and present that keep them at arms length from each other. Sadie runs A Southern Hankerin on YouTube where she tells the stories of different southern people while cooking a recipe that is meaningful to them. After almost dying in the Cove at 18, she's stayed away as much as possible telling others stories but completely running from her own. Leala has a wonderful husband and a beautiful boy, but is struggling with giving up her career to be a stay at home mother. After Susannah has a heart attack, the girls meet her at the B&B to help her recuperate. Known to be magical, every year the town holds a water lantern festival. History says the Lady of the Lake will answer a few wishes on that night. Told with vivid imagery and a host of quirky family and guests, this year the girls just may finally be able to put the past behind them and finally become the family each of them has been needing. I'll admit this started out a bit slow. I was a little disappointed because I had read such amazing things about it. It definitely picked up speed around 20% in and after that I couldn't put it down! Told from each sisters perspective, we really get to see just how the past has shaped each sister. The story of The Lady of the Lake is woven in perfectly as well. Magical realism can be a hard genre to make believable, but this was executed perfectly here. Written like a Hallmark movie and with imagery so vivid, you'll find yourself googling A Southern Hankerin hoping youll get to watch Sadie tell her stories and be disappointed to find this was in fact just fiction. But a beautiful work of art nonetheless. Magic, romance, and women's fiction come together to create a five star read! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank you to NetGalley, Heather Webber, and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.