First Frost

I am a big fan of Sarah Addison Allen.  I've yet to read a book of hers that I didn't like.  First Frost did not disappoint.

A follow up to her Garden Spells, it continues the story of the Waverley family.  Garden Spells introduced us to Claire and Sydney, taking us through the "Year Everything Changed."  First Frost picks up ten years later, with both Claire and Sydney married and settled in the town of Bascom, North Carolina.

The special thing about the Waverley family is that each of the women has a magical touch about her.  Claire's is with food, and Sydney's with hair.  Sydney's daughter Bay, who is a high school freshman, just "knows" where things (and people) belong. 

A stranger threatens Claire's stability and a teenaged mother throws Sydney's life into turmoil.  Meanwhile, Bay is falling for a boy she knows she belongs with, and whom her mother wants her to avoid. 

This is another story of sisterly bonds and family strength.  It seems to be a theme among the books I'm reading lately.  No surprise, really, since I have a pretty fabulous sister of my own.  We may not have always seen eye to eye, but we are closer as adults than we were in our younger days.  She's my BSF...best sister forever. 

And we have had a good example in sisterly bonding in our mother and aunts...four sisters who are very different and yet still alike in many ways.  And not just them - so many of our cousins are girls too, and each sister relationship is different but tight.  Even my nieces, who maybe haven't learned to appreciate each other as much as they will some day, share a lot, including their love for dance. 

We may not have Waverley talents, but I like to think we all have a little bit of magic in us.