The April/May Selection: Honeysuckle Season by Mary Ellen Taylor

The pandemic has caused or rather allowed me to pick up some books I normally wouldn't have read.  One of these is Honeysuckle Season by Mary Ellen Taylor.  There was so much food mentioned in the book I decided to use it for the April/May edition for Cook the Books.   

From the Publisher:

From bestselling author Mary Ellen Taylor comes a story about profound loss, hard truths, and an overgrown greenhouse full of old secrets.

Adrift in the wake of her father’s death, a failed marriage, and multiple miscarriages, Libby McKenzie feels truly alone. Though her new life as a wedding photographer provides a semblance of purpose, it’s also a distraction from her profound pain.

When asked to photograph a wedding at the historic Woodmont estate, Libby meets the owner, Elaine Grant. Hoping to open Woodmont to the public, Elaine has employed young widower Colton Reese to help restore the grounds and asks Libby to photograph the process. Libby is immediately drawn to the old greenhouse shrouded in honeysuckle vines.

As Libby forms relationships and explores the overgrown—yet hauntingly beautiful—Woodmont estate, she finds the emotional courage to sort through her father’s office. There she discovers a letter that changes everything she knows about her parents, herself, and the estate. Beneath the vines of the old greenhouse lie generations of secrets, and it’s up to Libby to tend to the fruits born of long-buried seeds.

About the author:

A southerner by birth, Mary Ellen Taylor’s love of her home state, Virginia, is evident in her contemporary women’s fiction, including Winter Cottage, Spring House and her latest Honeysuckle Season and The Words We Whisper. She’s also celebrated the city of Alexandria and its storied history in her books The Union Street Bakery, Sweet Expectations,  At the Corner of King Street and The View from Prince Street.

As do so many people, her protagonists search for their place in the world, exploring issues of family, home, love and belonging. Inevitably, Mary Ellen’s stories entwine with those of the places in which they’re set, and the mysteries at their core span past and present.

Mary Ellen is also known nationally as New York Times and USA Today bestselling suspense novelist Mary Burton. Together, they have published forty-five novels and five novellas. Mary Burton’s latest, Near You, debuts April 2021.

When not traveling or holed up writing, Mary Ellen spends time with her husband enjoying their empty nest and spoiling their miniature dachshunds, Buddy, Bella and Tiki.

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 As always, Cook the Books is open to anyone.  Just pick up the latest selection, read and get inspired.  Whip up a dish sparked by your reading and post during April or May.  For more information and guidelines, click here.

Note that there are recipes listed at the end of the novel for Buttermilk Pie, Chess Pie, Honeysuckle Syrup, and Lemon Cake.   There's a huge amount of food mentioned in the book, too, everything from scrambled eggs to home baked goodness.   The e-book is free if you have Kindle Unlimited or only $4.99 to purchase on Amazon.  (Or, you can be like me and rediscover your library and their curbside pick-up options.)

Deadline for contributing is May 31, 2021.  Just leave a comment with your link below OR email me at eliotseats@gmail.com prior to the deadline.  I can't wait to see what Southern favorites or floral concoctions are posted.

Happy Spring!

                            ---Debra