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The Beekeeper's Ball: Bella Vista Chronicles Book 2

Cover of The Beekeeper's Ball: Bella Vista Chronicles Book 2

The Beekeeper's Ball: Bella Vista Chronicles Book 2

#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs returns to sun-drenched Bella Vista, where the land's bounty yields a rich harvest...and family secrets that have long been buried.

Isabel Johansen, a celebrated chef who grew up in the sleepy Sonoma town of Archangel, is transforming her childhood home into a destination cooking school--a unique place for other dreamers to come and learn the culinary arts. Bella Vista's rambling mission-style hacienda, with its working apple orchards, bountiful gardens and beehives, is the idyllic venue for Isabel's project...and the perfect place for her to forget the past.

But Isabel's carefully ordered plans begin to go awry when swaggering, war-torn journalist Cormac O'Neill arrives to dig up old history. He's always been better at exposing the lives of others than showing his own closely guarded heart, but the pleasures of small-town life and the searing sensuality of Isabel's kitchen coax him into revealing a few truths of his own.

The dreamy sweetness of summer is the perfect time of year for a grand family wedding and the enchanting Beekeeper's Ball, bringing emotions to a head in a story where the past and present collide to create an unexpected new future.

From "one of the best observers of stories of the heart" (Salem Statesman-Journal), The Beekeeper's Ball is an exquisite and richly imagined novel of the secrets that keep us from finding our way, the ties binding us to family and home, and the indelible imprint love can make on the human heart.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs returns to sun-drenched Bella Vista, where the land's bounty yields a rich harvest...and family secrets that have long been buried.

Isabel Johansen, a celebrated chef who grew up in the sleepy Sonoma town of Archangel, is transforming her childhood home into a destination cooking school--a unique place for other dreamers to come and learn the culinary arts. Bella Vista's rambling mission-style hacienda, with its working apple orchards, bountiful gardens and beehives, is the idyllic venue for Isabel's project...and the perfect place for her to forget the past.

But Isabel's carefully ordered plans begin to go awry when swaggering, war-torn journalist Cormac O'Neill arrives to dig up old history. He's always been better at exposing the lives of others than showing his own closely guarded heart, but the pleasures of small-town life and the searing sensuality of Isabel's kitchen coax him into revealing a few truths of his own.

The dreamy sweetness of summer is the perfect time of year for a grand family wedding and the enchanting Beekeeper's Ball, bringing emotions to a head in a story where the past and present collide to create an unexpected new future.

From "one of the best observers of stories of the heart" (Salem Statesman-Journal), The Beekeeper's Ball is an exquisite and richly imagined novel of the secrets that keep us from finding our way, the ties binding us to family and home, and the indelible imprint love can make on the human heart.

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  • From the book

    The first rule of beekeeping, and the one Isabel swore she would never break, was to remain calm. As she regarded the massive swarm of honeybees clinging to a Ligustrum branch, she suspected she was about to go back on her word.

    She was new to beekeeping, but that was no excuse. She thought she was ready to capture a swarm. She'd read all the beekeeping books in the Archangel town library. She'd watched a dozen online videos. But none of the books and videos had mentioned that the humming of ten thousand bees was pretty much the creepiest sound she'd ever heard. It reminded her of the flying monkey music in The Wizard of Oz.

    "Don't think about flying monkeys," she muttered under her breath. And that, of course, caused her to focus even more on the sound.

    It took every fiber of power and control in her body to keep from fleeing to the nearest irrigation ditch, screaming at the top of her lungs.

    The morning had started out with such promise. She'd leaped out of bed at daybreak to greet yet another perfect Sonoma day. A few subtle threads of coastal mist slipped through the inland valleys and highlands, softening the green and gold hills like a bridal veil. Isabel had hurriedly donned shorts and a t-shirt, then taken Charlie for his morning walk past the apple and walnut trees, inhaling the air scented with lavender and sun-warmed grass. Paradise on earth.

    Lately, she'd been waking up early every day, too excited to sleep. She was working on the biggest project she'd ever dared to undertake--transforming her family home into a destination cooking school. The work was nearing completion, and if everything went according to schedule, she would welcome the first guests of the Bella Vista Cooking School at harvest time.

    The big, rambling mission-style hacienda, with its working apple orchard and gardens, was the perfect venue for the project. The place had long been too much for just her and her grandfather, and her dreams had always been too big for her budget. She was passionate about cooking and in love with the idea of creating a beautiful place for other dreamers to come and learn the culinary arts. At long last, she'd found a way to grow into the house that was too large.

    Her head full of plans for the day, she'd gone to check the bees with Charlie, the rangy German shepherd mutt. When she'd reached the hives, located on a slope by a rutted track at the end of the main orchard, she'd heard the flying monkeys and realized what was happening--a swarm.

    It was a natural occurrence. Like a dowager making way for her successor, the old queen left the hive in search of new digs, taking along more than half the workers. From her reading, Isabel knew it was rare for a swarm to occur so early in the day, but the morning sun was already intense. Scout bees were out searching for the ideal spot for a new hive while the rest of them clung en masse to the branch and waited. As the beekeeper, Isabel would need to capture the swarm and get them into an empty hive before the scouts returned and led the whole mass of them away, to parts unknown.

    She had quickly sent a text message to Jamie Westfall, a local bee expert. Only last week, he had left a flyer in her mailbox--Will trade beekeeping services for honey harvest. She'd never met him, but kept his number in her phone contacts, just in case. Unfortunately, a swarm in this intermediate stage was ephemeral, and if the guy didn't get here quickly, Isabel would be on her own. She'd thrown on her jumpsuit, hat and veil, grabbed a pair of loppers and a cardboard box with a lid, and approached the hanging swarm.

    This should be simple, she thought....

About the Author-
  • Susan Wiggs is the author of many beloved bestsellers, including the popular Lakeshore Chronicles series. She has won many awards for her work, including a RITA from Romance Writers of America. Visit her website at www.SusanWiggs.com.

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