Love in the Afternoon by Karen Hawkins – a Review

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Description:
A woman with a legendary green thumb, a man living in an emotional desert, and a small boy unable to connect with others. Can the three of them, with a little help from the charmed town of Dove Pond (and a pesky ghost), turn a nightmare into a fairytale and forge their own happily ever after?

Young widow Sofia Rodriquez has just accepted the position of greenhouse manager for Ava Dove’s booming herbal tea business. Sofia is delighted to have found a job that will make use of her gardening skills and allow her to spend time with her son, Noah, who has been diagnosed with Asperger’s. Adding to her joy is the charming farmhouse she’s renting on the edge of Dove Pond.

The only cloud on Sofia’s horizon is her next-door neighbor, Jake, whose yard is a thorny jungle worthy of Sleeping Beauty. Soon enough, Sofia discovers that Jake himself is just as thorny and unpleasant as his yard.

After his fiancé left him, work-from-home IT whiz and game developer Jake Klaine has gone from Prince Charming to complete hermit. But Jake isn’t really alone; he’s living with a ghost: a (formerly) hairy man named Doyle who’s a fan of bad puns and who refuses to leave Jake’s bathtub. This is nothing new for Jake, as he’s been talking to ghosts since he was a boy. He finds real people harder to deal with, like the kid next door who won’t stop bugging him about the new game he’s developing.

Sofia and Jake know all too well that life isn’t a game. They’ve both lost the person they loved most. But under the watchful eye of the ghostly Doyle and Sofia’s new friend Ava, who has abilities of her own, Jake and Sofia decide to take a chance and let in an outsider. Soon they discover that, with a little magic, even the thorniest walls are no match for the innocent trust of a lonely child and the fierce determination of a woman wielding a razor-sharp pruner and a heart big enough to make even the most stubborn flower bloom.

Review:

Love in the Afternoon by Karen Hawkins is a novella in her new Dove Pond series.  This was a wonderful heartwarming story that kept us reading from beginning to end.  We meet our hero, Jake Klaine, who unbeknownst to other people sees ghosts from time to time.  Jake is an IT Geek and game developer, and a loner.  After his ex fiancé left him, Jake keeps to himself, totally engrossed in his creating games.  Doyle, is a ghost, who was his next door neighbor who died a few years before, but is now a frequent visitor, continually harasses Jake to go out and meet people. 

Sofia Rodriquez, our heroine, has moved next door to Jake, having accepted the position working for Ava Dove overseeing the greenhouse. Sofia, who is a widow, is happy for the first time in a long while, as she loves her job utilizing her gardening skills.  Sofia’s son, Noah, has Asperger’s, and this job not only pays well, but allows her to be home more for Noah.  

Sofia notices the house next door is covered with rose bushes, and finds out that the man next door is more or less a hermit.  When Noah goes next door, after getting of the school bus, he asks Jake, to Sofia’s horror, if he is a hermit.  Jake, who doesn’t talk much, or out of practice, is surprised, but even more so when he realizes how smart Noah is, and he is a top gamer.  Noah wants to learn how to create codes to make his own games, and Jake decides to teach him a few days a week.

What follows is such a sweet, wonderful slow build romance (totally in background), as we see Jake slowly come out of his phobia to be around people; as well as his developing a close friendship with Noah.  Sofia finds herself also falling for Jake, as he begins to talk and smile at her more.  His ex was not well liked by anyone, and Sofia is such a patient and charming heroine. 

I loved both Jake and Sofia and Noah, and it was such a pleasure to watch those walls come crumbling down.  Doyle was a blast, when he would yell at Jake to tell him how to act or what to do, out of earshot of others.   Love in the Afternoon is a perfect quick read, with a wonderful couple, and dealing with someone with Asperger’s.  I cannot wait to read the next book in this new series, as Karen Hawkins has hit this out of the park.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher