Love in the Afternoon, Karen Hawkins
Love in the Afternoon, Karen Hawkins
List: $17.99 | Sale: $12.59
Club: $8.99

Love in the Afternoon
A Dove Pond eNovella

Author: Karen Hawkins

Narrator: Danny Campbell, Tavia Gilbert, George Newbern

Unabridged: 3 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/17/2019


Synopsis

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.

About Karen Hawkins

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Karen Hawkins writes novels that have been praised as touching, witty, charming, and heartwarming. A native Southerner who grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee where storytelling is a way of life, Karen recently moved to frosty New England with her beloved husband and multiple foster dogs. The Dove Pond series is a nod to the thousands of books that opened doors for her to more adventures, places, and discoveries than she ever imagined possible. To find out more about Karen, check in with her at Facebook.com/AuthorKarenHawkins, on Instagram @KarenHawkinsAuthor, and on her website KarenHawkins.com.  


Reviews

Goodreads review by Julie

Love in the Afternoon by Karen Hawkins is a 2019 Gallery Books publication. This is a tie-in novella for Hawkins’ delight novel, ‘The Book Charmer’. Set in Dove Pond, this short story is centered mostly around Jake, who lives inside his own head far too much, and Sofia, a single mother, whose son, N......more

Goodreads review by Howard

4.5 Stars for Love in the Afternoon: Dove Pond, Book 0.5 (audiobook) by Karen Hawkins read by George Newbern, Tavia Gilbert, and Danny Campbell. I wish that I lived closer to Dove Pond, I think that I’d like to live there. I’m really enjoying this series. It’s a nice change from what I mainly read.......more

Goodreads review by Chris

Quickie little insta-love novella. 3.5 stars ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have to say that I had some mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed the story as it is so unique and original. The author did a great job on some of the character development and I loved how Jake took to the chil......more

Goodreads review by Celeste

This was a cute, quick read. A bit silly in places, but light and sweet. Jake is a great guy, and the game he designed for Noah made my heart squishy. I thought autism was lightly but well portrayed, and the ways in which both Sofia and Jake handled Noah's differences were very thoughtful.......more