Welcome to the Honey B&B

This was a bit of a hard read, with such a serious topic. Done in a realistic way, it doesn't sugar coat or gloss over the hard issues. I appreciated the different character's honest thoughts. The romance was not over powering to the story but a great bonus. I teared up a few times as the author really gets you to feel what's going on.

I enjoyed reading Welcome to the Honey B&B, a contemporary fiction novel set in a small Oregon town. Jewel is an artist who owns a gallery in San Jose, California. She’s a single parent with a thirteen year old daughter, Cooper, who’s difficult to manage and has friends who could lead her astray. Jewel decides to relocate with Cooper back to her home town in Oregon to help her parents, Honey and CT.

Honey is a retired school teacher in her late sixties who lives on the farm with CT who has FTD—early onset dementia. Honey’s retirement plans are in tatters as the daily grind of caring for CT wears her out. Honey welcomes the arrival of Jewel and Cooper who live with them in the two storey farmhouse and help her manage CT’s caring needs.

We meet Honey’s neighbor, Miguel, who has a daughter around the same age as Cooper. Jewel has plans to generate farm income by converting the farmhouse into a B&B. Cooper shares her grandpa’s love for bee keeping.

The story includes many humorous and poignant moments as we discover how CT’s dementia has a profound and life changing impact on his loved ones. The reality of caring for a loved one with FTD is not sugarcoated and we see the raw emotion of their rollercoaster journey on the page. The characters draw on their faith to understand and process CT’s diagnosis and what it means for their family.

I recommend Welcome to the Honey B&B to contemporary fiction readers who like charming small town family stories that include issues relating…

Thanks to Netgalley for my review copy.

I really enjoyed this book. It deals with a serious subject early-onset dementia. We meet Honey and CT who is suffering from early-onset dementia at the beginning of the story. They live on a farm and one of CT’s favourite things is honey from his bees. We can see Honey’s struggles with CT’s memory. Their daughter Jewel and granddaughter Cooper live in California and make the choice to move back to Oregon to help.

Cooper is 13 and having teenage issues which the city isn’t helping. Jewels needs a change of scenery and Honey needs the help. CT thinks their neighbour is trouble which causes some interesting encounters. Jewel has the idea to turn the house into a B&B to generate some income.

This book shows how early-onset dementia affects everyone in a family not just the affected person. While this is a story it highlights what it is like caring for someone with dementia. There are times I can feel the frustrations of the characters. Seeing how the characters learn coping skills as the book goes one mirrors real-life. Personally, my dad suffered a stroke that affected his ability to make decisions. Reading this story I could see my mother in how Honey handles many situations.

This would be a great book for a book club wanting to talk about a serious issue and how it affects us in different ways. This book can help educate people as to how it is to live with someone with dementia. How there are no easy answers, and everyone has a…